What Is the Best Cookware for Home Cooks?
Are you doing some research for your new cookware set? There’s so much selection out there that it’s challenging to properly assess every brand and product range.
Your cookware is an essential item for your kitchen, and you use it every day. It makes sense to invest in a decent set of pots and pans to ensure you get the best cooking experience possible.
We put together this review of the best cookware for home cooks to give you our top recommendations from the leading manufacturers.
What Is the Best Cookware for Home Use?
We looked at three leading cookware brands for this review; Misen, Made In, and Great Jones. All three brands produce high-quality products, but which is the better choice for your kitchen?
What Is the Best Cookware for Beginners?
If you’re a beginner in the kitchen, you need a functional but affordable cookware set. There’s no need to buy the best if you’re learning how to cook.
You can expect to make a few mistakes on your way to becoming proficient around the kitchen.
Beginners won’t be making complicated recipes, so it’s unnecessary to get an advanced 20-piece cookware set if you’re never going to use half of the items.
Quality cookware is important, and you need a set that’s going to last at least 5-years. Purchasing a starter set from one of the leading brands is a great way to get everything you need to start cooking.
With a starter set, you get the essentials, and you also have the option of adding to your collection with single items later as you expand your recipe repertoire.
We recommend going with the starter cookware set from Misen. Misen produces three-ply, fully-clad cookware using a tri-layer cladding process. The company makes a stainless steel Starter Cookware Set for $225.
It’s great value for money, with a 10-inch skillet, 3-Quart sauté pan, and 3-Quart saucier, with lids, included.
If you’re looking for a step up in quality and capacity, we recommend going with the Great Jones Family Style Set for $395. This 8-piece set includes a 10″ skillet, sauté pan, Dutch oven, stockpot, and saucier.
The Dutch oven, saucier, and pot come with lids. You get an attractive stainless steel design with non-stick cookware.
What Is the Best Performance Cookware for Amateur Chefs?
If you’re looking to upgrade your old cookware, and you know your way around the kitchen, the Made In range of cookware is a great choice for your kitchen.
Unlock your inner chef with the 11-piece Sous Chef set, featuring the following items.
- 10″ Stainless Clad Frying Pan
- 10″ Carbon Steel Frying Pan
- 2 Quart Saucepan with Lid
- 4 Quart Saucepan with Lid
- 3.5 Quart Sauté Pan with Lid
- 8 Quart Stock Pot with Lid
- 2 oz can Seasoning Wax
Made In is a top choice of celebrity chefs and 5-star Michelin Chefs around the United States.
The company uses a unique 5-ply cladding process to produce high-quality cookware that rivals the leading brands like All-Clad in terms of price and performance in the kitchen.
What Is the Best Budget Cookware?
If you’re looking for the most affordable cookware set available, without skimping on quality – we recommend going with Misen.
Misen manufactures its range in China, benefitting from its low-cost manufacturing facility and local materials supply chains.
You might think that Misen is a cheap product because it comes from China. However, the reality is the company uses high-quality 430-grade and 18/10 stainless steel in all its cookware.
The sidewalls in the Misen pan measure a 3 mm thickness. That’s thicker than the 2.6 mm from the market leader, All-Clad.
Misen cookware comes with an innovative design and excellent heat dispersion across the cooking surface. We already discussed how the Starter Set is the most affordable option for beginner sets.
Misen offers the Complete Cookware set for $425, featuring the following items.
- 10″ and 12″ Stainless Steel Skillets
- 3-Quart Sauté pan
- 6-Quart Rondeau
- 2 and 3 Quart Saucier
- 8-Quart Stockpot
- Lids
This Misen set comes with a lifetime guarantee and everything you need to create chef-style meals in your kitchen.
What Is the Best Cookware Material for Health?
If you’re going for the best non-stick options, we recommend looking at the ceramic coated pans in the Great Jones range or the stainless steel sets by Made In.
The best cookware brands for non-stick options all offer several non-stick options. However, make sure you avoid PTFE coatings containing PFOAs.
What Is the Best Nonstick Cookware Set?
If you’re looking at the best non-stick cookware for your health, going with stainless steel is the optimal choice. Stainless steel is a stable material, and it won’t leech any harmful metals into your food, even at high cooking temperatures.
The Misen essentials set is a good choice, with a 5-ply stainless and aluminum design for fast heating times and excellent heat control. However, with stainless steel, you might find some foods like steak crust, stick to a stainless pan.
Ceramic-coated pans offer you the best non-stick surface. Ceramic is non-toxic and easy to clean. We recommend going with the Great Jones Family Style Set for the best non-stick option.
What Cookware Do Professional Chefs Use?
Professional chefs rely on a range of different cookware in the kitchen to suit various tasks. As a chef, you need the best range of tools at your disposal.
If you’re looking for top-quality cookware set with everything you need to run a professional kitchen, we recommend going with the Made In Executive Chef set.
It’s expensive at $845, but the set includes
- 8″ and 10″ Non-Stick Frying Pan
- 10″ and 12″ Stainless Steel Frying Pan
- 12″ Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan
- Blue Carbon Steel Wok
- 2 Quart Saucepan with Lid
- 4 Quart Saucepan with Lid
- 3.5 Quart Sauté Pan with Lid
- 8 Quart Stock Pot with Lid
- 6 oz can Seasoning Wax
What Is the Best Overall Cookware for Home Cooks?
This Executive Chef set has everything you need to create any recipe, and it will be the last cookware set you ever need.
All Made In products come with a lifetime guarantee. We recommend this Executive Chef set as the winner of the best cookware for home cooks.