Does a stainless steel cookware set also include a frying pan?

Usually not: most stainless steel sets of four pieces or more consist of cooking pots and a saucepan, occasionally with a soup pot included. A set with a stainless steel frying pan is an exception. In the store, we recommend a cooking pot, a frying pan, and a sauté pan as a base, and of those three, a stainless steel set usually only includes the cooking pot.

What none of these three types of sets include is a stainless steel sauté pan; you can find those among the individual sauté pans. If you choose a set with only cooking pots and still want to cook without a non-stick coating, you have two options. The first is a stainless steel frying pan set, such as the Sola Frying Pan Set Green Cooking+ Triply Stainless Steel 2-Piece for €99.99, with frying pans of ø 24 and 28 cm. The second is an individual stainless steel frying pan.

Does everything stick in a stainless steel pan?

Yes, if you put something in before the pan is hot enough. Why everything sticks in a stainless steel pan is a frequently asked question in our store. The answer often lies in the waiting, and many people lack patience for that. If you do wait, meat will first stick and then release itself, with a crust on it. This makes a stainless steel frying pan especially a pan for steak.

A stainless steel baking pan requires patience until it reaches temperature, with a drop of water as a test, and then enough fat. Most adjustment is needed with protein-rich foods, such as eggs, fish, and chicken. Expect the adjustment mainly in the pan you are frying in, as cooking pasta or potatoes in the cooking pots of your set requires much less practice. You also do not need to season a new stainless steel pan first: your food releases thanks to the heat and the fat.

If you are mainly looking for convenience, we do not recommend a stainless steel frying pan as your first frying pan. If you want a coating in all your pans, then ceramic cookware sets suit you better. Your cooking pots can remain stainless steel if you only seek that convenience when frying. Then take a set like in the third row of the table, or buy a frying pan with a coating separately alongside a set with only cooking pots.

Is a four-piece stainless steel set large enough for your household?

The largest cooking pot determines whether a set is large enough. You cannot rely on the number of pieces. The Cookinglife Cookware Set Stay Cool 7-Piece and the KitchenAid 4-Piece both have four pots, but only the former counts the three lids as a piece. So compare sets based on the number of pots and the diameters from the title or product features.

Most four-piece stainless steel sets stop at a pot of ø 20 cm, around 3 liters. A cooking pot of ø 24 cm holds about 5 to 7 liters. In the store, 4 to 6 liters is considered a standard size for the pot in which you cook soup or pasta. So a set up to ø 20 cm does not have one in that class.

For a family, we recommend a set with ø 24 cm, such as the WMF Cookware Set Quality One 5-Piece: four cooking pots up to ø 24 cm, the largest being 6.8 liters. For one or two people, a set up to ø 20 cm may be sufficient. If you still miss a large pot, choose one from the individual cooking pots instead of a larger set. If you already have part of your pots in the cupboard, read when individual pots are smarter than a set.

What do you pay for in a more expensive stainless steel set?

Below €100, the stainless steel sets of four pieces or more do not go beyond ø 20 cm here, such as the Furore. What you pay above that can be in three things:

A larger pot: the cooking pot of ø 24 cm from the sizes above is only in sets above €100.
A pan for frying: with the Sola Ruby, you can see what that costs. The 5-piece set with only cooking pots and a saucepan costs €229, the 7-piece set with two ceramic frying pans included €299.
The construction: in most larger sets where the product page mentions it, there is a core of aluminum in a thick bottom. In three- or five-layer pans ("triply" or "5-ply" in the name), that core runs through to the wall, so the sides also warm up. You find that especially in frying pan sets, such as the five-layer Beka Frying Pan Set 2-Piece Maestro 5-Ply and the three-layer Green Cooking+. A few larger sets also have it, such as the Ruby and the KitchenAid.

Sometimes you also pay for convenience, such as removable handles or a lid with which you can drain.

Stainless steel has no coating that wears out, so even a simple stainless steel set lasts a long time, as long as you do not drop it and keep it clean. For a family, a set up to ø 20 cm is less advantageous than it seems, as you will buy the large pot later anyway. If you want to be sure of layers up to the wall, choose a set where that is stated on the product page.

Does a stainless steel cookware set work on induction, and does the bottom stay flat?

The stainless steel sets here all work on induction, and thus also on gas. Stainless steel can withstand rapid heating, but whether a pan warps depends on the quality.

You can prevent the bottom from deforming by not placing a stainless steel cooking pot empty on the fire. On induction, an empty pan also heats up quickly. You can heat a stainless steel frying pan empty, but slowly: keep the cooking zone at about 60 percent and only go down to about 40 when the pan is hot. If you turn the setting back, the pan follows quickly, as stainless steel cools down faster than cast iron.

With a new induction plate, first check if a pan you already have works on induction before you buy a whole set. If the extraction is in your cooking plate itself, then choose among the cookware sets for a downdraft cooking plate mainly from stainless steel sets.