Cook's Illustrated

Choosing a Cookware Set

If you want to cook with confidence, quality cookware is essential. You don’t have to spend a ton of money; choosing well is key. While we usually advise that you buy cookware piece by piece so you pay for only what you need, readers often ask us about cookware sets. There have been some interesting developments since the last time we tested cookware sets, so we decided to retest. We bought eight sets, including the winning and Best Buy sets from our previous testing.

What’s Wrong with (Most) Cookware Sets

Manufacturers of cookware sets typically customize their contents for retailers, meaning that two

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