Owning a quality set of pots is essential for improving the flavor of the dishes you serve and minimizing the chance of ruining them.
A good set includes not only pans and saucepans of various sizes but also lids and other essential accessories.
Here we had listed out the best cookware sets that can be really useful in your home kitchens.
Cookware Sets Buyer Guide
Once you have an idea of how much a battery of pots cost and you have made your choice by purchasing one, it remains only to understand some useful dynamics to use it to its fullest potential.
In a self-respecting kitchen, a set of pots is precious, by virtue of the practicality and versatility of each utensil you find inside. Even just to prepare delicious cold dishes, you will need utensils suitable for the type of preparation.
Do you think that cold pasta cooks by itself? Obviously not, yet it is a dish that accompanies most Italians both in summer and in autumn and winter.
Size Matters
Everything has its function. By making a quick comparison between the various types of pots on the market, you will have already noticed that there are differences in shape and size.
This is not the simple whim of a company, but real and proper formulas for specific preparation. For example, a saucepan of 22 cm in diameter and with a low bottom, will be useful for cooking risotto and for stirring pasta, because it will facilitate the evaporation of water.
A 16 cm pan is more useful for quick, sautéed cooking, maybe for an egg with a bull’s eye, as a wok is classically recommended for preparations that need browning, to create the right consistencies of crispy, soft and liquid.
On the market then you will find essentially two standard sizes: 22 cm or 16 and 18 cm. Having made this brief explanation, it remains for you to decide which type of kitchen battery to buy, if the more complete ones or others that have only two elements but which respond to your habits and needs.
The Right Materials
Even if it was your first time that you take a look at the world of cookware sets, you will have realized that the choice is really vast, in quantity, quality, and models, but not in terms of the materials used.
While many years ago it was customary to prefer copper, stone, or iron to produce such articles, with the advent of industrial and technological development the production techniques of pot batteries have been refined.
Today the main materials that are used can be two, maximum three: stainless steel, aluminum, and some composition of mineral elements.
The first solution is famous for its durability and resistance: it is stainless steel, which grants thorough cleaning both with hand washes and with the dishwasher. In fact, it is not a porous material that collects dirt, far from it.
The second is a material which, compared to steel, has high conductivity (almost double), therefore it is used for a better distribution of heat on food.
Instead, they use some mineral elements characterizes both a more primitive aesthetic, similar to stone in all respects, and allows to better retain the heat. In almost all products you will find a combination of these elements, precisely to ensure better performance.
Some Precautions
A further point of interest for your potential buyers of cookware sets is the value of PFOA and nickel. “But what are they?” you will ask.
In essence, these are some chemicals present on the surface of many of the objects that everyone has at home and, above all, of the pots, since they are used in the coating of the outermost part.
The problem encountered occurs when, especially at high temperatures, PFOA starts to become unstable and could cause serious health problems if taken in large quantities.
Fortunately, in most of today’s items, especially the best-known brands, nickel, and PFOA are minimized if not completely eliminated and, generally, their absence is verifiable by a green dot on the package. Nonetheless, it is always good to check that everything is well specified.
Irrevocable consequences occur only in the presence of large quantities in the blood, but it is good to know certain things and have the right precautions!
The Type of Hob
Today there are several options regarding hobs and as many solutions for cookware sets suitable for each of these. The typologies that are the principles are either gas or induction hobs, but there are also some camping stoves that can support the weight of heavier dishes.
You must first know the type of kitchen you use because there are some batteries of pots designed for both induction and flame use, but also others that have a bottom too little to be able to sustain the heat of a lit flame and therefore they would end up ruining immediately.
Basically, it is important that the bottom is more than 1 cm thick. This applies to every type of use, especially to avoid carbonizing food: a risk always around the corner.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Pieces Does a Set of Cookware Have?
The best-selling sets on the market usually have a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 16 pieces. There are some items that also have complimentary accessories such as potholders, cookbooks, ladles, spoons, and other items that are always nice to find and use in the stove.
There are valuable solutions that also provide knives, increasing the number of products you find inside a battery of pots. The reason for the presence of so many items is that most people love to buy everything at once, without necessarily having to find specific products, but relying on the quality of a brand whose characteristics they already know.
What Pieces Should Cookware Have?
Whether you are alone, a small family or maybe off-site students, who do not like sharing things with other tenants, you will have to look for what is called the “starter pack kit”.
The pan will serve you to cook quickly, optimizing your time and in the case of preparations that do not require very long cooking. The casserole instead will be suitable for cooking pasta or making a good broth. Last but not least, a small pan, just not to dirty the previous dishes when you want to cook quickly.
How Do You Evaluate a Good Set of Cookware?
On the basis of the best evaluation of a cookware set, there must be knowledge of the materials with which the articles are produced. An important criterion could be the degree of completeness of a set of pots, in which to find dishes of all types and genres, perhaps with some useful accessories.
To be clear, a battery of pots without a saucepan and a pan, if it is your first set, is not the right one. On the other hand, it is good to evaluate those that also have a wok inside. What is wok? Simply a pan used mainly in East Asia.
Its main feature is the best conduction and expansion of the heat on the cooking surface: this allows you to cook in half surprisingly times and giving the classic crunchy texture to food, which is also found in Asian restaurants.
