Pots and pans recommendations on sizes and make

[AdamW]

Does anyone have recommendations on pots and pans?

A friend who works in catering has recommended "Nistbets" but wanted a few more opinions before dropping a load of cash on them.

What sizes are the essentials 1 ,2 5 litre etc?

Any help would be great please

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Size depends on your hob unit. We have WMF sucepans. Quality stainless steel, that work fantastic with my induction hob.

 

[GreiginFife]

This is as much a "it depends" question as any.
We bought a load of Stellar pots last year and for the cost (£250) they seem as good as any (i.e. they do the job of cooking food without rusting or burning)

But sizes wise, depends on what you want to be cooking. If you do a lot of one pot meals, then you will want more large sizes. If you intend to do lots of sauces and jus, then you will want lots of small sizes.

Common are Saucepan (usually 1L) , 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 litre pans. 2.5 litre skillet and frying pan in most "boxed sets" I have seen.

Best to buy individual pans unless you will use all of the boxed set sizes.

As BM says, heat source also plays a part. We are gas on glass so get away with most as the burners are well risen.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

What hob and heat source are you using?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

My mum bought some Le Cresuet pans in France 30 yrs ago. Still used today, utterly bombproof. Saying that, they are heavy so think whether that suits.

We have some stainless steel ones we bought from M & S 10yrs ago. Still great now and I would get them again, certainly rather than non stick which tend to have a lifespan before the surface comes off. You don't need to spend big on these.

If you are getting a bigger pan, saute I think they call them, spend big on that to make sure it is heavy, spreads the heat well. The others are less critical.

 

[fundy]

Get decent stainless steel pans imo

Size depends very much if youre only cooking for you or for family, guests etc

 

[AdamW]

What hob and heat source are you using?

Using a gas hob at the minute but not a fan of it at all might get the oven ripped out when i can afford it and go induction

 

[backwoodsman]

Using a gas hob at the minute but not a fan of it at all might get the oven ripped out when i can afford it and go induction

In which case - stainless steel with a decent heavy base. Weve got two types of pan and the ones with heavy base heat up much better than those with lighter base. For induction hob, pans must be magnetic material - ie steel (& iron possibly?) But given you can use them on any hob anyway, steel is good allrounder.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

In which case - stainless steel with a decent heavy base. Weve got two types of pan and the ones with heavy base heat up much better than those with lighter base. For induction hob, pans must be magnetic material - ie steel (& iron possibly?) But given you can use them on any hob anyway, steel is good allrounder.

Weight of pans doesnt make them good, and often a heavy pan is a real problem to use. Most decent pans have a mixture of metals in the base now but as long as it's ferrous based (a magnet will stick to it) then they will work with induction.
If you look at ceramic hobs (no induction with element ring under it), performance is all controlled by how flat the pan is as its the contact area between pan and glass that conducts the heat. Ive seen many a "ceramic hob suitable" pan have a base resembling the shape of a football and the owner wondering why it takes so long to heat the pans.
Induction I would say is best and safest, as long as you dont have a pacemaker....and yes, it's quicker than gas and just as controllable.

 

[ScienceBoy]

There are brands other than Tefal?

 

[jim8flog]

My Viners stainless steel pans have a sandwich layer bottom. They were bought over 40 years ago and I have never needed to replace them.

My sister and my brother have sets even older.

They have been through gas , standard electric ring , ceramic and halogen hobs.

 

[jim8flog]

As to size it is the diameter of the pan that is important .The usage book for my part ceramic part halogen hob says that the pan should cover the indicated area on the hob without light showing on the side.

 

[Golfmmad]

Using a gas hob at the minute but not a fan of it at all might get the oven ripped out when i can afford it and go induction

We've recently done our kitchen and have an induction hob. We bought Le Cruset pans and they're fantastic. They are so easy to clean, although we don't put them in the dishwasher. Yes they were expensive but are well worth the money.

 

[Slab]

It’s fun reading a bunch of posts by men trying to sound knowledgeable about pans

 

[Slab]

Actually I was in the pots & pans game back in the mid-late 80’s. I don’t really like to talk about it but I’ve seen things that would curdle camels milk. I still wake up sometimes wondering if I’ve left the hob on (it never is)

Now that I’ve lifted that particular lid @AdamW I’ll show you what to buy if you really want to know. but you must understand this… once you’ve seen it cannot be unseen and you will not buy anything else. Sure you can read through the recommendations above but these are not the pots and pans you’re looking for…

Spoiler: Le Creuset’s gone a bit rogue:

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We got some Tefal "Jamie Oliver" pans not long after we bought our first house and still going strong. We bought individually rather than a box set and all have been thoroughly used. We have always cooked on a gas hob and they've been fine. The big stew pot sits in the electric (fan assisted) oven and bubbles away like a good 'un and comes out with gorgeous food inside and so easy to clean

 

[Slab]

We got some Tefal "Jamie Oliver" pans not long after we bought our first house and still going strong. We bought individually rather than a box set and all have been thoroughly used. We have always cooked on a gas hob and they've been fine. The big stew pot sits in the electric (fan assisted) oven and bubbles away like a good 'un and comes out with gorgeous food inside and so easy to clean

You've used ‘we’ a lot in there, is that the royal we. The same we you use when you say “I have a lot of golf shoes that we regularly clean"

 

[Bunkermagnet]

It’s fun reading a bunch of posts by men trying to sound knowledgeable about pans

After 37 yrs repairing white goods, I should have learnt how and why certain saucepans don’t work very well with solid hot plate or ceramic hobs, and why certain pans don’t work on induction or are noisey in use.

 

[MegaSteve]

Many of our pans are older than me (ancient) and were even made here (in the UK)... Something almost unheard of nowadays... Suspect we'll have to purchase others when/if we go induction...

 

[AdamW]

Anyone know if the tri wall saucepans are worth the extra money? This is a right rabbit hole i have gone down