All these sets contain stainless steel cooking pots without a non-stick coating, with lids and a saucepan, and in some also a baking or roasting pan. The sets have a different lid per brand, and their largest cooking pot is ø 20 or ø 24 cm. DUCQ and Sola explain what their lid does with the steam, and we adhere to that explanation.

Can you keep your current pots on a cooktop with ventilation?

Whether there is ventilation in the plate or not: your pot gets warm due to the induction zone underneath. Pots that are still on gas should first pass the magnet test and the check for a flat bottom. Those who choose pots for induction with ventilation do so because of the steam.

With a regular lid, the steam rises. If that lid is slightly ajar on the side away from the ventilation, then the ventilation has to work harder to capture the steam. Kitchen stores and advisors point out a disadvantage with such cooktops: with a tall pot, the ventilation works less effectively.

If you are buying pots for your new kitchen anyway, then a downdraft cookware set is a logical choice. As long as your pots work well and the ventilation keeps up with the steam, there is no need for a new set.

What is different about a downdraft cookware set?

At DUCQ, the lid is made of glass, with a silicone ring and a notch on the side. According to DUCQ, that ring keeps the lid in place while the plate sucks the steam away through the notch. With that same notch, you can also pour more easily.

Sola counts the Diamond and Juvia sets among its downdraft pots and gives them a glass lid with a pouring system, so you can pour without a colander. Pots with such a pouring system often work well on a cooktop with ventilation, according to Sola. In the WMF Cookware Set Function 4 5-Piece, WMF describes a glass lid with a silicone edge and four pouring positions, but WMF does not mention the ventilation.

The plate itself, with its filters and air outlet, is discussed in our article about the downdraft ventilation system.

How many cooking pots does a downdraft cookware set have, and what else is included?

In a set with three cooking pots, the largest is ø 20 cm, good for about 3 liters. If there are four cooking pots, then there is also one of ø 24 cm. Sola has 5.5 liters in that. The advice about those sizes for a family or for one or two people is available with the stainless steel cookware sets.

The DUCQ 4-Piece Cookware Set has cooking pots of ø 16, 18, and 20 cm and a saucepan of ø 16 cm. In the DUCQ 6-Piece Cookware Set there are cooking pots of ø 16, 18, 20, and 24 cm, a saucepan of ø 16 cm, and a roasting pan of ø 26 cm. Whether you can stack the pots from these two sets is not stated on the product pages.

In the Juvia and Diamond sets from Sola, there is always a saucepan of ø 16 cm. The Sola Juvia 4-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set and the Sola Diamond 4-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set contain cooking pots of ø 16, 18, and 20 cm. The Sola Juvia 5-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set and the Sola Diamond 5-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set have the same cooking pots plus one of ø 24 cm. Only in the Juvia 5-Piece does the product page mention that the pots are stackable.

With the Pearl 5-Piece and the Pearl 6-Piece, you can also bake. The Pearl 5-Piece product page only mentions the cooking pots suitable for a cooktop with ventilation, while the Pearl 6-Piece mentions the entire set.

If you like to stack the pots in the cupboard, the page with stackable cookware sets shows how wide such a stack becomes and how to prevent scratches.

For stews, the DUCQ 6-Piece has a roasting pan of ø 26 cm. The product page of that set also shows an oven symbol.