Now when you add cold food to this hot pan, the food saps energy from the pan. If, on the other hand, your pan is able to retain lots of energy (it has a high specific heat and a high mass), the temperature will remain high enough to sear. A more affordable option, this comes with large-sized pots and pans, perfect for when you need to feed a crowd. We especially like the flared edge for pouring and the riveted cast handles for holding. A core of heavy-gauge aluminum makes this cookware ideal for all stoves except induction burners.
The Duxtop Whole Clad Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Premium 10-Piece Cookware Set did poorly in our caramel test, as areas of the saucepan started to burn the sugar before the center had fully dissolved. There was a lot to digest in those reviews, so we’ve broken it down into two top picks. Sometimes soap and water are not enough to wash away the buildup of gunk in the bottom.
The porcelain enamel exterior (in gray, red, naval, or sage) is functional and stylish. The smooth surface stayed unscratched after a couple of weeks of use and travel, especially since I avoided sliding the pans over my gas cooktop’s grates. The Tramontina Nesting Cookware Set pulls together a full range of pots and pans that fit like Russian dolls, one inside the other. It immediately caught my eye with its sleek, colorful pans and innovative single-stack design.
For the record, we’ve always recommended washing any stainless steel cookware by hand, regardless of the manufacturer’s claims. The harsh chemicals in some detergents plus the prolonged exposure to those cleaners over the course of a dishwashing cycle can cause damage to the pans (particularly the aluminum in the bonded cookware). All-Clad offers a wide range of cookware outside tramontina pans the main set, so you can grow your collection. In our cookware guides, we recommend several other All-Clad pieces, including the 12-inch skillet, the 8- and 10-inch nonstick skillets, the 2-quart saucier, and the flared roaster. In addition to your main set, you can always purchase other essential pieces, such as a Dutch oven, a cast-iron skillet, and a nonstick pan.
This set includes 8½- and 10½-inch skillets, 1½- and 3½-quart sauce pans with lids, a 4-quart sauté pan with a lid, and a 6-quart stockpot with a lid. This may have been a one-off manufacturing error, but we’ll keep an eye on customer reviews to see if others experience a similar problem with the handle. The All-Clad D3 Stainless 10-Piece Set includes 8- and 10-inch skillets, 2- and 3-quart saucepans with lids, a 3-quart sauté pan with a lid, and an 8-quart stockpot with a lid. The only drawback to this set is that it doesn’t include a 12-inch skillet.
The pans are still nicely sloped to fit the curves of a whisk, and their lips are flared enough to allow moisture to evaporate when you are searing meat or sautéing vegetables. The handle shape remains the same, but it’s angled just a bit higher. We found the higher angle provided more leverage when tossing vegetables, and it made the skillets easier to maneuver around the stovetop. The new pans are also about an ounce heavier than the older versions, but the slight weight difference wasn’t discernible in our tests.
The lack of quality of the cookware can be felt in your hand because it’s light. The pans’ handles are comfortable and stay quite cool while cooking, but the pot handles are a bit narrow, and the edges can get hot as you cook. Most stainless steel pans are dishwasher-safe, though we still recommend washing by hand for longevity reasons, as stainless steel can rust in the dishwasher. You can read more about why the Made tramontina cookware In edged out the All-Clad as our top pick (price!) and our budget-friendly recommendation, which is, of course, from Tramontina. You can determine the best size for your needs by evaluating how much food you cook at a time for your family, as well as where you plan to store the pots and pans. Some high-end cookware sets can cost close to $1,000, but there is no need to break the bank when stocking your kitchen.
We were impressed by the quality of the Goldilocks Cookware Set Plus, especially for its low price. Its fully clad tri-ply stainless steel heats evenly across the surface of the pans. This set also includes almost all of the pot and pan sizes we prefer, including a 12-inch skillet—a rarity in most sets.