Will a $300 set of cookware, possibly bearing the name of a well-known chef, make your meals twice as tasty as a $150 set? Not according to our tests of nonstick and uncoated cookware.

We found that many of the lower-priced sets we tested were among the best at basic cooking. The Bialetti Fusion set, for example, is a mere $50 for nine pieces, counting the lids. It performed better in some of our tests than many cookware sets costing substantially more.

The best pots and pans we tested heated food evenly. Pots were able to maintain a low simmer that kept tomato sauce from spattering or a delicate batch of béchamel from scorching. Pancakes that were made in the best pans came out an appetizing golden brown. For most of the best cookware, the handles proved to be safe and comfortable to hold.


WHAT’S COOKING in cookware

Celebrity sells. Cookbooks and TV programs don’t seem to cut it anymore. If you want to be a celebrity chef these days, you need your own line of cookware. “Naked Chef” Jamie Oliver, for example, has a line from T-Fal. Rachael Ray, known for her 30-minute meals, found time to lend her name to the Anolon Advanced line, while Daniel Boulud, perhaps best known for his New York City restaurant’s $29 hamburger, lent both his name and initials to the Daniel Boulud Kitchen (DBK) Generation line of uncoated cookware. Befitting his longtime celebrity-chef status, Emeril has two lines to his name: one nonstick, the other stainless steel. As you’ll see in the Ratings, a chef’s signature is no guarantee of superior performance in your own kitchen. Some of their cookware did very well, but other sets were merely so-so.

Big kitchen brands add cookware lines. KitchenAid, known for its revered mixer, proved to have the best of the uncoated cookware. Henckels, best known for knives, was very good overall. Viking, manufacturer of expensive, “professional-style” ranges, has also expanded into cookware with its Professional Starter Set, a good but pricey performer.

New materials join old. Calphalon One cookware uses “infused” anodized aluminum, in which the cookware’s nonstick treatment “penetrates below the surface, into the pores” of the metal, according to its packaging. When we intentionally abraded the nonstick surfaces to simulate years of wear, the Calphalon held up quite well, but so did five other brands without the infusion technology.

A much older technology, cast-iron cookware, remains an option. We tested two brands but didn’t include them in the Ratings. We don’t consider cast iron suitable for everyday use because of its weight and uneven frying-pan heating. See Cooking in cast iron.

Overheating poses a hazard. Several pots proved unable to withstand a severe test designed to find out what happens when an empty pot remains standing on a hot burner. See Avoid cooking accidents.