Nothing in a kitchen is used more than pots and pans. These kitchen essentials can really make or break a meal when it comes to browning chicken skin, frying eggs that don&#;t stick and even simmering soups all day long.
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According to Lisa McManus, executive editor of America&#;s Test Kitchen Reviews, the pots and pans set you settle on should depend on how you plan to use them. She helped us break down the ins and outs of cookware sets and what you need to know before buying.
&#;Think about what kinds of foods you like to cook, and for how many people. That makes choosing cookware a lot easier, because it determines the type and number and size of pans you actually need,&#; McManus told Shop TODAY.
You should also steer clear of pots and pans that are too small for the recipes you like to make. &#;You&#;re more likely to boil over a small saucepan than a large one. Crowded skillets steam rather than brown and sear food. If you are trying to save money, get a bigger rather than smaller pan, because you can always put less food in a big pan, but it&#;s not true the other way around,&#; she explained. The major takeaway here is to try to find less pots and pans that have a larger volume versus many pots and pans with a small volume.
According to McManus, you really only need a few basics in the kitchen, all of which can be found in various pots and pans sets. &#;I&#;d say the absolute basics are a 12-inch skillet, four-quart saucepan and a stockpot or Dutch oven of six to eight quarts,&#; she said.
Every type of pan has distinct features and benefits. McManus praised stainless steel because of the even heat distribution and heat-holding properties. &#;We love these very sturdy pans for everything from frying to roasting and even baking. With a metal handle, you can put them right in the oven. It&#;s a great basic all-around pan that you can cook almost anything in,&#; she said.
Ceramic pans are a nice nonstick option that don&#;t have the chemicals that traditional nonstick pans have. &#;We like these pans for their nonstick coating, especially for fish and eggs [or any other] delicate foods that can stick and break up,&#; she explained.
As far as cast iron, McManus mentioned, &#;We also love cast iron and carbon steel, which are very similar to each other in that they gain seasoning as you use them, and become increasingly nonstick. They&#;re also completely indestructible, but need a little care to maintain the seasoning and prevent rust.&#;
For both stainless steel and nonstick pans like ceramic, you can wash them with soapy water and a sponge. Stainless steel can lose its luster after many uses, so McManus suggests keeping a bottle of Bar Keeper&#;s Friend around to help remove brown spots that can form after cooking things for long periods of time. Nonstick pans lose their coating after a while, so you&#;re going to want to be gentle with scrubbing too hard.
&#;Cast-iron pans should be washed with hot water and a stiff brush while they are still warm. You can use a drop or two of soap if you really want, but it&#;s not needed,&#; McManus said. &#;Put them back on the stovetop to heat through in order to dry off any moisture and then wipe with a very tiny drop of vegetable oil, wipe it well with paper towel or an old dish towel until it looks like you&#;ve removed all the oil and heat it through again on medium to polymerize that oil onto the surface. Turn off the heat and let the pan sit there and cool down before putting it away. That will maintain and build on the seasoning the pan is getting through cooking.&#;
If you&#;re on the hunt for the perfect pots and pans set that won&#;t blow your budget, then you&#;re in luck. We&#;ve rounded up some of the best sets in four categories: nonstick, stainless steel, ceramic and cast iron. The best part? They're all affordable options, so you'll have some money left over for other kitchen must-haves.
Cuisinart pots and pans are great for those who've never used ceramic cookware before. This set comes with six different pots and pans, plus a colander and lids. The one downfall to the set is the silicone handles. While they are great for protecting your hands from touching something that can get very hot, they don&#;t allow the pots and pans to go into an oven hotter than 350°.
Cook dinner and store leftovers in the fridge with this set. These pots and pans come in a variety of vibrant colors and each one has a detachable handle for easy storage. While everything in the set is dishwasher-safe, your cookware will maintain its nonstick coating if you manually wash with soap and water.
While this set is slightly over $300, the extra $25 is worth it. The set meets almost all of the requirements for a basic set of pots and pans from our expert from America&#;s Test Kitchen. Because the set is coated in ceramic materials, it&#;s nonstick and doesn&#;t have any toxins. Every piece in the set can nest inside one another for easy storage, too.
For many, the brand that immediately comes to mind when it comes to cast-iron is Lodge. The brand has been around for over 100 years and has garnered fans around the world. Their essentials cookware set features three pieces: a skillet, grill pan and round griddle. The pans are versatile, easy to use and easy to clean.
Cast-iron skillets come in all shapes and sizes, and most need to be seasoned after you get them. One outlier to this is the Bruntmor bundle, which comes pre-seasoned and with three skillets ranging in size from eight to 12 inches. If you care for these correctly, they will last a lifetime.
Carbon steel is the classier, less heavy cousin of cast iron. These pans can do virtually anything a cast-iron pan can do without being bulky and hard to transfer from stovetop to oven, or grill to table. This set comes with three pieces, a wok and two fry pans. Every piece is durable, light and perfectly cast to ensure easy cooking.
Made in collaboration with Williams Sonoma and celebrity chef Bobby Flay, this four-piece set from GreenPan comes with two fry pans, a sauté pan and a lid. &#;It is also great for delicate foods like eggs and omelets. It performs like stainless [steel] to get that sear and cast iron to hold that heat,&#; Flay said in a press release for the brand. The downfall to this set, though, is that the lid is not universal, so you&#;ll need something else to cover the two pieces it doesn&#;t fit.
Nesting pots and pans are a great space saver in the kitchen. While this set includes a lot of pieces, we love that everything stacks right into each other, including the lids. The set comes in four colors including navy and sage, allowing you to pick something that matches the rest of your kitchen.
This pot and pan set includes essentials like a stock pot, sauté pan and fry pan. The set is completely nonstick and will keep its coating for a long time if you wash everything by hand. The handles can get hot since they are metal without any type of coating, so be sure to have a hot pad nearby when using these.
At just over $200, this set is ideal for someone on a budget but still looking for quality pots and pans. The pans can take heat from any type of stovetop, and can go into the oven with temperatures reaching 500°. One thing to note about this set, though, is that you cannot use nonstick sprays unless they are 100% oil-based.
Three essential pieces, all with a copper core, is what makes up this personalized set. Its core helps every piece conduct heat evenly and maintain its temperature. Each set comes with a coated pan (you have your choice of three!), plus a basic stainless steel sauce pot, a sauté pan and lids.
One of the most renowned names in cooking is Viking, and their pans are actually quite affordable for the average home cook. The set comes with two skillets, five pots of various shapes and sizes and a colander for easy pasta draining. This 13-piece set requires a bit of extra work to maintain if you want to keep the copper color, but it&#;s nothing a bit of elbow grease can&#;t do.
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To realize your full culinary potential, you&#;ll want a full set of great cookware. You can build a set yourself, but researching the best pots and pan sets takes time. And piecemealing a set costs way more money than buying one (especially if it's an affordable cookware set. But finding the perfect cookware set is complicated, too.
We've spent years testing dozens of the most popular pot and pan sets around, and our current favorite is the GreenPan Valencia Pro Ceramic Nonstick 11-Piece Cookware Set (available at Amazon) . With everything from skillets to a stock pot with a steamer insert, it's everything a home cook needs. And despite being a nonstick set, it's made with PFAS-free ceramic materials and boasts a durable build.
Our former top pick, the Cuisinart MCP-12N Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece Set (available at Amazon), is still a great option, and our favorite value pick.
For specially curated kitchen deals, cooking and hosting tips, and product recs, follow us @reviewedkitchen on Instagram!
Credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The GreenPan Valencia Pro Ceramic Nonstick Cookware Set includes all the essentials for home cooks.
Best Ceramic Nonstick Cookware Set
GreenPan was the first company to produce ceramic nonstick pans, and they have dozens of cookware sets to choose from. We tested the 11-piece Valencia Pro set because of its ceramic nonstick coating and variety of useful pieces.
Some of the premium nonstick sets we tested were skimpy on pieces, but not this one. You get seven well-built pots and pans, plus lids and pan protectors to separate skillets in storage. The nonstick properties are top-notch&#;you won't need to use much oil when cooking in them. And the pans include small details that we appreciated, like rounded, stay-cool handles and well-fitting lids.
Plus, a ceramic nonstick coating means you don't have to worry about certain chemicals present in traditional nonstick cookware.
Sears well
Cleans easily
Durable
Induction-comaptible
Edges show wear over years of use
Credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
This Cuisinart cookware set is the best choice for top stainless steel cookware on a budget.
Best Value Cookware Set
The Cuisinart MCP-12N Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece Set is our former pick for the best cookware set overall. It offers incredible performance at a great value.
The medium-sized sauté pan comfortably fit four chicken thighs and seared each one to perfection. The large stockpot is well-sized for making soup, cooking pasta, or blanching vegetables. Plus it's dishwasher-safe for an added bonus.
In addition to their performance and quality, these pans are easy to use. The triple-ply construction conducts heat excellently.
The anodized aluminum core makes them light enough handle easily. It&#;s a fraction of the cost of our new top pick, and big retailers often put it on sale. That made it a no-brainer for our Best Value pick.
The set includes everything you need to cook a meal. And all pieces include comfortable handles and a nicely-balanced design that's easy to hold.
Great value
Easy to use
Sears meat perfectly
Nothing we could find
Credit: Reviewed / Jill Bernardini
The All Clad cookware set is the best stainless steel set we've tested.
Best Stainless-steel Cookware Set
The All-Clad D3 Everyday Stainless-steel set exceeded all of our testing expectations during testing. Its ultra-durable tri-ply construction and wide cooking surface area yielded excellent results in the kitchen. Plus, the handles make for comfortable maneuverability and stayed cool during the cooking process.
The set includes a wide range of shapes and sizes to fully stock any kitchen and deliver on a wide range of recipes.
We appreciate the inclusion of interchangeable lids. They are tight fitting and contain double rivets, which yields even cooking in rice and braises. Plus, each pot and pan is oven-safe up to 600°F, and they're all induction-compatible.
Given its price point, this stainless-steel set is a great choice for anyone willing to invest in something that will last for years.
Read the full All-Clad D3 Everyday set review
Distributes heat evenly
Durable build
Easy to handle
Lid handles can overheat
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
Our favorite nonstick cookware is the All-Clad HA1 Hard-Anodized Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set.
Best Traditional Nonstick Cookware Set
If you&#;re specifically after a great nonstick set, the All-Clad HA1 Hard-Anodized Nonstick Cookware Set has your back.
It aced our tests in style with a sleek, black finish and shiny metal handles. The handles are long enough to create a perfect balance with each pan. And All-Clad&#;s signature concave shape makes them super comfortable to hold.
The pans are a little heavier, because they&#;re well-built with durable, heavy-gauge hard-anodized aluminum. All-Clad also coats them with three layers of PFOA-free nonstick material. This creates a slick finish that helps the food release easily.
They perform well, too. The lid fit tightly onto the saucepots, trapping steam inside to create some of the best rice in the testing group. We were also impressed at how crispy our chicken skin became. This set creates a hard sear most nonsticks can&#;t touch.
Put it all together, and this set became the clear choice for anyone who prefers nonstick. Our only major complaint was the pans don&#;t nest very well, making storage more difficult.
This hard-anodized nonstick set seems expensive at first glance. However, its wide variety of pots and pans makes it worth every penny.
Lids fit tightly
Easy to clean
Durable build
Heavy
Hard to store
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
HexClad cookware was the best hybrid cookware set we've tested.
Best Hybrid Cookware Set
These pans differ from most nonstick options. They can&#;t cook an egg without oil, for instance. But they heat up quickly and evenly like nonstick should, and they exhibit nonstick properties when seasoned and used with a little cooking oil. The tough, laser-etched hexagon top holds its own against metal utensils, unlike most nonstick.
Our chicken thighs had some of the most even, gorgeous searing of any skillet we&#;ve used. Cleanup is easy because any build-up wipes away easily with a paper towel.
The pans feature tri-ply construction (like multi-clad stainless steel pans), but they&#;re significantly lighter. We could toss vegetables with ease, and the ergonomic, rounded handles felt great to use. The saucepans also have a bowl-like shape on the interior. That makes it much easier to stir into the edges and keep sauces from burning.
This set is not inexpensive, but whether you&#;re building a starter kitchen or refreshing, it has everything you need. Plus, the inclusion of a magnetic layer makes them compatible with induction cooktops.
Read the full HexClad Cookware Set review
Suitable for high-temperature cooking
Reliably nonstick
Oven-safe, dishwasher-safe, metal-utensil-safe
Frequent staining after high temperature cooking
Heavier weight with bulky handles
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
We were impressed by the exceptional performance of the Hestan NanoBond 10-piece cookware set.
Best Upgrade Cookware Set
While we know every shopper can't justify the price, Hestan's NanoBond is exceptional and worth the dough if you have it.
It&#;s gorgeous to look at, feels good in the hand, and offers the kind of performance you&#;d expect at this price. This includes even heating, steady simmering, and lack of burning at the bottom or in the corners.
Nanobond bonds thousands of titanium-based nanolayers to its cookware&#;s stainless-steel surfaces. They claim this makes it 400% stronger than traditional stainless steel, and more resistant to staining and scratching. These pieces can even take heat up to °F!
This line offers just about every performance and ease-of-use feature you could ever want.
Read the full Hestan NanoBond Titanium Ultimate Set review.
Beautiful
Distributes heat evenly
Very durable&#;heat resistant up to °F
Very expensive
Requires polishing
This comprehensive set includes all the basics for everyday cooking&#;whether you're cooking for yourself or a crowd. The interior is made from a PFAS-free nonstick ceramic coating. Ninja claims its durable enough to withstand five years of regular use.
And during testing, we were impressed. This cookware boasts a slick nonstick interior that releases delicate eggs and sticky sauces with minimal oil and effort. It also heats evenly and withstands temperatures up to 550°F.
This means we achieved an even sear in this pan and even use it to bake foods in the oven without worry of it harming the pan. Plus, each piece of cookware is easy to maneuver, thanks to the comfortable handles and lightweight design.
To get the most longevity out of these pans, the brand recommends avoiding putting this set in the dishwasher. We also found that the handles' ergonomic design means they're also susceptible to dirt build-up.
But keeping up with appropriate cleaning means this set is worth adding to your kitchen&#;especially given its price point.
Read the full Ninja Extended Life Premium Ceramic 9-Piece Cookware Set review
Consistently nonstick without PFAS
Lightweight, well-made, and durable
Dishwasher and oven safe
A larger mid-size pot would be ideal
Handles can get dirty easily
Are you interested in learning more about personalized pots and pans? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!
Made In cookware provides restaurant-quality cookware through a direct-to-consumer model. Its design makes it more accessible to the average consumer. During testing, we could confirm that these pots and pans made us feel like pros.
The durable, ultra-slick interior easily released everything from eggs to sausages with minimal effort. And thanks to the 5-ply construction and stainless-clad core, these pieces retain heat better than most nonstick cookware we&#;ve tested. They also sear well for nonstick pans.
Unfortunately, that multi-layer construction that makes for efficient heating also results in a heavy build. We struggled to flip veggies and eggs in the frying pan due to its weight. And the narrow handles also forced us into a bit of a learning curve. But the more we used these pots and pans, the easier we found ourselves handling them.
Read the full Made In cookware set review
Slick, nonstick interior
Great for searing
Attractive design
Heavy build
Limited items in the set
Hestan ProBond is great-looking and high-performing cookware, similarly priced with stainless steel cookware sets from All-Clad. While not as durable as the NanoBond line, these pieces are similarly well-constructed. The set offers even heating, flush rivets, and a good weight.
The 10-piece set offers a solid assortment of basics at a better price than buying individual pieces. You can supplement your set with ProBond nonstick skillets, but you&#;ll have to look to another brand for a Dutch oven.
Beautiful
Distributes heat evenly
Comprehensive set
Expensive
Requires polishing
There's a lot to love about this gorgeous stainless steel cookware set. Made In's signature stainless-clad material consists of five layers of materials. This includes aluminum alloy in the center, then two layers of pure aluminum, followed by a layer of pure stainless steel on the interior. Lastly, high-grade ferritic steel on the exterior protects it from corrosion.
This unique design makes for impressive cookware that heats quickly and evenly. Every test we threw at it&#;from boiling water to shallow frying to searing chicken thighs&#;impressed us. We were wowed by the even heat retention and stay-cool handles. And the provided lids do a fantastic job of keeping heat and moisture locked in.
But similar to its nonstick counterparts, these pots and pans are heavy. Don't expect to easily toss veggies and stir-frys with the flick of your wrist&#;at least not without a learning curve.
No hot spots
Evenly distributes heat
Beautiful design
Heavy
For an inexpensive nonstick set, look no further than the T-Fal C561SC Titanium Advanced Nonstick 12-Piece Cookware Set. Like most nonstick cookware, it&#;s easier to clean than regular pans, especially after frying.
While pans with nonstick coatings will rarely rival stainless steel for searing meat, this set performed admirably. It cooked eggs perfectly without requiring any extra oil, and the saucepots simmered sauces and cooked rice without scorching. To top it all off, the stockpot boiled water faster than any others in our test group. The pans heat quickly and evenly, and the padded handles stay cool.
This nonstick set covers all the bases and includes some extras.
Cooked eggs and simmered sauces perfectly
Fast water-boiling speed
Comfortable, padded handles
Can't sear meat as well as a stainless set
Included in the set: 1.5- and 3-quart saucepots with lids, 8.5-quart stockpot with lid, 3-quart sauté pan with lid, 8.5-skillet, 12-inch skillet with lid
Material: Hard-anodized aluminum
This Advanced Home 11-Piece Cookware Set from Anolon blows its predecessor out of the water.
This upgraded version has an enhanced nonstick finish that performed much better on our tests. The eggs flipped with ease, and the rice simmered perfectly without browning or sticking to the bottom of the pan. We also loved the soft, ergonomic handles, and were thrilled when they didn&#;t get hot after extended use.
On the flip side, the pans didn&#;t heat as evenly as multi-clad stainless steel. They also struggle to produce a hard sear on the chicken thighs. Still, if you want a nonstick pan set, this one won&#;t disappoint.
Food doesn&#;t stick
Easy to clean
Comfortable handles
Doesn&#;t heat evenly
Doesn&#;t sear as well as stainless
If the aesthetic of the Caraway Cookware Set doesn&#;t make you want to buy it, the attention to detail may convince you. The set comes with four pans, three lids, and two specially designed storage pieces. The modular racks house the pans on their side so they&#;ll easily fit inside a cabinet. And the genius canvas lid holder can hang on the inside of the door.
The pans&#; performance absolutely met our expectations. The lid features a small hole to allow steam to escape, producing some of the better rice in the group. It also passed our nonstick tests, allowing eggs to slide around without any cooking oil.
That said, the set lost some points because it doesn&#;t contain a full array of pots and pans, despite the high price tag. And we have noticed consumer reports of serious damage and wear-and-tear after months of usage.
Read the full Caraway Cookware review
Beautiful appearance
Easy to store
Includes a Dutch oven
Doesn't offer a variety of cookware sizes
All-Clad is well known for top-of-the-line (and expensive) cookware. The All-Clad BD-R D5 Brushed 18/10 Stainless Steel 5-Ply Bonded 10-Piece Cookware Set is no exception. These 5-ply, bonded stainless-steel pans offer superior heat distribution and performance. However, a few shortcomings pushed them down in the ranks.
First, the very hefty price tag is hard to swallow. The heavy material makes it harder to flip vegetables or pour out contents. The straight, stainless steel handle design doesn&#;t help either, throwing off the balance and making you really feel the weight of each pan.
That said, if you&#;re willing to shell out the money this stainless steel set will last a lifetime.
Superior heat distribution
Long-lasting
Hefty price tag
Too heavy
Straight-handle design
If you regularly make large amounts of soup, consider buying the 12-piece cookware set from Tramontina. It&#;s the only set that came with a 12-quart stockpot. That's overkill for boiling pasta or blanching vegetables, but perfect for larger batch recipes.
The wide handles were comfortable to hold, and the tri-ply construction provided even heating. This results in perfect sears in chicken breasts and scorch-free sauces.
You&#;ll get some larger-sized pots and pans with this set for a great price. (But if you&#;re looking for small 1-quart saucepans, this isn&#;t the set for you.) The roomier pans are nice, giving you more space to cook larger quantities while still fitting on a standard range top.
Even heating
Large enough
Roomier pans
Lacks smaller pans
Each pan in the Circulon Symmetry Black 11-Piece Cookware Set has raised, concentric circles on the nonstick surface. However these ridges came to be a Circulon signature trait, they definitely work to keep food from sticking to the pan.
In addition to acing the nonstick tests, the Circulon pans performed well overall. The main exception is that the tall-and-skinny stockpot took the longest in the group to boil water. Overall, these were some of the more comfortable pans we used, with well-thought-out, padded handles and nicely balanced weight.
Food doesn't stick
Comfortable handles
Boils water slowly
From a performance perspective, we really liked the pans included in the Great Jones Family Style Set. The small nonstick pan is one of our favorites. We love the measurements etched into the side of the saucepan for easy measuring. Its handles weld to the pans, which makes cleanup so much easier than scrubbing around traditional rivets.
The pans passed our tests with flying colors, but the set itself doesn&#;t contain all the items we consider essential. For example, we&#;d really like to see a small saucepot and a 12-inch skillet in the mix.
The price seems high for a set that&#;s missing so many pieces. That said, it does include a Dutch oven, which is a big selling point.
Includes a Dutch oven
Distributes heat evenly
Easy to clean
Doesn&#;t include several essential pieces
Handles get very hot
Unfortunately, there&#;s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all pot or pan. Each cooking task requires a specific size. You wouldn&#;t want to boil pasta in a 1-quart saucepot because it won&#;t fit. It also wouldn&#;t make sense to cook a cup of oatmeal in an 8-quart pot.
Cookware companies try to anticipate your needs by providing a variety of sizes in their sets. Considering your own cooking style can help you determine what&#;s important to you in a set. Your favorite foods determine which pieces of cookware to prioritize. Whether you cook for yourself or a group can affect how many pieces you need.
We recommend a set with at least two saucepots, one large stockpot, a small fry pan, and a large skillet. (All oven-safe, of course.) Anything extra, like being dishwasher-safe, is a bonus.
Most sets come with a lid for every saucepan, stockpot, and sauté pan. Sets often count these lids as pieces to increase the count. The above set would have five pots and pans, but will be called an 8-piece set.
While we&#;re on the topic, try to look for metal lids. Yes, that means you can&#;t see what&#;s going on inside the pot, but glass lids always fog up anyway. Metal lids will never drop and shatter, giving them a longer lifespan than the glass variety.
Credit: Reviewed / Jill Bernardini
We ran these cookware sets through multiple recipe tests, including searing chicken thighs.
Similar to sizing, there's no one-size-fits all when it comes to cookware materials. Each variety comes with its own set of pros and cons. It all depends to what you prioritize and are most comfortable with in the kitchen.
Stainless steel is great for searing meat, leaving behind those delicious food bits that make the perfect start to a pan sauce. It won&#;t affect the taste of your food, and it heats up quickly.
Stainless steel cookware also tends to last longer than nonstick. Unfortunately, it&#;s harder to clean. Also, without help from an aluminum core, it doesn&#;t distribute heat as evenly.
Here's more on how to cook with stainless steel&#;successfully.
Nonstick cookware is great for beginners. It&#;s affordable, easy to cook with, easy to wipe down and maintain, and has fewer hot spots. However, nonstick shouldn&#;t go in the dishwasher, and scratches more easily.
Some nonstick chemicals like PFOA and PTFE (Teflon) may also be harmful. When they degrade due to chipping or excessive use of high heat, they may flake into your food or release fumes. Other materials like hard-anodized aluminum or ceramic present safer nonstick options.
Ceramic cookware can mean either genuine ceramics or aluminum with a silicone finish.
The ceramic coating is nonstick but without any harmful chemicals. They can be eco-friendly to produce and more affordable than stainless steel. Plus, they handle high heat well and offer a variety of colors.
Ceramic shares some of nonstick&#;s drawbacks, however. It won&#;t last as long as stainless steel or cast iron cookware, and the nonstick abilities will fade in time. They should also never go into the dishwasher.
Aluminum cookware comes in regular (lightweight, affordable) and anodized (a little more durable). Aluminum can be easy to handle, and heats up well. However, regular aluminum can wear out quickly, and may react with some foods.
Anodized aluminum solves aluminum&#;s problems. Unfortunately, it costs more and doesn&#;t heat up as fast as raw aluminum.
Carbon steel offers similar heat retention and searing to cast iron. Ironically, it has less carbon than cast iron, making it thinner, lighter, and relatively nonstick.
The downsides? You have to keep it seasoned, it&#;s not dishwasher safe, and it may react with more acidic foods. Depending on the construction, the handles may get hot. You tend to see carbon steel in restaurants more than homes, but there&#;s no reason you can&#;t put it in your kitchen, if you want.
Cast iron is a classic for a reason. It&#;s heavy-duty, old-fashioned, and incredibly durable. Cast iron can help bring out the best flavors in whatever you cook in it. Expect great heat retention and even heating
On the other hand, it&#;s about the heaviest cookware you can get, making it hard to handle. It&#;s also high maintenance. You need to season it, and cooking acidic foods can strip the seasoning.
You also need to maintain it carefully to avoid damage and rust. Here's more on how to clean a cast-iron skillet.
All of that said, it's smart to have a mixture of cookware materials to reach for for everyday use.
Stainless steel is essential if you're looking for long-lasting cookware, especially for tasks that don't call for a nonstick surface&#;like boiling pasta water and simmering tomato sauce. This type of cookware is typically dishwasher-safe and doesn't call for any regular seasoning, like cast iron or carbon steel, making it low maintenance. It's also great for searing meat, since it can reach high temperatures and go from stovetop to oven when needed.
Nonstick pans are also important to keep on hand, because cooking delicate foods like eggs and pancakes without a helpful nonstick coating can be difficult, especially for beginners.
And a trusty cast-iron skillet is always good to have because it's incredibly sturdy and churns out unmatched cooking results when it comes to searing flavorful burgers and steaks. It can also benefit from nonstick properties when it's been properly seasoned, but it comes with more heft and a laborious upkeep.
Credit: Reviewed /Lindsay D. Mattison
We cooked a complete meal using multiple pots and pans to help determine each set's performance.
After selecting over a dozen top-rated cookware sets, we cook a multi-component meal using each set.
To function in everyday life, pots and pans should be sized properly to cook dinner for one. We also want to know if you could easily cook a larger meal (like Thanksgiving dinner) using each set.
To earn our seal of approval, at least two saucepans, one sauté pan, and a stock pot have to fit on a standard cooktop range at the same time.
We design the tests to evaluate performance, ease of use, and value. We sear chicken thighs in the sauté pan and toss vegetables in the skillets.
We also simmer sauces and cook rice in the saucepots. Lastly, we blanch vegetables in the stockpot. If the set came with nonstick gear, we fry a few eggs without oil to see how well the coating works.
Finally, we monitor for any noticeable hotspots. We also conduct a taste test to see if one set made a tastier meal than the others. None of the products completely failed, but we did have a few favorites.
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