Induction Cookware

Dobie

My kitchen remodel starts Monday and we’re going with an induction cooktop so I will need different cookware.
Please let me know what you like and why, need to purchase in the next couple weeks thanks. 

DoubleEgger

I’m sure you’ll hear everyone tell you All Clad. I just couldn’t stomach spending that much cash as I’m hard on pots and pans. We’ve had Caphalon Tri Ply for years and I like them. Everything gets tossed in the dishwasher on the regular. Lifetime warranty. I had a 10” pan warp. They sent me a new one no questions asked. 

Gulfcoastguy

Enameled cast iron works, so does stainless steel . I have one of the Emerill Lagasse stainless sets. I only have a portable induction burner but they all work on it.

Dobie

Wasn’t expecting to buy today but did, got All Clad non stick from Williams Sonoma. 20% off plus a free 2 qt pan 
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/all-clad-ns1-nonstick-induction-13-piece-cookware-set/?pkey=cinduction-cookware-sets&isx=0.0.446#/

ColtsFan

Can't go wrong with the All Clad. Love my D5 set

bgebrent

Nice score man.  Great stuff.

NPHuskerFL

Solid choice on cookware Chris.
hmu next week brotha. 

Theophan

Dobie said:

Wasn’t expecting to buy today but did, got All Clad non stick from Williams Sonoma. 20% off plus a free 2 qt pan 
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/all-clad-ns1-nonstick-induction-13-piece-cookware-set/?pkey=cinduction-cookware-sets&isx=0.0.446#/

Sorry not to get a reply to you before the purchase.  I have an NS1 skillet, same as yours.  Your cookware will work.  But it will NOT work nearly as well as cookware that was designed for and made for induction cooking.

I had some All-Clad before I bought an induction range, and I loved it!  But I did a lot of research before buying, and realized that All-Clad took cookware that was not designed for induction, and did not work on induction, and slightly modified it so that it would sort of pretty much work with induction.  I decided instead to go with cookware that was made for induction by the company that has been at the forefront of induction cooking in Europe since induction began: DeMeyere.

But no truly non-stick pans were available, and my wife really wanted at least one no-kidding nonstick pan.  So I bought exactly what you bought: an All-Clad NS1 skillet from Williams-Sonoma.  Does it work on my induction range?  Yep.  Is it even in the same league as DeMeyere?  Nope.  But there are pros and cons with each:

• DeMeyere Atlantis (their top of the line) is made for induction, and by gosh it WORKS.  It's amazing.  It's wonderful!  It heats up SO FAST!  Faster than a gas range!  You can control the heat really well, it heats completely evenly across the bottom of the pan, it won't warp.  It's WONDEFUL!  However... its's very expensive, it's really, really heavy, and my wife hates washing that stuff.  I usually do the pots and pans anyway, but I have to admit, especially the bigger pieces, man, they're heavy.  Kind of like a BIG cast-iron skillet heavy.  And I have a DeMeyere (not Atlantis, though, a cheaper line) "nonstick" (ceramic) skillet, and it's really good, but ceramic is NOT as non-stick as real non-stick.
• My one All-Clad NS1 skillet works, but boy, it's different!  It heats up less fast, I have to use higher heat settings to get the same cooking heat as the DeMeyere, and it warps when it gets hot!  (Not a lot, but if you watch the oil, it leaves the center of the skillet when the skillet is hot because the center rises.)  The heat also is not as well distributed across the skillet as DeMeyere Atlantis, and I have to move the food around to make sure it's cooking evenly.  Compared to the DeMeyere, I practically HATE the All-Clad -- it seems like junk by comparison.  But... it's true non-stick, and some people love that.  And it's a LOT lighter than the DeMeyere Atlantis (which of course is why it warps, and why it doesn't heat as well or as quickly: less iron in the pan for the induction to work on!).  It's also less expensive.  So a lot of people might prefer it.

I had an All-Clad Copper Core saucepan (the old line, before they changed it, many years ago), and my wife and I both LOVED that pan.  It was great!  But it wouldn't work at all on induction.  (The new line does, but again, I really don't think it was designed for it, and probably has less iron than DeMeyere, so only sort of pretty much works, instead of works WELL.)  

So if you're NOT cooking on induction, All-Clad makes some great stuff.  But having used top of the line cookware MADE for induction, and having used an All-Clad  NS1 skillet, there are pros and cons to both, but overall, the DeMeyere Atlantis is wonderful stuff, and the All-Clad is NOT.  I like how the All-Clad is lighter, I like having one truly no-kidding non-stick skillet, but if I don't HAVE to have non-stick, I'll use the DeMeyere Atlantis every time.  It's SO MUCH better than the All-Clad, there's no comparison.

My suggestion:  TRY OUT your new All-Clad set and see how you like it.  If you love it, KEEP it and enjoy the heck out of it!  But test it out quickly, test it out pretty thoroughly, and if you're NOT crazy about it, take it back while you're still allowed to do so, and do some more research on cookware that's truly designed for induction, and not cookware that was NOT made for induction that's been re-jiggered a little so it'll "work" on induction.

CtTOPGUN

 I suggest getting heavy pans for induction cooking. There have been many noise complaints with lighter pans on induction. I have been servicing appliances over 30 years and would use mostly enameled cast iron if I were going induction only.
 Many range manufacturers will make suggestions if you contact customer service.

  

Dobie

@Theophan no doubt Demeyere is a superior product, we looked at it. Finish inside is mirror polished and slick. But after talking to the sales associate we confirmed that for our use and for lack of a better term our sloppy style of cooktop cooking that all stainless wasn’t a good fit for us. The fact is you can over heat them and they will stain. I’m typically cooking breakfast on the cooktop or making sides, heating up stuff like soup etc. My main proteins on the egg and the cooktops not the main event. If I was heavily into using the cooktop and more patient to prevent burning something on the bottom of a pot or pan I would have went likely with the All Clad d5 stuff but I need to be able to abuse stuff a bit and the non stick seemed a better fit.  Never had induction before but if it’s not up to the light tasks I require it will get replaced for all stainless. 

Theophan

Dobie said:

... all stainless wasn’t a good fit for us. The fact is you can over heat them and they will stain. ... If I was heavily ... more patient to prevent burning something on the bottom of a pot or pan ...

I have one small quibble (the sales person seems to have made it sound like heavier pots and pans are more likely to burn food, and that's exactly backwards and upside down.  I don't worry at ALL about burning stuff on my DeMeyere Atlantis.  It's a lot like cooking on heavy cast iron.  It's wonderful stuff.

But overall, it sounds like you made a good choice.  I really love to cook, and all-nonstick would be awful for me!  Lots of the time I WANT stuff to brown on the bottom of the pan because it adds more flavor to a sauce -- that can't happen with nonstick.  And I'm an old guy, so I've been through a bunch of cookware over the decades, and it just gripes me to have a perfectly good skillet that I have to throw away because the nonstick finish is no good anymore.  I don't care what they say -- nonstick doesn't last, but stainless is forever.  For a few things I really like having a nonstick skillet, but for most things, I really don't want it.

But I think most folks, these days, really love having a whole collection of all nonstick pots and pans.  I'd hate it, but they love it.  And it sounds like you don't love to cook (aside from the BGE) quite so much as I do, and your pans will probably do great for you.  Again, pros and cons to both.  Enjoy your new pots and pans!

CtTOPGUN

 In general, non stick needs to be treated much more carefully than regular SS pans. Non stick surfaces hate to get too hot.

   Jim