So go ahead and get a nonstick skillet, but get a cast aluminum one. It’s not only cheaper, but it will heat just as well, probably better, and you’ll be happy that you got 2-3 years of use out of a $30 pan (rather than 2-3 years of use out of a $100+ pan). The more expensive brands in our top 5 have a thicker layer (or layers) of aluminum.
Many top cookware brands today have 5 or even 7 plies of cladding. Disc clad cookware is cheaper to make, so it’s seen in a lot of cheaper brands. Glass and ceramic cookware are poor heat conductors, heavy, breakable, tramontina cookware set and really all-around not great cookware (because glass and ceramic are insulators, not conductors of heat). People who use this cookware are primarily concerned with avoiding toxins, not with premium performance.
On the other hand, the 14 piece set has some really nice pieces, including a chef’s pan, a 12-inch skillet, and a 6-quart deep sauté pan (yes–the one we mentioned above as one of our favorites). This more than makes up for this set’s lack of a larger sauce pan. It’s actually a very nice set, and the only filler-ish piece is the 2-quart sauce pan (though most people wouldn’t consider that a filler piece). Here are the most popular All-Clad tri-ply sets–but we’re not necessarily recommending that you buy a set.
The internal layer of stainless in D5 slows down heat transfer, which some people believe improves evenness. But in our testing, the cookware with the thicker layer of aluminum performed better. Clad stainless steel cookware is pretty much unsurpassed in durability, except for cast iron (which is heavy and spreads heat slowly and unevenly). But just as with the heating properties, not all clad stainless is created equally. This is because of its stainless steel exterior, which is strong and also unreactive; exactly what you want in cookware.
Budget brands are fine, IF they’re reputable–but avoid no-name brands if you don’t know their quality. If you want to avoid using too much added fat in your cooking, switching to nonstick cookware is a good idea. This way, you can still make delicious meals without using too much butter, oil or lard. One of the most important pieces everyone needs in their kitchen is a nonstick frying pan. With frying pans that do not have a nonstick coating, you will need to add in copious amounts of fat in order to ensure the food doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan while cooking.
The pieces are too small, or there’s one or two that you’ll never use, or you just have to settle in one way or another. But you get the set because it’s so much cheaper than buying all the pieces separately. This primarily means 1) heating properties, and 2) durability. 400-grade is typically only used on the exterior because it is less corrosion resistant than steels that contain nickel (and/or other rust inhibiting ingredients). You may also see the term “surgical stainless steel” used for cookware.
If you’re new to clad stainless cookware, you should know that there’s a learning curve to cooking with it, especially if your background is nonstick. If you want the best of the best (and can afford it), Demeyere Atlantis is the cookware to get. And even if you don’t want to get a whole set, consider investing in a Proline skillet.
Or maybe there’s a valid reason that Americans dislike bottom-clad pieces. As great as the Atlantis cookware is, the heavy bottoms can make it feel a little “unbalanced” when you’re accustomed to fully clad pieces. In the US, these are thought of as mostly interchangeable pans. The different design of the Atlantis cookware makes this a less straightforward option.