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Food and Wine / Russell Kilgore
Stainless steel pans used to have a deservedly poor reputation. Stainless is a terrible heat conductor, leaving hot spots in the pans and making heat control futile. But then came cladding, the process of making a stainless steel "sandwich" by layering stainless with a more conductive metal like copper, aluminum, or another alloy, followed by one more layer of stainless. Typically, the cladding is a minimum of three to five layers of stainless and other metals. Because of this process, the heat from the burner gets disbursed more evenly across the pan, alleviating hot spots, and the pans are more responsive to increases or decreases in temperature.
While you can select the individual pieces you need for your kitchen, buying a cookware set readies you for a variety of tasks and typically saves money. The sets we chose to test have, at a minimum, ten pieces including lids. They consist of a fairly standard selection of two skillets, a sauté pan, a saucepan, and a stock pot, with some variation. From there, they vary in size, capacity, handle length and design, and weight. Learn which sets rated highest, plus what to look for in stainless steel cookware.
They conduct heat evenly, are easy to clean, and most are comfortable to pick up and carry.
The sauté pan handles are a little thin and make gripping slightly uncomfortable, and the internal rivets cause slight issues with stirring sauces.
The Tramontina Gourmet set is ideal for cooks of all skill levels and is a good choice for all conventional heat sources, including induction. Some pieces like the sauté pan have a medium weight to them, while the stock pot felt somewhat heavy. As such, some people with mobility or strength issues may find some pieces easier to use than others. The handles stay cool or neutral to the touch, and the lids fit snuggly. Unlike the handles, the lids become hot, so exercise caution when handling them.
In terms of performance, the pans distribute the heat fairly evenly, with a slightly hotter spot in the center, and are very responsive to temperature changes. The design and curves where the sides meet the bottom of the pans allow easy stirring of ingredients or sauces. A slight annoyance is that the internal rivets bubble out slightly from the sides, interfering with sauce stirring. That issue aside, “this cookware almost cleans itself,” as one tester said, requiring little but detergent and a sponge.
Price at time of publish: $298
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
The set is lightweight and very responsive to heat.
The internal rivets require extra attention when cleaning, and the sauté pan is slightly unbalanced.
This set is surprisingly lightweight overall, with the stockpot being a little heavier and the sauté pan slightly unbalanced. The handles are comfortable to grip but do conduct heat, so don’t grab them bare-handed. The curved lip makes pouring from the sauté pan easy, and the design also minimizes drips down the side of the pan.
The pans respond to heat changes quickly and don’t go overboard on initial heating. The heat distribution is quite even, with the expected hotter spot in the center of the pan. Sweating vegetables resulted in slight sticking, but the veggies easily released when prodded with a spatula. Rice cooked exceptionally evenly and only left a slight starchy residue on the pan after cooking, rather than stuck-on grains. Cleanup from these tasks was a simple chore with just a sponge and soapy water. The internal rivets can provide places for bits of food and water to hide, so give them a little extra attention when cleaning. Even with the title of Best Splurge, this set outperformed the more expensive models we tested.
Price at time of publish: $850
Food & Wine / Fred Hardy
Food & Wine / Fred Hardy
Food & Wine / Fred Hardy
The pans are lightweight, easy to hold, and clean easily.
The sides of the sauté pan present some challenges for stirring, and the temperature can run hotter than desired.
The Calphalon Classic is a good value for your dollar, but the smaller price tag means some concessions. The stockpot is smaller than most of the other sets we tested, but even with that, we were able to sweat a normal load of vegetables without overcrowding the pan. Some sticking happened while sweating our mirepoix and cooking rice, but both released easily with either a little deglazing liquid or a prod with a spatula.
The set is very responsive to temperature changes and heats fairly evenly. Our tests showed a little unexpected overcooking of rice, but nothing major. The angle where the sauté pan walls join the bottom of the pan creates an environment for uneven whisking or stirring, but these issues are resolved with a little extra attention. The handles are comfortable, the weight of the pans is reasonable, and cleanup is easy. Despite some nit-picky drawbacks, this set presents a good value for the price.
Price at time of publish: $160
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
The set is well constructed and balanced, and most of the handles are comfortable to grip.
The stockpot handles are uncomfortable, and the stockpot may be too heavy for someone with mobility or lifting issues.
The Hestan ProBond Collection is a solidly-built set of pans designed to stand up to the rigors of professional use. In testing these medium-weight pans, we found them to be well-balanced, with ergonomic, easy-to-grip handles, with one exception. The stock pot handle design is troublesome – as one tester said, “beautiful to look at, exceedingly mediocre to hold.” There is a bump in the middle of the handle to suggest finger positions, but no matter the grip, we found the handles uncomfortable to hold for pouring.
Even heat distribution is a strong point for this set, with the expected slight concentration in the center. They’re quite responsive to heat changes and show no hot spots outside of the center. We were able to sweat vegetables without browning and build a cream sauce with no sticking. The angle of the walls joining the bottom keeps ingredients from hiding in this space, and normal stirring is all that’s required. In our rice cooking test, we found that some rice stuck to the bottom and sides of the saucepan, requiring extra cleaning effort beyond a sponge and detergent, but the flush rivets don’t hide any food bits. Weighing against the overall performance and design, however, these two complaints are too mild to detract from the set
Price at time of publish: $900
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Pots and pans feel balanced, and the curved lip makes pouring easy and non-messy.
Rice sticks to the saucepan, and the internal rivets require extra attention when cleaning.
We found the Made In set exceptionally designed and balanced. Five-ply clad stainless construction facilitates even heating and quick temperature response. The rolled edges add the ability to pour from the pans with a degree of accuracy and minimal dripping down the sides. With a gentle curve at the bottom of the walls, stirring and whisking ingredients are easy, leaving no accumulation of flour in sauce-making or stray vegetables in our mirepoix.
The handles are comfortable to grip, and none of the pans are excessively heavy. We found that the stock pot discolors a bit when browning vegetables, and a few stray grains of rice stuck to the saucepan after cooking. Generally, the set is easy to clean, but removing discoloration from the stock pot took extra effort. The convex rivets have the potential to trap food, so you should take extra care with them when washing.
Price at time of publish: $500
Food & Wine / Jennifer Causey
Food & Wine / Jennifer Causey
Food & Wine / Jennifer Causey
Food & Wine / Jennifer Causey
For value and performance, we recommend the Tramontina Gourmet 10-Piece Tri-Ply Clad Stainless Steel Cookware Set. While we still have a few nit-picky critiques, the set performs well and is an excellent choice for cooks of all skill levels.
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Lids count as pieces, so an 11-piece set is not eleven pots and pans. Any basic set to get you started should include a stockpot, a large saucepan, a small saucepan, a skillet, and the proper sizes of lids to cover all or most of them. You may not need more, especially if you do not cook a lot or do not cook for a crowd. Think about the pieces included in a set you are considering, and ask yourself if they are all pieces you will use regularly. Sometimes, it is more cost-effective to buy a basic set and then fill it in with some individually purchased pieces tailored to your cooking.
The best stainless cookware will have a thick bottom, often sandwiched with layers of copper or other materials that are good conductors of heat. This helps keep the heat even and consistent during cooking and helps to prevent hot spots or areas that are prone to burn. If the pans are a single thickness on the sides and bottom, you will encounter issues with food sticking and burning.
Whatever your heat source – gas, electric, or induction – matching your pans to your burner size is a reasonable consideration. A pan that’s smaller than your burner doesn’t present much of a heating issue, as it will still receive even heating. But the converse is not true; a pan larger than your burner will not receive even heating on the overhanging edges.
Also, consider the number of people you’ll cook for and your cooking style. Bigger pans make quicker work when cooking for a larger group, but you may find that excessive when cooking solo. If you’ll frequently make large batches of soups or stocks, no matter how large or small the audience, you’ll want a larger stock pot and probably a larger saucepan.
Weight and balance were factors in our testing to determine whether the pans might present challenges for people with mobility or lifting issues. You certainly don’t want a set of pots and pans that are heavier than you can comfortably move, as that presents challenges and safety issues around hot food and burners. It’s also worth considering the handle length of the set. Cabinet or under-counter storage with long handles can be difficult if you don’t have room to accommodate them.
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
As the introduction explains, cladding aids heat conductivity in an otherwise poor medium. As a rule of thumb, the more layers, the better the heat distribution throughout the pan. The heat distribution minimizes hot spots in the center of the pan under the burner and decreases opportunities for scorching or overcooking your food.
Taking care of your stainless set is relatively easy. Don’t apply high, direct heat for long periods to avoid discoloration and potential warping. Never put a hot pan in the sink, or fill it with water, as this is one of the best ways to warp it. No seasoning is necessary with stainless pans, so you don’t need to subject yourself to the rituals of cast iron pan maintenance.
Ideally, a good set of pots and pans will clean up with a sponge and hot, soapy water. If you need a little extra help to remove burnt-on, polymerized grease, stuck food, or remove stubborn stains, a gentle cleaner like Barkeeper’s Friend mixed with a little water to make a paste is generally safe for use on stainless steel.
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
Our testing process began with lifting and holding the pots and pans, noting how they felt in our hands and whether weight or handle design might keep someone from using them comfortably. We then began sweating mirepoix in the pans, as if making a soup or stock, to rate how easily we could cook the vegetables without coloring them. Did the vegetables hide where the sides of the pan met the bottom? Did the vegetables brown or stick when cooking them?
Next, we cooked a classic bechamel sauce, making a roux and adding milk. We rated the pans on how easily we could incorporate all of the flour, their responsiveness to temperature changes from the burner, and how evenly the heat was distributed across the pans. We also observed how difficult or messy it was to pour the sauce from the pans. Next, we cooked a batch of plain rice, examining how much boilover occurred when placing lids on the pans, how evenly and thoroughly the rice cooked, and how much rice stuck to the bottom of the pans. Finally, we rated the pans on cleanup, noting if they required scraping or scrubbing beyond a sponge and soapy water.
Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore
All-Clad D5 5-Ply Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set ($900 at Amazon)
We liked how lightweight the pots and pans in this set felt as we moved them around and how evenly this cookware heated. While some foods were quick to stick and burn, everything cleaned up easily. Nevertheless, we ruled the set overpriced for most cooks, especially those who feel comfortable with stainless steel and can troubleshoot issues like premature browning.
All-Clad D3 Tri-Ply Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set ($700 at Amazon)
Most of what we liked and disliked about the All-Clad D5 set applied to the D3 set, as well. Controlling the heat actually seemed easier with the D3. While cooks who lift pots and pans frequently would benefit from lightweight cookware, the price kept this set off our list. Plus, the handles were not very comfortable.
All of the cookware sets we tested are popular. Compared to our winners, however, a handful seemed more mediocre in our tests. For example, we found the lower cost of the Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set ($159 at Amazon) proportional to its performance. With the Calphalon Premier 11-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set ($295 at Amazon), issues with sticking and uneven cooking were met with a difficult cleanup. We liked the design of the OXO Tri-Ply Stainless Mira Series 10-Piece Set ($400 at Amazon), especially the smooth handles, but it fell short in our cooking tests.
Design kept other sets off our list. While the Misen 12-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set ($675 at Amazon) performed well, we found the pieces bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable to hold. The Anolon Nouvelle Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set ($300 at Amazon) retails at a fair price and heats evenly, but we preferred the more ergonomic designs of other stockpots and sauté pans.
Although stainless is a strong metal, using metal utensils on cookware can potentially scratch or otherwise mar the finish. Always consult the manufacturer’s recommendations for keeping your stainless steel cookware in its best condition.
The best stainless steel induction cookware has a base construction of magnetic-grade stainless steel. Most of the sets we reviewed here are induction-compatible, but always check with the individual manufacturer to ensure they will work on your cooktop.
Stainless steel is not nonstick by nature. Special alloys, polymers, and other coatings make pans nonstick when applied.
Although I have little scientific proof to back this up, my technique of choice to reduce sticking is to heat my skillet without oil, during which time the molecules in the cooking surface expand, exposing pores in the metal. Once the pan is hot, I add oil or fat and then quickly swirl it around the pan, allowing the fat to fill those pores, theoretically making it less prone to sticking.
Stainless steel doesn’t shed material, emit toxins, and is nonreactive in the presence of acids. Given that, stainless is widely regarded as a safe cooking material.
Greg Baker is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and food writer with four decades of experience in the food industry. His written work appears in Food & Wine, Food Republic, and other publications.
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