Say what you will about her, but I’m a slight fan of martha stewart cookware and I don’t mind saying it. Why? Because they are a pretty good deal for the price. I wouldn’t necessarily label them as serious cookware for a true chef, but if you do a fair amount of cooking these can really spruce up your kitchen.
When it comes to Martha Stewart you really have two choices. You can either purchase an entire set that are all very modestly priced, or you can pick and choose different pieces individually. Personally I believe that if you’re going to use these pots and pans, you really should just bite the bullet and buy an entire set instead of picking pieces here and there.
Why is that? Well as I’ve already alluded to, the sets are very competitively priced. In fact, you can pick up her 12 piece cookware set for around $150 just about anywhere. On the other hand, there really aren’t any individual pieces that really jump out and scream at you. There’s no one single piece that you just HAVE to have.
So What’s In A Set?
The most popular Martha Stewart cookware set is the 12 piece, nonstick, enameled cookware set. It comes in black as well as red which is a very nice option that allows you to mix and match a little bit with your own kitchens decor.
As I mentioned, the set cost only $149.99.
The pieces are all oven safe up to 300° and you can use them on both an electric as well as a gas stove top. Each piece comes with its own glass lid which is particularly nice for the price.
But what does the set contain? The pieces are made up of:
- 1, 2, and 3 quart covered saucepans
- 3 quart covered sauté pan
- 8 quart covered stock pot
- 8 inch and 9.5 inch fry pans
- and more
Each piece is made of fast-heating aluminum construction, so you should only use nylon or wooden utensils to keep from scratching the pans.
It’s hard to go wrong with this set for the price but at the same time there are some issues you need to keep in mind. For one, they’re made a very light weight material which means that they can get dinged and banged up pretty easily. They might also lead to warping at higher heat. You’re not supposed to use them over 300° but really, you usually have to cook at higher temperatures than that so…
Also they come with a Teflon coating that may flake off after a year or so of use. For the price though, you wouldn’t expect them to last that much longer anyway. When looking at different reviews across the Internet I noticed that most reviews are either 1 star or 5 out of 5 stars, they don’t seem to be any ratings in between which sets a warning bell off to me.
In my mind, this is a very nice set to buy somebody who has maybe just graduated college or just gotten married and looking for a starter set to get them going. Maybe they don’t cook all that often or have just started cooking.
So there you have an idea of what you’re getting into with Martha Stewart Cookware. Personally I stay away from the branded cookware from television personalities because they never seem to hold up quite as well as your standard cookware, but at the price this may be a very nice entry-level set.
