If you’re new to the kitchen, a huge cookware set is overwhelming . Not everyone is a natural-born Martha Stewart in the kitchen, but if you want to step up your cooking game, the best cookware sets are your gateway to culinary success. Easy kitchen upgrades and matching dinnerware sets are a great place to start, but the real pros know the secret sauce is in your pan—literally. Sure, presentation is key for making home-cooked food feel the slightest bit “pinkies out,” but let’s be honest, what you cook your food in is as important as the ingredients you buy. If you go that route, here are the basic pieces you need, plus why you should consider a Dutch oven.
The set includes two trivets that can be used when placing hot pans on the counter, serving at the table, or separating the pans when stacked. Other features include cool-touch, riveted stainless-steel handles designed for comfort and durability, and safe in the oven up to 500 degrees. T-fal’s hard-anodized finish promotes fast, even heating, and consistent cooking results. It also touts T-fal’s patented Thermo-spot indicator technology, which indicates when the pan is adequately preheated, making this set a good pick for beginner cooks, too. Shop World Market in-store and online for all the ingredients you need to make your next breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert a dynamite culinary creation. From mouthwatering stews to stir-fries, our selection of pots, skillets, braising pans and woks in different sizes and colors will pepper your stove top with delicious style.
On the bottom there’s a stainless-steel base that makes the cookware safe for use on an induction cooktop and you can pop a skillet in the oven up to 400 degrees F. There are no extra-large pots included, but the 6-quart stockpot is plenty adequate for soups and pasta water and can also serve as a Dutch oven. This scratch-resistant, nonstick coating is backed by a trusted name in nonstick cookware, and the rugged, hard-anodized aluminum construction makes it a kitchen workhorse.
Even professional chefs rely on nonstick skillets to cook tricky items like eggs and fish. It’s evident that HexClad knows that from looking at their product line, which only includes skillets and one wok. Unlike traditional nonstick pans, they’re designed to withstand high temperatures in order to achieve a good sear.
Depending on your style, choose a material that coordinates with existing appliances. Ceramic pieces match well with all-white kitchens and adds contrast to black countertops or cabinets. Not only is copper cookware an excellent material for heat conduction on the stove top, it’s also a beautiful accent color to complement cabinets, counters and other kitchen appliances. For kitchens with natural wood cabinets and accent pieces, stainless steel cookware is a perfect pair. If there’s no space for pots and pans in kitchen cabinets, hang them from wall or ceiling pot racks for a functional and stylish storage option. Finally, round out the kitchen setup with a convenient utensil set.
The lids are clear with handles that are designed to stay cool. In our tests, omelettes rolled out of the pan and steak browned nicely. The saucepan also performed well in our scorch test – barely any sauce stuck to the bottom of it. In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Technology Lab, we fried 165 eggs, seared 50 steaks cuisinart knife and more to rate more than 35 new cookware lines. We tested how evenly skillets distributed heat on gas and electric ranges, how well they browned meat and how well saucepans maintained a steady simmer and resisted scorching sauce. We evaluated how well nonstick surfaces released eggs and pancakes and after, how easy they were to clean.
Fully clad tri-ply construction means each pan is formed from a sandwich of two layers of stainless steel and an aluminum core. This gives our pans the even and quickly-heating properties of aluminum and the heat retention and durability of stainless steel. Everyday non-stick cookware with T-Fal’s unique thermospot technology. Created with the home chef in mind, T-fal Signature nonstick cookware provides an array of user-friendly features.
Typically, a 10-piece cookware set with standard pots, pans, and a few lids is a sound option. You’ll sometimes find cast iron cookware with an enameled surface. The good news is that the best cast iron Cookware Sets can last a lifetime and beyond. This item is probably the most unique on the list, combining stainless steel and nonstick into one. Each pan features a laser-etched hexagon design with an aluminum middle layer to deliver consistent even heating from any conduction source.
And the pans are oven-safe up to 450 degrees, making for a seamless transition from stovetop to oven recipes. This is also designed to nest for compact stacking, making this an especially great choice if you’re a serious home cook who’s short on space. The cookware is oven safe up to 500 degrees, and you can sear proteins in it like you would with stainless-steel cookware. Cookware Sets The extra-long, stainless-steel handles are double-riveted for durability, too, and maintain a cool touch during stovetop cooking. Due to their unique finish, nonstick cookware is also lauded for its effortless cleanup, and many brands are durable enough to withstand trips through the dishwasher, too. Grab a Kenmore cookware set to complete your perfect kitchen.