Cuisinart’s set includes a covered stock pot, two covered saucepans, two frying pans, a covered sauté pan and a steamer basket. Cookware is constructed from aluminum and features a nonstick ceramic interior that’s free from Perfluorooctanoic acid , a chemical that may cause health concerns, according to the American Cancer Society. Pieces are also designed with silicone handles that stay cool while you’re cooking, and the cookware is oven-safe up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cookware is meant to be functional, but you also want it to look good in your kitchen.
This Cuisinart HTP-9 Hammered Collection Cookware Set exists in a single number arrangement. What differs is the material used to finish the exterior – which can either be copper or stainless steel. The pots can take as much cuisinart pots and pans set as 500 degrees Fahrenheit in ovens and boilers at any one time – should you need to subject them to such cooking conditions. Since they are equipped with metallic lids, you don’t have to worry about taking those off first.
Anna Perling is a Wirecutter kitchen writer who has covered everything from hand mixers to small saucepans. To update this guide in 2020, she read new editorial reviews on Dutch ovens, including ones from Epicurious, The Kitchn, The Strategist, and America’s Test Kitchen. She also read up on the science of cookware, consulting Cooking For Engineers and Cooking Issues.
To save your friend from having to gouge their cast iron with a scrub brush, and to protect their treasured skillet from damage, treat them to this set of polycarbonate pan scrapers. They’re made specifically for cast iron and similar surfaces and work like a stiff rubber spatula to remove cooked-on food without damaging the pot’s surface. The scrapers are also cuisinart griddler elite dishwasher safe and totally reusable, so they’ll last for years. Compared with the Lodge, Le Creuset’s oven has a slightly larger cooking surface and straighter sides. Although it’s a bit easier for food to get stuck around the edges of Le Creuset’s oven, we were able to reach a whisk far enough into the corners to scrape up most bits while deglazing the pan.
A small strip of mirror-polished metal at the top of each rim adds a little extra style, and the included steamer is entirely mirror-polished on the exterior with different side handles than the rest of the set. The bottom of the pans are entirely smooth with rounded edges, and the lack of ridges or seams makes them easy to clean. On the handles are cast stainless steel coating to ensure heat is not absorbed from the body of the cookware set. Individual pieces are usually less than $100, but you typically pay between $100 and $200 for an aluminum or stainless steel set. If you’re willing to pay $200 or above, you can get an extremely large set or a set featuring enameled cast iron or copper cookware. Stainless steel is an extremely durable material but still more affordable than other options.