cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/41342101
What’s your favorite brand of BIFL cookware for induction?
I’m looking to upgrade my kitchen with industrial-quality pots and pans. After about a month of searching, I came to the conclusion that the most important requirements are:
- 3-ply (or 5-ply). Fully clad (not just the bottom disc).
- 18/8 or 18/10 stainless steel on the inside
- 18/0 (or 200- or 400-grade) magnetic stainless steel on the outside.
- Thick layers of metal (ideally >= 3mm of aluminum)
- Strong, serviceable rivets on handles (not welded)
- Handles on both sides of the pot (helper handle)
- Handles have a hole in them on the end (for hanging)
- Fits a 28 cm (or 11”) lid (easily replaceable standard size that’s interchangeable between metric and dumb units)
- Top rim should either have a pour spout or flared lip (for easier pouring)
- NSF certified
From what I’ve read, stainless steel isn’t a very good conductor (NIST says that aluminum transfers heat 16x better than stainless steel). But stainless steel is a better surface to cook-on, because it’s less reactive and won’t absorb flavours. So, 3-ply sandwiches a thick aluminum layer between two different types of stainless steel (nickle-free [eg 18/0 or 200- or 400-grade] on the outside, which – though less corrosion resistant – is important for it to work on an induction cooktop) and either 18/8 or 18/10 on the inside.
5-ply is also a thing, but my research suggests that it doesn’t really matter how many layers. What’s more important is the thickness of the material.
And that’s why I’m here. Because, confoundedly, the manufacturers of these pots don’t seem to even know how thick the layers of their 3-ply cookware is!
Ideally I’d just find the technical specifications of their cookware on their website, make a spreadsheet, and then buy the one with the thickest material (or close to the thickest, depending on my trade-off between quality vs weight & cost).
But I’ve called maybe a dozen manufacturers, and none seem to know the specifications of their own cookware :(
So, fediverse, I ask you: does anyone know what the thickness of the layers in these manufacturer’s 3-ply cookware is? Otherwise, what’s been your experience? How do you feel about these brands? Is there some other one (not listed) that you prefer?
- Browne Thermalloy
- All-Clad
- Made-in
- Tramontina
- Cuisinart
- Other?
Edit: I should be clear that I’m specifically asking about 3-ply or 5-ply stainless steel cookware. This is for a community house, so I need something that can be (ab)used by housemates who don’t know or care for the seasonings on the pans. And I don’t want cast iron, because it’s more likely to break the glass-topped induction cooktop.
So after loosing my patience trying to figure out the best pans and hearing good things about titanium but not wanting to drop the money on ourplace titanium ones, I bought some generic Chinese titanium ones from Amazon and ebay, they’re often advertised as “hammered titanium”, typically they are 3 ply, but some are 5…
The best of this variety is this one
They are non-stick in the same way that stainless steel is (get up to temp, so that a bead of water dances across the pan before adding oil), very easy to clean with either a brush or stainless chainmail scrubber, no effect on flavour, has survived me cooking paella and aggressively scrapping it with a stainless steel spatula, with no affect on the non-stick.
Sorry I can’t answer your actual questions but hope this helps
Tramontina 3-layer stainless Walmart brand).
Manufacturers today make sure they work on induction by using a stainless with more iron in it. If in doubt, just put a magnet to it.
America’s Test Kitchen did a test of stainless cookware years ago and determined that 3-ply is all you need. 5 is a little nicer but not for the cost. And 7 is just (in my best Monty Python voice) “right out!”.
Stainless alone is largely buy it for life, as it’s robust.
I have both expensive and inexpensive brands in my kitchen, and frankly can’t tell the difference for 3-4x the cost. And we cook every day, both simple stuff and really complex things.
Shocking how much faster the stainless heats up - I have to turn it down to 1 for a simmer, even for large pans or large volume.
If you want a little better than Tramontina, get Cuisinart. But I don’t think you’ll see the difference.
Get a set, one with stainless lids. Glass lids are a pain, they break. Stainless can run through the dishwasher and you can throw it across the room. Glass invariably has some plastic on it that will age and crack.
I’ve had one stainless pot develop a crack at the handle - and this was on the expensive brand (a $300 pot). Fortunately they replaced it without a problem. My Cuisinart has been rock solid.
