Review: KitchenAid Hard Anodized Nonstick 10-piece Cookware Set

KitchenAid Hard Anodized Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set

I have always used nonstick cookware.  Back at my parent's house, we had an electric stove and my mom always used nonstick for the convenience of it.  After going to college and finally, living on my own, I needed a good set for myself since I love to cook.  I needed a variety of sizes and also, a stockpot!  After waiting for the Christmas sales to roll around, I compared a bunch of different sets on Amazon that would fit my needs.  My current apartment uses gas and I wanted something affordable for me right now.  I wasn't about to spend $300+ on a very expensive set.

I settled on hard-anodized and found this KitchenAid set available for $107 at the time.  It was the right size for me.  I cook daily and often find that I stick with one larger pan for most things, but often use a small pot for cooking pasta or the smaller pan for eggs.  If I ever need to, I can use my different pans across all the burners to make everything at once.

What's Included:

• 1 Qt. Covered Saucepan
• 2 Qt. Covered Saucepan
• 8 Qt. Covered Stockpot
• 3 Qt. Covered Saute
• 8-inch Skillet
• 9-1/2-inch Skillet

In total there are six different sizes of pots and pans with 4 glass lids.  The two large lids for the stockpot and saute are the same size and also work for the 9-1/2-inch skillet.  These sizes work very well for me.  I cook for two and sometimes, we make a huge pot of soup in the stockpot that we have with noodles all weekend.

For features, hard-anodized construction is supposed to reduce 'hot spots' by distributing heat evenly.  Hard-anodized means it's not quite as light as typical aluminum.  The handles are soft silicone and stainless steel, double riveted onto the pans.  It's fairly easy to clean (although I'd love a larger sink for rinsing the stockpot) and I have used them for almost a year now.  The pans have held up to my abuse so far.  I'm hoping that my saute pan, which I use the most, will hold up longer than my previous pan, the Analon 12-inch pan.  Nothing has warped and I have minimal coloring on the undersides.  I cook over a gas range, but the flat bottoms of these are great for electric as well.

Overall, I found it to be a wonderful starter set for a great price.  It works for what my purpose is--to cook!