Before You Buy a Cookware Set

Planning to Buy a Cookware Set?

Do you own a cookware set? If you don’t, it is probably in your standing wish list. Many people invest in cookware set this time of year (it is Christmas, after all!) so here are a few guidelines and questions for those of you choosing the cookware set. Whether you are buying the versatile All Clad Cookware or another brand name of cookware set, run through these questions and tips as you go about your cookware set shopping.

1. Do I really need to buy a cookware set? – The first question you should ask yourself is whether you really need a cookware set. Indeed, they are beautiful on the pot rack or in your cabinet and they are very handy for certain kitchen tasks. But we have found that a good skillet and a saucepan are just as useful for nearly every cooking task. If you don’t make a lot of variety food, you don’t really have to own a cookware set. But does a cookware set make everything a little easier? Sure. And if you make a lot dishes, it’s very useful.

2. If I had a cookware set, would I work with each piece in the set more than once a week? – This is an arbitrary standard, but I probably wouldn’t have bought my own cookware set if I didn’t think I would use it about once a week, or frequently.

3. Do I have space for storing a cookware set? – Some cookware set consists of 2 to 14 piece in the box. It’s difficult to store them in a narrow kitchen, so except if you have a built-in appliance lift or kitchen appliance garage, you will need a lot of room or space for them. But if you do have a narrow space but still want to buy a cookware set, why don’t you buy a pot rack for addition, it helps you to solve storing problems and also protect your pots and pans much better than a kitchen cabinet.

4. Which kind of pots and pans do you need? – For a few people a skillet and a saucepan would be adequate for them, but for others like me, I need a lot of pots and pans. My advice has always been to start small. Cookware is one thing that really shouldn’t be skimped on: cheap pots and pans are simply not worth it. That doesn’t really mean you need to invest a lot of your funds, though; you could find great deals on good cookware at retailers like Amazon, Cooking.com or even at a garage sale.

5. What sort of cookware material that fits on your cooktop? – If you use a conduction stovetop, some cookware surface cannot be used. There are a lot of type of cooking surface available, such as stainless steel, iron, copper, ceramic, enameled iron, glass, and Hard-Anodized.

6. Is it easy to clean or not? – If you don’t like to waste your time cleansing your cookware by hand, you better pick up a cookware set that features dishwasher safe. But for some cookware, even the manufacturer state dishwasher safe, you still have to wash by hand to avoid scratch on your pans, example like, All Clad Cookware, they are dishwasher safe, but due to the hefty price, you better wash by hand only.

7. How much can I afford to spend? – Once you have decided that you could afford the counterspace, and that yes, a cookware set is a great investment for your kitchen and your cooking style, it is time to decide how much you are willing to spend. Cookware set can be found for anywhere from about $100 to over $2000.

Little Information About Cookware Materials

Stainless Steel

Positive: Nonreactive (meaning you can cook any kind of food in it, the food taste won’t change), heavy, durable, dishwasher-safe, inexpensive for some basic models. Negatives: Poor heat transfer and distribution. A better alternative? You can solve this problem by buying much better quality (and higher priced) stainless steel cookware with an added inner core made of copper or aluminum, which improves the heat conductivity. It might be pricey, but it’ll last a lifetime. All-Clad is a great model associated with high-end stainless steel cookware.

Copper

Positive: Excellent thermal conductivity, cooks food evenly. Negatives: Reactive with alkaline or acidic foods, which can result a metallic taste after being cooked in a copper pot. Light colored foods, like eggs, can also develop grey streaks when they pick up the copper compounds, which also means you’ll ingest small amounts of copper. Not really a problem if it’s an infrequent thing, but not so great for everyday use. Copper also requires routine polishing and maintenance, and it’s costly. A better alternative? Consider copper pots with a stainless steel or tin layer so you get the best of both worlds: great thermal conductivity, with the safety and versatility of a nonreactive layer.

Aluminum

Positive: Excellent thermal conductivity, light-weight, inexpensive. Negatives: Like copper, raw aluminum is extremely reactive to alkaline or acidic foods. It’s also very soft and is likely to warp in high heat and scratch easily, which leads to health concerns with long-term use. A better alternative? Anodized aluminum has been treated by an electro-chemical process that hardens it, as a result solving most of the issues with raw aluminum. It’s more costly than raw aluminum, but also a far excellent cookware material. While anodized aluminum does take longer to heat up than other materials, it’s an exceptional heat conductor (superior to stainless steel), scratch-resistant, and lightweight but still very strong.

Cast Iron

Positive: Sturdy, affordable, naturally non-stick if properly seasoned, distributes heat evenly and maintains heat well, imparts iron to foods (an added benefit for some), great for long, low simmering and browning. Negatives: Cast iron is also reactive, and doesn’t take well to acidic foods. It’s also fairly heavy, takes a long time to heat up, requires a bit more effort to clean and preserve. Another alternative? While we still prefer raw cast iron for skillets, enameled cast iron (cast iron coated in porcelain enamel) has most the advantages of cast iron without the extra trouble, so it’s a great material for dutch ovens. It’s non-reactive, easy to clean, and beautiful.

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