Best place to get pots and pans

We've used many pots and pans in our test kitchen. Here are the best sets you can buy no matter what price point or material you're looking for.

Our Top Cookware Set Picks:

By Sharon Franke, Lauren Seib and T.K. Brady for Food Network Kitchen

We’ve been sautéing, frying and simmering in our test kitchens all day, every day for years. Using our pro experience, we’ve picked the perfect cookware sets for all kinds of cooks.

Pots and pans are available in a wide array of materials, with and without nonstick finishes, and there are distinct differences between the various offerings when it comes to how they cook and their ease of use. While sets are sold at a huge range of prices, you don’t have to spend top dollar to get a dependable one that you’ll find a pleasure to cook with. Before you shop it’s important to get a handle on what you like to cook and for how many people, as well as your tolerance for scrubbing and the size of your budget.

This article has been reviewed since its original publish date for accuracy, pricing and availability. We stand by our list of top cookware set picks.

What To Know Before Buying a Cookware Set

What's the Difference Between Cookware Set Materials?

• Copper cookware heats the most evenly and is the most responsive (meaning, take your pan of hollandaise off the burner and it stops cooking immediately so there’s no danger it will curdle). But copper is super pricey and requires a lot of upkeep if you want to maintain its bright, shiny finish.
• Aluminum is next-best at heat distribution. However, when you cook directly in aluminum some of the metal leaches into your food, giving it a gray-ish cast. The vast majority of aluminum cookware has some kind of finish, either enamel or nonstick, to prevent this from happening and also make it easier to clean. Some aluminum pans are hard-anodized, which means they’ve undergone an electrochemical process that strengthens and darkens the metal, protecting if from denting and stopping it from interacting with whatever you’re cooking. Aluminum cookware can’t be used on an induction burner unless it has a layer of stainless steel in the base.
• Stainless steel is prized for its beautiful appearance and durability. However, it’s a poor conductor of heat. Any stainless cookware “worth its salt” will be either clad, meaning it has an interior core of aluminum that extends through the base and up the side, or will have a layer of aluminum in the bottom to give even heating. Cookware made of stainless steel is pricey and grease splatters can be difficult to clean off.
• Nonstick cookware sets offer easy cooking and cleanup, especially for new cooks in the kitchen, but the coatings don't last forever and some have concerns about their safety. Read on for how to choose the right nonstick cookware set for you.

Are Nonstick Cookware Sets Safe?

• There’s no argument with the fact that nonstick coatings keep food from sticking and make cleanup easier. However, these finishes don’t last forever; eventually they will lose their stick resistant properties. That might not bother you if you bought an inexpensive omelet pan but can be upsetting if you’ve invested in an expensive set.
• Although there is no evidence that traditional nonstick coatings are toxic or harmful to cook in, they can release fumes if they overheat, which can happen if you preheat an empty nonstick pan or use it over very high heat. If you want the benefits of a nonstick coating but want to minimize any risks, you can opt for a ceramic nonstick coating. While these finishes, which are derived from sand, are not quite as good at releasing food and not as long-lasting, they can be safely used at higher heats.

What Pieces Should You Look For in a Cookware Set?

Consider what pieces are included. Keep in mind that some of the items are lids and sometimes the manufacturer throws in a few plastic utensils and adds them to the piece count.

• Every kitchen should have 8- and 10- inch skillets as well as a larger covered 12-inch skillet or straight-sided sauté pan. We give points to sets that include a 12-incher as it’s such a versatile pan for frying, stir-frying and one-pot dishes like paella or chicken with dumplings. And while you can always pick up a reasonably-priced small fry pan for eggs and crepes, filling in your set with a large pan, can set you back a bit.
• Every set will also include one or two saucepans and, again, larger ones are more useful as you can warm a cup of soup in a 3-quart pot but might not be able to make enough rice for the whole family in a 1-quart.
• Lastly, a piece that doubles as a stockpot or Dutch oven is always one component of a set. A 6-quart pot is plenty big enough for a batch of soup or stew and boiling water for pasta, but if you’re a pasta purist, who wouldn’t think of boiling your spaghetti in a pot smaller than 8 quarts, you may want to see if one is included.

How We Picked These Cookware Sets

To select our best cookware sets, we relied on our years of rustling pots and pan both in our test kitchens and on our own home stoves. We checked what professional reviewers had to say about their test results and what home cooks reported about long-time use.

In addition to considering how well pots and pans cooked and how easy they were to use and clean, we considered the assortment of pieces included in each set. Our picks contain a selection of pot and pans that we think will meet most of your cooking needs.

Sharon Franke has been testing and writing about kitchen equipment for over 30 years. Before becoming a cooking tools expert, she spent seven years working as a professional chef in New York City restaurants. In her free time, she's busy baking sourdough bread and rustling pots and pans on her own stove.