Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsI've Discovered That Stainless Cookware Is An Industry Wide Con Job
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2020
I'm a home chef with a fair bit of experience in restaurants, a couple of which were kinda nice. I'm certainly not a pro. There are some gaps in my knowledge, and not every meal I make is a culinary delight (that would be exhausting), but I do occasionally get fancy.
If this is close to describing your skill level and cooking habits, or if you're getting there, then tune in.
The truth is that, up to a certain point, stainless isn't significantly better than ceramic-coated aluminum, and you certainly don't need a whole set of it. A full set in the $250 to $350 range simply isn't of high enough quality to make much of a difference.
I'll admit that I fell for the notion of a matching set of pretty stainless and thought that if I didn't like them I'd send them back. Which happened immediately. These are painfully thin pans with a thick slab stuck to the bottom. It's no wonder they don't show a close up of the rim without a lid on it.
Instead, buy an inexpensive (not cheap!) ceramic set and supplement it with a few pieces of quality stainless and cast iron. Which can be done for about the same price. Here is my current set up:
- A 12.5 inch, 5 ply, Zwilling frying pan. Replacing a beat up 12 inch Vollrath I nicked from an employer who shorted my last paycheck. It just showed up a couple days ago and I'm already in love. Similar in quality to All Clad but with a much better handle.
- A 10 inch vintage cast iron skillet. Modern stuff like Lodge saves money by leaving the surface rough, which lessens it's nonstick qualities. Vintage is smooth and you can usually find good deals on ebay or in thrift shops.
- Two 8 inch vintage cast iron skillets. Always good to have more than one egg pan.
- The GreenLife Diamond 14 piece set. I bought a set 4 years ago and, even though I've been pretty rough and careless, they are still in decent enough shape to donate. There are a few scratches in the coating from being in the sink with other utensils but they haven't expanded. No warping or denting. Lot's of scorching though. Which is completely my fault, I bought them before I got a deep fryer or cast iron skillet.
The new set I just received is of identical quality. The walls are respectably thick and the bottoms of the pans (not the pots) are extra thick. Plus, it comes with the old logo instead of the cutesy cursive shown in the pictures which is a bonus. This is what I'll be doing the majority of my cooking on.
- A Granite Ware 12 quart enamel stock pot. On the thin side but I only use it for boiling large amounts of water or making bone stock so it doesn't matter.
All together they cost about $325. I suppose I'll eventually want a nice saute pan and middling sauce pan but I'm in no rush. That can happen next year.
Anyhow, I hope this helped. Can't wait until the pandemic is over and I have better things to do with my time :)
