What’s your favorite brand of BIFL cookware for induction?
I'm looking to upgrade my kitchen with industrial-quality pots and pans. After about a month of searching, I came to the conclusion that the most important requirements are:
- 3-ply (or 5-ply). Fully clad (not just the bottom disc).
- 18/8 or 18/10 stainless steel on the inside
- 18/0 (or 200- or 400-grade) magnetic stainless steel on the outside.
- Thick layers of metal (ideally >= 3mm of aluminum)
- Strong, serviceable rivets on handles (not welded)
- Handles on both sides of the pot (helper handle)
- Handles have a hole in them on the end (for hanging)
- Fits a 28 cm (or 11”) lid (easily replaceable standard size that’s interchangeable between metric and dumb units)
- Top rim should either have a pour spout or flared lip (for easier pouring)
- NSF certified
From what I’ve read, stainless steel isn’t a very good conductor (NIST says that aluminum transfers heat 16x better than stainless steel). But stainless steel is a better surface to cook-on, because it’s less reactive and won’t absorb flavours. So, 3-ply sandwiches a thick aluminum layer between two different types of stainless steel (nickle-free [eg 18/0 or 200- or 400-grade] on the outside, which – though less corrosion resistant -- is important for it to work on an induction cooktop) and either 18/8 or 18/10 on the inside.
5-ply is also a thing, but my research suggests that it doesn’t really matter how many layers. What’s more important is the thickness of the material.
And that’s why I’m here. Because, confoundedly, the manufacturers of these pots don’t seem to even know how thick the layers of their 3-ply cookware is!
Ideally I’d just find the technical specifications of their cookware on their website, make a spreadsheet, and then buy the one with the thickest material (or close to the thickest, depending on my trade-off between quality vs weight & cost).
But I’ve called maybe a dozen manufacturers, and none seem to know the specifications of their own cookware :(
So, fediverse, I ask you: does anyone know what the thickness of the layers in these manufacturer’s 3-ply cookware is? Otherwise, what’s been your experience? How do you feel about these brands? Is there some other one (not listed) that you prefer?
- Browne Thermalloy
- All-Clad
- Made-in
- Tramontina
- Cuisinart
- Other?
Edit: I should be clear that I’m specifically asking about 3-ply or 5-ply stainless steel cookware. This is for a community house, so I need something that can be (ab)used by housemates who don’t know or care for the seasonings on the pans. And I don’t want cast iron, because it’s more likely to break the glass-topped induction cooktop.
New rivets can be made with a rivet gun forever. You can also re-weld, but it's harder (and you're more likely to damage the pot if you don't do a good job welding it).
A good stainless steel weld is VERY unlikely to ever break or need repair. My welded stainless pans are decades old.
But the rivets in most pans aren't the same as the rivets in a consumer rivet gun?
No, but real rivets are cheap and available though special order.
I wonder if you'd need a special tool for the "real" rivets. I have a loose handle on one of my saucepans and haven't yet carefully investigated how to fix it if it falls off, but putting in a stainless steel screw seems like a possibility. Heat resistant epoxy is another. I hadn't thought about riveting. Welding came to mind but I don't have the equipment for it so don't feel likely to go that route.
The real rivets would need a press or something to install right? And you'd need to get food grade rivets, which is only going to drive up the price?
A ball peen hammer works to install. Jigs make things look nicer but the hammer is the main tool. Food grade rivets are cheap too.
I think we are thinking of very different rivets, the ones on my pans are definitely not hammerable. Fortunately, the rivets haven't come loose either, so not a problem yet.