Finding new, modern cookware for your kitchen can be an overwhelming task. Still, if you start by choosing a well-known, highly-regarded cuisinart griddler elite brand, it’s much more manageable and enjoyable. Cuisinart is a well-known, industry-standard in both kitchen cookware and appliances.
The main incentive for buying piece by piece is that most sets come with smaller pan sizes. When you set out on a cookware set shopping expedition, it’s all but expected that you’ll be looking at higher price tags. That was certainly the case with most of the pan sets we tested in our larger review of stainless steel cookware.
To select our best cookware sets, we relied on our years of rustling pots and pan both in our test kitchens and on our own home stoves. We checked what professional reviewers had to say about their test results and what home cooks reported about long-time use. The most necessary items, according to Cayne, are a skillet, a sauté pan, a stock pot, a saucepan, and preferably a Dutch oven. Whether you’re a beginner cook learning to make simple recipes or a professional chef working on complex cuisines, a set of stainless steel cookware is a great addition to your kitchen.
She adds that her food ends up not only evenly browned, but also with none of it stuck to the pan once done doing so. If you’re intrigued by a complete set, we’ve put together the best stainless steel cookware sets to help you choose. Though a lot of stainless steel cookware claims to be dishwasher-safe, we still recommend washing it by hand whenever possible. A sponge cuisinart soup maker does a much better job of getting into a pan’s nooks and crannies . For difficult-to-remove items like burnt-on oil or lime deposits, a sponge and some Bar Keepers Friend usually do the trick. In the Wirecutter test kitchen, to remove burnt-on oil or discoloration we often use a slurry of baking soda and warm water, along with a sponge and a little elbow grease.
If you’d rather start with a few basics, you’ll be able to cook a lot with just a 3-quart saucepan, a 12-inch skillet, and an 8-quart stockpot. The pots and pans in the Tramontina Gourmet 12-Piece Tri-Ply Clad Cookware Set heat evenly and are a comfortable weight, so they aren’t cumbersome to lift. Their rounded, ergonomically shaped handles are also comfortable to hold. We’ve long-term tested an older (now-discontinued) version of this set for two years, and we’re confident that this durable cookware set will provide you with many years of use.
Although the pans were still usable after warping, their damage voids the warranty. Goldilocks is a direct-to-consumer cookware brand that was formerly called Potluck. (We opted not to test the former Potluck set because it came with just seven pieces and included a 10-inch skillet only.) The set we now recommend was introduced after the company’s rebranding. If you’re partial to keeping your cookware looking bright and shiny, note that this was one of the only sets we tested that looked like new after we cleaned it. Of course, burned-on oil or grease can be more challenging to remove with just regular dish soap or a run through the dishwasher.
Cookware is the cornerstone of your kitchen, so it’s worth investing in a set that is beautiful and durable and that heats evenly. And we believe the Tramontina Gourmet 12-Piece Tri-Ply Clad Cookware Set is the best for most home cooks because it offers solid construction at an affordable price. According to Rodgers, it’s important to follow the directions from the maker of your stainless steel cookware set to ensure you’re keeping it in the best shape. While many sets are dishwasher safe, some may recommend just using soap and water instead.
Like most stainless steel cookware, the Goldilocks pots and pans will discolor slightly over high heat, but this won’t affect its performance. Compare the Goldilocks 12-inch skillet we used to sauté chicken with an unused Goldilocks 10-inch skillet . For each set, we started by testing how well the large skillets retained heat. We did this by using an infrared thermometer to make a heat map of their cooking surface. We also sprinkled the surface of each large skillet with a dusting of flour and placed the pan over a medium-high flame to see how evenly the flour browned.