Customer Reviews

Wolfgang Puck Stainless-Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I received a set of Stainless Steel Wolfgang Puck pans from my parents as a gift two years ago. They figured I would enjoy some high class cookware especially since it came with the extra cooking utensils. I was so excited to have designer cookware, and I have been repeatedly disappointed in so many ways. I'll spell them out clearly so others can make an informed purchase:

1) This cookware starts out looking great, but after a few uses on a gas stove, the pitting and discoloration of the steel is terrible. I read all the instructions and cared for these pans with much effort - handwashing, gentle cleaning, etc. They have been so pitted and stained after the first month of average use that I'm embarrassed to use them when other people are in my kitchen because they look downright dirty. I even tried gentle silver polish, overnight soaks, and just good ole' elbow grease without success.

2) Uneven cooking. I have been cooking for over 15 years, and some of that has been in professional kitchens. I routinely find that these pans heat unevenly causing food to burn in certain spots. The burned areas then stick to the pan. Forget trying to make delicate things like an over-easy egg. Almost every time I cook something using a dry cook method, it stick badly. I routinely break egg yolks, have well-buttered grilled sandwiches stick and then fall apart upon turning, and even less delicate things like 'hamburger helper' dishes have burned, but only in spots. Thank goodness I don't have kids in the house that might require 30 seconds away from the stove because cooking in these pans requires constant attention. Now, please assume I've tried adjusting the heat and stirring thoroughly and frequently. The same dishes I've made for years in other pans has ended up burned in these pans. I've even had the stove replaced over the past two years, and nothing has helped this issue.

3) Skin Burns! Stoves are hot so sometimes handles heat up on any cookware, but the handles on the pots, and especially on the lids seem to heat up much more than I'd anticipate. Steel is a conductive metal, so I'd expect some heat, but I've burned my hands more than a couple times by simply lifting a lid without a potholder. Actually grabbing the side handles of a pot could cause serious burns even after only a few minutes on the stove. This is just unsafe and poor design. I've also had friends who have cooked with me in my kitchen comment that these pans/pots 'spit'... what I mean is that if I'm heating water in the small saucepan, as I pour the hot water from the pan into a cup, the water spits and sputters (often onto the hands causing burns) as it contacts the heated edges of the pan when pouring. I've had this happen a little with other cookware occasionally, but it's a large problem with this cookware. Again, the heating qualities of these pans causes the areas not in contact with food to heat up very quickly.

4) Rivets are dangerous. To anyone shopping for pans, please take this point into consideration. When a rivet is exposed to food, such as they are with this pan, you set up a recipe for disaster. Food can become wedged in the small spaces around the rivets which makes cleaning very hard. Additionally, if those areas aren't cleaned properly, lodged food can grow all kinds of nasty food borne illnesses which are directly transferred to food next time you cook. Yes, heat kills bacteria the next time you heat up the pan, but it doesn't always kill the toxins that the bacteria produced while it was alive and well before heating. The toxins are what make you hospital-worthy sick. With these particular pans, they cut some corners with the rivets also, and they look as if they're oxidizing and beginning to break down. Again, disappointed.

5) The larger pots do not stack. Have ample cupboard room because even my small set takes up more space than it needs to. Poor design.

So, I'm stuck with a set of cookware that looks bad and cooks poorly. Who cares about the price or how good of a deal you're getting if you're food is sticking and your hands are burning? My recommendation: save your money and buy something else.

I purchased this set after I had cheaped out on two separate sets I had purchased from Big Lots and Target. Those sets started to fall apart after two weeks and couldn't withstand repetitive, long-term use (I make a lot of stews and slowly cooked items). So I opted to purchase this set with the only expectation for it not to fall apart.

This set has remained resilient for me. Easy to clean, easy to cook in, and considering the frequency of usage, it still looks great. Nothing is peeling, falling apart, and the handles are still sturdy. I also appreciate the variety of cookware, allowing me to cook beyond my stews. I might not know much about gourmet cooking, but personally I found this to be a prudent investment and would recommend it to anyone.

I wish I had the same thing to say. I have the 10 piece set also. I think it is cheap due to the studs (that connect the handle to the pot). They look horrible after cooking in them several times. Im not sure why. But they all look that way. I havent seen any other set do that. My old cheap Wearever set didnt do that. I will buy Calphalon the next time. Im burnt on Wolfgang Puck. I do like the untensils alot

We bought the 10 piece Wolfgang Puck cookware set and LOVE it. We previously had a Mirro non-stick cookware set for many years and made the switch to stainless steel. We bought this set because it looked like a high quality set, had long handles to reduce heat and versatile pieces, and the price was right. We've used it for 2 months now and have handwashed and dishwashed all of the pieces. On rare occasions when a piece comes out of the dishwasher with dried on food, we simply use vinegar or a bit of baking soda and wipe it out. The finish has stayed shiny and new-looking. We have a flat top electric stove and have not noticed any uneven cooking or burning patterns as a another reviewer experienced on a gas stove. Admittedly, we have read up on the use of heat and cooking oils and have made the switch to adapt to this stainless set from our former non-stick set. We're not expert cooks by any means and are managing just fine with this great starter set. It's a great buy!

Wolfgang has come out with a new 10 PC set this time is it is a true 10 pcs se with no tools this is a great gourmet set for someone who wants high quality stainless steel. I am an owner and user of the Wolfgang Puck 20 PCs set sold by Amazon. This 10 PCs set has everything you need to do quality gourmet cooking. What is great it is it has some of the same pieces in the 10 pcs set Wolfgang did NOT cut any corners.

Wow, what can I say that hasn't already been said about how disappointing this cookware is? I thought I had stumbled on a bargain when I found the 10-piece set at Ross for $89.99. In hindsight, maybe that was a sign that this set is being discontinued? That's not always a negative; closeouts can be awesome. But in this case, not so much.

At this price level, I expect sauce pans and stockpots of like materials to be pretty much like the next, though these all became discolored after a single go on my gas stove top on a medium flame. But I don't buy my cookware to look pretty, so that's not my major issue.

I'll concentrate my review on the omelette pans since that's where cookware will really show its true colors--and they're my go-to pans for most purposes, so I want equipment that's reasonably easy to work with (with a moderate amount of skill and knowledge about how to cook with stainless) and relatively easy to clean. These get a zero on both counts, as from their first use food stuck to a ridiculous degree. I tried oil, butter, oil and butter combined, and high-heat cooking spray in various attempts to fry a single egg and keep it from sticking, but each time the whites practically wedded with the pan such that I ended up having to scramble them to continue cooking (and left a good quarter of each egg behind in the pan to be soaked away as much as possible in the sink). From their first use, I literally could never get them clean again, even with baking soda. Oh, and their lightweight steel handles and lid knobs efficiently conduct heat to your hands such that they're too hot to handle without a potholder after just a few minutes of cooking.

In short, as I had gleefully recycled all my old pans upon buying this set--dumb, I know--I began to dread cooking anything. (I'm typically an enthusiastic cook.)

I finally admitted to my spouse that I had made a huge blunder in buying this set without doing my research (darn, I wish I had had my iPhone with me when I was at Ross so that I could have read these reviews first) and I began reading reviews in earnest to replace my 2-week-old cookware. My story has a happy ending: I went to Macy's last night to get a feel for how various pans felt in my hands and stumbled on an actual bargain--a set of All-Clad at 70% off; this location had simply ended up with a 14-piece set, which they don't ordinarily stock, so it had been hiding inconspicuously in a far corner of the homewares section in a relatively plain box, progressively marked down for clearance! I've had an All-Clad chef's pan for 15 years that cooks and cleans up awesomely well, but it was a gift and I didn't expect that I could ever afford to fully equip my kitchen with the stuff. Now I can truly look forward to cooking again!

At this price level I've heard that the Cuisinart Chef's Classic set is quite good, though I thought the handles were a bit uncomfortable when handling them last night at Macy's. I did like the feel of the Simply Calphalon set, and it's nice that it's mostly stainless mixed with nonstick omelette pans. I know we're all trying to avoid toxicity issues, but stuck eggs suck. I would totally recommend going to brick and mortar stores to at least handle the pans before buying; you might even end up stumbling on an unexpected motherlode.

I bought this set 6 months ago because we had Teflon cookware and there's been so much negative press on Teflon lately and I didn't feel safe cooking with it anymore. So far I have no complaints. There has been absolutely no discoloration in any of the pieces (and I've used all) and it cooks food just fine. Everything is very sturdy. Scrambled eggs don't clean up well from the pans, but my sister has the same complaint with her stainless set, which is not Wolfgang Puck.

If you're not a professional chef type person with crazy expectations, I think this set is just fine.

I have had Wolfgang's cookware for 10 years now and it is as shiny as the day I bought it. I do not put it in the dishwasher, and to remove stains from the bottom of the inside of the cookware all I use is white vineger. enough to cover the bottom, and warm it. Let it stand for 10 mins and rinse. thats it.
I have never used polish on these pots and pans as its not necessary.
The only complaint I really have it that the rivets on the inside, some are pitted and some are not, but thats because at one time or another I was cooking above the cooking line.
I have been cooking for 21 years, and professionally for 16. I think this cookware is great, you just have to use some common sense in caring for them. With good cookware there are certain things you have to do to take care of them.
Wolfgang Puck 20 Piece Cookware Set

I have the cookware and I had the pressure cooker. I've had these posts for about 8 years and they really have not held up well. I have much older and cheaper pots that still look good. These not so much. I also bought his 6 quart pressure cooker and the steel base started to separate from the rest of the pot. NOT a good sign when cooking under pressure. I threw it out immediately. What a waste of money.

I purchased this set from Ross for $69.00 and it was a steal. This is my first purchase of a stainless steel set. I have used Calphalon and Circulon before and liked them also-but they were nonstick.

The secret to using these pans seems to be to heat them up with nothing in them to not much over a medium heat before cooking in them. Then reduce heat to what is needed. I have a gas stove and these pans DO NOT require high heat to get the same heat as you would with other pans. NOTHING sticks to them so far. They clean up beautifully with no stains, discoloration or pits. Because you don't need high heat from your stove the handles are easy to handle. The lid metal does get too hot to handle without a pot holder-but they do cool off quickly.

If you keep the heat on the pans to med high at best and probably lower, your handles can be held with bare hands. The heat seems to stay in the heavy bottom of the pans.

Before purchasing these I read a lot in chats about using stainless pans and several experienced cooks seemed to say the same thing: heat them without anything in them before you cook in them, then reduce and cook. It works!!!! These are fantastic pans and I am sold on having stainless-especially these pans of such great quality.