A stack is as wide as the widest pot, and fixed handles or a handle stick out. Furthermore, you choose between fixed and removable handles, and whether your pots have a coating. Our starting point is what the product page says about stacking, in the specifications or in the text. For the WMF sets, we also look at what WMF itself says.

Do you need removable handles for a stackable set?
Stacking is also possible with fixed handles: you place the smaller pots inside the larger ones. Most sets in this overview have fixed handles, and their product pages call them stackable. You can use a pot from the stack immediately, as the handles are already attached. With the Cookinglife Pannenset RVS / Zwart 4-Delig, you can store the lids separately or with the stack, depending on what fits in your cupboard.

Cookinglife Pannenset RVS / Zwart 4-Delig

Removable handles are included with the BerlingerHaus Pannenset Click-it Mat Antraciet 6-delig: there are two included, for two cooking pots and two frying pans. After washing, all four pots stack on top of each other, and the handles are stored separately. You can also use a pot in the oven, up to 220 °C, as long as the handle and lid are removed. However, you must click a handle in place each time before lifting a pot.

A set with fixed handles is for those who do not want anything loose in the drawer. The Click-it is for those who also want their frying pans in the same stack, without a handle sticking out.

BerlingerHaus Pannenset Click-it Mat Antraciet 6-delig

Do pots damage each other when stacked?

If pots lie directly on top of each other without anything in between, the bottom of the top pot rubs against the inside of the pot below. This happens every time you take one. A non-stick coating gets scratched from this, and stainless steel without a coating does not remain unscathed either. In reviews, some colored pots with a coating mention pieces of the edge breaking off, exactly where the handles of the pot above rest.

Stainless steel without a coating is the material of most sets here. All pots in the Click-it have a standard non-stick coating, which is not PFAS-free. Some baking pans from a few sets also have a coating; which sets that applies to is detailed further down in the sizes.

A sheet of kitchen paper between every two pots already limits the rubbing. The Cookinglife Pannenbeschermers Grijs ø 37.5 cm are wider than the widest pot in these sets. You can also place them over the edge of the pot below.

Cookinglife Pannenbeschermers Grijs ø 37.5 cm

How large are the pots in a stackable set?

A stackable set does not have to be small: in several sets here, the largest cooking pot is ø 24 cm. That is the size we recommend for a family in the stainless steel cookware sets.

In the WMF Pannenset Mini 5-Delig, the pots are ø 12 to ø 16 cm, and the largest is 1.5 liters; those sizes are specified by WMF. Three cooking pots of ø 16, 18, and 20 cm and a saucepan of ø 16 cm are included in four sets, with ø 20 cm as the widest pot. These are the Sola Pannenset Pearl 4-Delig RVS, the Sola Pannenset Mirage 4-Delig RVS, the BK Pannenset Marmite 4-delig, and the Cookinglife Pannenset RVS / Zwart 4-Delig. None of these five sets have a non-stick coating.

Four cooking pots up to ø 24 cm and a saucepan of ø 16 cm are available in five sets without a non-stick coating. For Sola, these are the Sola Pannenset Ruby 5-Delig Premium Triply RVS and the Sola Pannenset Juvia 5-Delig RVS, and for BK, the BK Pannenset Conical Cool 5-delig. WMF has two: the WMF Pannenset Function 4 5-Delig and the WMF Pannenset Comfort Line 5-Delig.

Also, with the BerlingerHaus Pannenset Click-it Mat Antraciet 6-delig, the widest pot is ø 24 cm. You get cooking pots of ø 16 and 20 cm and frying pans of ø 20 and 24 cm, with two removable handles. All pots have a standard non-stick coating.

Three Sola sets have a pot of ø 28 cm. The Sola Pannenset Pearl 5-Delig RVS has cooking pots up to ø 20 cm, a saucepan, and a sauté pan of that size. Only the sauté pan has a standard non-stick coating.

Frying pans of ø 24 and 28 cm are included in the Sola Pannenset Pearl 6-Delig RVS, together with cooking pots up to ø 20 cm and a saucepan. The Sola Pannenset Ruby 7-Delig Premium Triply RVS has the same frying pans, with four cooking pots up to ø 24 cm and a saucepan. In both sets, only the frying pans have a ceramic layer.

Two Beka sets have only frying pans, made of stainless steel and without a non-stick coating. In the Beka Koekenpannenset Cicla RVS 2-Delig, they are ø 24 and 28 cm, and in the Beka Koekenpannenset Cicla RVS 3-Delig, ø 20, 24, and 28 cm.

The GreenPan Koekenpannenset Mayflower has only frying pans, of ø 20 and 24 cm with a ceramic layer, and a spatula is included. For only saucepans, there is the Beka Steelpannenset Cicla 3-Delig, with ø 16, 18, and 20 cm and no coating.

For a narrow shelf, the WMF Pannenset Mini is the narrowest set here: according to WMF, none of its pots are wider than ø 16 cm. You can also save space with fewer pots; when choosing between a complete set and individual pots, we can help you further.

WMF Pannenset Mini 5-Delig
Of the sets with a cooking pot of ø 24 cm, WMF itself also calls the WMF Pannenset Comfort Line and the WMF Pannenset Function 4 stackable.

WMF Pannenset Comfort Line 5-Delig

WMF Pannenset Function 4 5-Delig

With the Sola Pannenset Ruby 7-Delig, there are already two frying pans with a ceramic layer in the box. The product page does not state whether they are included in the stack of cooking pots. You can bake without a coating with the Beka Koekenpannenset Cicla RVS 2-Delig, a stainless steel frying pan set that, according to its product page, is also stackable.