Cookware sets are priced per piece, which is why they contain pieces nobody asked for. A fourteen-piece set typically counts lids as pieces and includes two sizes of saucepan that differ by half an inch.
Work from tasks instead. Most domestic cooking is six or seven repeated operations, and each has a pan shape and material that suits it. The list that comes out is shorter than any set and better matched to what you cook.
The tasks, and what each needs
Searing and frying protein
Needs: high thermal mass, a surface that tolerates high heat, low sloping sides so steam escapes rather than collecting.
Pan: a 10- or 12-inch cast iron or heavy carbon steel skillet.
Why mass: cold meat drops the surface temperature of a thin pan and you steam instead of browning. Mass is what prevents that, and no amount of burner power substitutes for it.
Everyday sautéing, pan sauces, anything acidic
Needs: non-reactive surface, even heat, visible fond for deglazing, oven-safe.
Pan: a 10- or 12-inch fully clad stainless skillet or sauté pan.
Why stainless: it is the only common skillet material that is indifferent to tomatoes, wine and lemon. This is the pan to spend money on, because it will not wear out.
Eggs, crepes, delicate fish
Needs: release at moderate heat. Nothing else.
Pan: an 8- or 10-inch nonstick skillet.
Buying note: a consumable. Buy inexpensively, replace when release fails, and keep it off high heat and out of the dishwasher.
Boiling, blanching, pasta, stock
Needs: volume, a lid, and enough base conductivity not to scorch. Walls matter little — the water does the heat distribution for you.
Pan: a 6- to 8-quart stockpot. This is the one place a disc-bottom pot is genuinely fine, and a reason not to pay for full cladding.
Rice, grains, small quantities of sauce, reheating
Needs: even base, a tight lid, a size that suits a small volume.
Pan: a 2- to 3-quart saucepan with a lid, clad or disc-bottom.
Braising, stewing, bread baking, deep frying
Needs: high mass for temperature stability over hours, a heavy lid, a non-reactive surface for acidic braises, oven-safe to a high temperature.
Pan: a 5- to 7-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven.
Note: this is also the best vessel most kitchens have for deep frying, because the mass holds the oil temperature when cold food goes in — the same property that makes it good at braising.
Roasting vegetables, sheet-pan cooking, baking
Needs: flat, large, and able to go in a hot oven.
Pan: two heavy-gauge half-sheet pans.
Why two: crowding one pan steams vegetables rather than roasting them, and two pans is the cheapest fix for the most common roasting complaint. Heavy gauge resists the warping that makes thin sheets buckle with a bang in a hot oven.
The six-piece kit that covers nearly everything
| Piece | Material | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| 12-inch skillet | Cast iron or carbon steel | Searing, frying, cornbread, oven-to-table |
| 10- or 12-inch sauté pan | Fully clad stainless | Everyday cooking, pan sauces, acidic dishes |
| 8- or 10-inch skillet | Nonstick | Eggs, crepes, fish |
| 3-quart saucepan with lid | Clad stainless | Grains, sauces, small batches |
| 7-quart stockpot with lid | Stainless, disc base acceptable | Pasta, stock, blanching |
| 6-quart Dutch oven | Enameled cast iron | Braises, stews, bread, deep frying |
Plus two half-sheet pans, which are not pans in the stovetop sense but are used more than most of the list.
Notice what is absent: a second skillet of nearly the same size, a 1-quart saucepan, a grill pan, a stovetop griddle, a milk pan, an egg poacher. Each has defenders. None is needed before the six above.
What to add, and when
A wok, if you stir-fry regularly. Carbon steel, flat-bottomed for a domestic hob. It does something no skillet does: concentrates intense heat at the base while giving you a large surface to move food onto.
A 2-quart saucier, if you make sauces often. The curved base means a whisk reaches every part of it, with no corners for roux or custard to catch in.
A second nonstick skillet in a different size, if you cook eggs for a household rather than for one.
A roasting pan with a rack, if you roast large joints or birds more than twice a year. Otherwise a sheet pan handles it.
A copper or thin clad saucepan, if you do sugar work or delicate reductions where stopping instantly matters.
A cast iron grill pan is the one popular item worth a caution: it produces grill marks, which is a visual effect, while contact with the ridges is a fraction of what a flat skillet gives you. A flat cast iron skillet browns better.
Sizing, which matters more than people expect
Skillets are measured across the top rim, not the cooking surface. A 12-inch skillet with sloping sides may give you 9 inches of flat base. Where a manufacturer states base diameter, use that figure.
Bigger is usually the error on the safe side for skillets. You can cook a small amount in a large pan; you cannot cook a large amount in a small one without crowding, and crowding is what turns searing into steaming.
Check your hob and your oven. Two 12-inch skillets will not sit side by side on most four-burner hobs, and a 12-inch pan with a long handle may not fit in a small oven at all. For induction, also check your hob’s minimum base diameter for small pans.
Weigh it before you commit. A 12-inch cast iron skillet full of food is heavy enough that some people find it genuinely unmanageable, and a pan that is unpleasant to lift stops getting used. Carbon steel at the same diameter weighs roughly half.
Where to spend and where not to
Spend on: the clad stainless pan and the Dutch oven. Both are effectively permanent, and construction quality shows in use every day.
Buy mid-range: stockpot and saucepan. A disc base is sufficient when water is doing the heat distribution.
Buy cheaply and replace: nonstick. It is a consumable, and an expensive coating fails in the same way a cheap one does.
Buy once, possibly second-hand: cast iron. It does not wear out, and a neglected pan can be stripped and re-seasoned to better than new.
Do not buy: the set. Price the six pieces above individually against the set you are considering, and check how many of the set’s pieces are lids.
Related guides
- Cookware materials explained
- Stainless steel cookware
- Cast iron vs carbon steel
- Nonstick and PTFE temperature limits
- Will it work on induction?
Pan sizes and capacities above are standard categories rather than recommendations of specific products. Material behavior follows from the properties set out in our materials guide; we do not test cookware.