12 Warning Signs to Look Out for When Buying Cookware

You can be a skilled cook and work from the best recipes, but if your cookware isn’t up to the job, you’ll still sometimes struggle to get the best results. You should be focused on the cooking and not working around your pans’ quirks … right?

It’s a topic I’ve given a lot of thought to over the years. I’m a trained chef and former restaurateur, but for decades before that career change, I was a frugal home cook with a tight budget. Like most of us, I struggled for years with a mishmash of hand-me-downs and thrift-store purchases. During that time, I’ve coped with dented and warped pans, handles that came right off, and everything else you can imagine.

The contrast between those days and the better cookware I’ve used since gave me some real insight into what to look out for when buying cookware. Here are 12 tips to help you avoid some of the worst (or most irritating) red flags.

I’m going to start with handles because there are so many ways they can limit or compromise your experience. They may not be heat resistant or too small for the pot or pan (really important with big, heavy pans). They may be slippery when they’re wet or plain uncomfortable. You can see some of these negative qualities in photos, but sometimes, you just have to get your hands on a specimen to see how it feels.

A couple of specific things I always check for are that the handles should be oven-safe to the same temperature as the pan, so no melty plastic handles on a Dutch oven or cast iron skillets with wooden handles. Don’t get me wrong, the skillet is still fine on a stovetop — but it’s less versatile.

A personal peeve is pots and pans where the handle attaches with a single small screw. This is nearly universal on lower-priced cookware specifically, and those screws have a bad habit of working loose and leaving the handle wobbly. I have two pieces of advice from personal observation. One is that this arrangement works better with steel cookware than soft (and especially thin) aluminum because the screw will chew up the aluminum over time. The other is that a larger screw seems to hold better than a small one.

If you look at customer reviews of cookware, you’ll see that it’s rare for all of them to be positive. That’s partly because people have different expectations of their cookware (especially when you add the all-important “for the price”) but also partly because no manufacturer’s quality assurance is 100% perfect.

This is most important with non-stick cookware because the quality of the finish is largely what you’re paying for. Find a spot where the lighting is good — assuming you’re shopping in person — and give both the outside and inside surfaces a really close look. Tilt the pan so the light plays across it. A non-stick surface should be completely smooth and unmarred by any irregularities at all. If you look at two or three of the same pan and see nothing but smooth perfection, that consistency is reassuring. This holds true for hard-anodized aluminum, as well. The dark surface should be flawless.

With outer surfaces, and with pots and pans that don’t have a non-stick coating, flaws are less pressing. Irregularities on the surface of stainless steel, carbon steel, or cast iron pans will still occasionally cause food to stick, but it’s less of an issue because of how those pans are used in cooking. Flaws like these are a measure of the manufacturer’s quality control, which can be a tie-breaker when you’re comparing brands.

On a closely related note, this kind of scrutiny can show you pre-existing damage to the pots and pans. If you’re paying the full new-cookware price, you shouldn’t have to settle for pans that are damaged before you ever take them home.

Now, if you’re a bargain hunter and you’re shopping in a clearance outlet, or buying factory seconds, or if you’re getting a deal on a store’s demo set, that’s fine; balancing flaws against savings is your call to make. At full price? Not so much. Pay more attention to damage on the interior cooking surfaces, where being stacked and moved around can cause pans to damage each other. Cosmetic issues just affect their appearance, but dings in the cooking surface can have repercussions.

Scratched non-stick surfaces will quickly begin to peel and come away from the pan, making it useless and potentially introducing “forever chemicals” into your food (see my next tip). Damaged enamel can lead to rust in your food at best, and potentially toxic substances at worst, depending on where it was made. Even stainless steel, which is pretty safe, can leach nickel or chromium into your food.

DuPont’s Teflon is the OG non-stick coating, going all the way back to those first mass-market non-stick pans of the early 1960s. Teflon is a brand name, not a chemical description — because you don’t need to be a marketing genius to know that polytetrafluoroethylene, its chemical name, isn’t something you want to use in a TV commercial (it’s usually shortened to PTFE for non-advertising purposes).

The issue with Teflon and its original formulation is that when heated, it could release perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA for short), which is considered toxic to humans. The product was reformulated in 2013 to avoid that, but Teflon and its extended family of coatings (collectively called PFAs) can release a number of other “forever chemicals.” U.S. law led to the removal of PFOA and a related chemical called PFOS from cookware by American manufacturers, though research to identify other potential threats continues.

So, where am I going with this? Well, most cookware sold in North America will specify that it’s PFOA- and PFOS-free. If it doesn’t, it may mean that it’s manufactured somewhere that those chemicals are still used. This is why some consider Teflon and its derivatives to be among the worst cookware materials. You may want to choose ceramic pans over Teflon just in case — I’m slowly replacing my own non-stick pans with ceramic as they wear out.

Speaking of the worst cookware materials, that’s an entirely subjective evaluation. They all have their strengths and their flaws, so it mostly comes down to picking the right material for a given use. Even terra cotta, impractical in so many ways, has its uses (Momofuku’s David Chang says you need a donabe in your kitchen, for example).

I wouldn’t go that far, but the point holds: You should try to match the cookware to your cooking style. That’s why reviews and recommendations can often steer you wrong. Nothing’s better for searing than carbon steel and cast iron, for example, but the truth is that cast iron requires maintenance and seasoning (so does carbon steel, but not stainless). Nothing’s better than lightweight non-stick for cooking eggs, and it heats quickly, but it’s flimsy and easily damaged.

Copper is super-responsive to changes of heat, which is why chefs love it, but it has to be lined with tin or stainless so it doesn’t react with your food and make you sick (and boy, is it expensive!). Aluminum is almost as responsive as copper but can make your food grey unless it’s coated. Enameled cast iron is heavy and vulnerable to overheating. So when you’re comparing cheap non-stick pans to more expensive versions, or comparing cast iron to non-stick to stainless steel, keep your own cooking style in mind and choose accordingly.

A lot of kitchen equipment is sold in sets, so you can get everything you need in one box. Sometimes, that makes sense. A good set of basic utensils for your first apartment? A no-brainer. An all-in-one knife set? A box with all of your pots and pans? Well, those may not be such a slam dunk.

Here’s the thing: That bundle of pots and pans makes sense for the manufacturer but not necessarily for you. Does it have all the pots you need? Does it have some you really don’t? And what about the materials used? Most of us probably want at least one non-stick skillet, for example, but there’s little need for non-stick in pots. Not zero need, you understand (I’ve scrubbed porridge and cream soups from many a pot), but less so.

Then there’s the question of which corners the manufacturer is cutting in order to create a set that meets a specific price point. Often, it’s better to mix and match, choosing each pot or pan to address a specific need. In my case, a few years ago, I did ultimately buy a beautiful set of fully clad cookware at a deep discount. Still, I also have two large stock pots I purchased separately, as well as some heirloom cast iron, a wok, and a few non-stick skillets in various sizes (not too thick, not too thin). Your own combination would be different from mine, but it would be 100% tailored to you.

There’s one aspect to any collection of pots and pans that a surprising number of people don’t pay enough attention to. It’s the lids. They have a lot to do with the usability of your cookware, whether you buy the pieces individually or as a set. So what should you look for?

The first question is whether they fit the pots and pans well. Pots boil more quickly with a tight-fitting lid, you’ll get less spattering, and some cooking techniques just don’t work properly without a good lid. Lack of a good lid is one of those mistakes everyone makes with rice, for example. A few other questions to ask yourself: Do you get a lid for every pot and pan, or are some of them expected to be shared? Because that works until it doesn’t, usually when you’re cooking a big meal. Are the lids oven-proof, and if so, can they stand the same temperatures as the pan? Are the lids glass or metal? Glass is handy because it’s see-through, but it’s heavy and takes longer to cool (and it’s fragile, as I’ve learned the hard way).

It’s not that there aren’t workarounds. You can order lids separately or fill in the blanks with thrift-store finds or the leftovers from pots you’ve thrown out. You can even use aluminum foil when your pot lids don’t fit as a literal stopgap. But why cope with workarounds when you could just get it right the first time?

There’s a case to be made for lightweight pots and pans. Usually, they’re made from aluminum, which conducts heat beautifully. That means your lightweight, non-stick skillet heats up super quickly, which is great when you’re whipping up a fast meal. But if your pots and pans are too light, that can be a problem.

The thing about aluminum is that it’s a relatively soft metal, so when it’s thin, it’s vulnerable. You’ve probably noticed that when your baking sheets warp, they’re almost always the thin ones. Well, as metal heats and cools, it expands and contracts, and the effect is strongest when it’s thin. That’s why a thicker sheet pan resists warping. Super-lightweight pans are also physically flimsy. The soft metal is easily bent and damaged by the knocks and bumps of everyday use, so you get pans that don’t sit flat on a burner (which impairs their ability to cook evenly) and lids that no longer fit.

Some higher-quality cookware sandwiches aluminum (for its conduction) between layers of steel (for durability) to create fully clad cookware. That’s the good stuff, and I eventually bought some for myself once I could afford it. The lower-cost option is just to buy slightly thicker, sturdier pans, like the mid-weight non-stick pans I favor. They won’t warp and fail as easily on the heat, which is kind of important when their whole job is to be in contact with heat.

Although I’m no fan of super-light cookware, in fairness, I also have to stress that there are times when you should be wary of cookware that’s too heavy. There are a couple of reasons for this.

One is simply that thicker cookware takes longer to heat and cool, even when it’s made of highly-conductive aluminum or copper. If you’re cooking on gas or induction, and you’re used to that quick response, you’ll find it a bit frustrating. The biggest reason I say this, though, is that it can be physically difficult to work with. I love my cast iron, for example, but I seldom use the biggest skillet because of its weight. The same holds true for big, heirloom-quality Dutch ovens from storied brands like Staub and Le Creuset. They’ll last a lifetime, but you may not be able to handle one for your whole lifetime (especially when they’re filled with food).

Most of us will suffer injuries or issues with dexterity at some point in our lives that make heavy pots and pans hard to work with. Plus, everyone eventually gets old. There are usually alternatives that work for any cooking style. Foodies and professional chefs love carbon steel as a lighter alternative to cast iron, for example, because it behaves in much the same way.

I’ve spoken about handles, and the screwed-on kind can sometimes be a red flag. The alternative method that’s used on a lot of cookware, including much of the heavy-duty commercial ones you’ll see in restaurant kitchens, is riveting the handles in place. Some shoppers may view riveted handles as a sign of quality, which in a limited way is true.

The thing is, I’ve personally used a number of pots and pans with riveted handles, which, to be blunt, were terrible. It’s easy to tighten a screw when it loosens, but rivets aren’t as tractable. You can sometimes tighten them by tapping them with a hammer, so they regain their grip or just drill them out and replace them with a nut and bolt. But usually, it’s just something I’ve coped with until I could discard the pan and buy something better.

I’ve noticed that the problem seems to affect lightweight aluminum pans most often. Thin aluminum is soft, and the rivet is thicker than the pan, so it’s the pan that gives way (it’s worse if an aluminum pan has steel rivets). I’ve also noticed that bigger rivets seem to hold better than smaller rivets. I know a few people who just plain don’t like rivets because they can trap food, and they’re a pain to clean. Personally I’m okay with the extra cleaning, but I do encourage you to avoid rivets on the thinnest pans.

I’ve talked a bit about how some metals, like aluminum and copper, conduct heat really well. A lot of manufacturers harness that ability by sandwiching it between layers of stainless steel to make a thick pad of conductive material on the bottom of their pots and pans.

This is a pretty clever trick. It gives you the heat distribution of a thick pot, but concentrating that thickness at the bottom helps keep the pot’s overall weight down. The manufacturer can even make sure the bottom layer is a ferromagnetic steel, the type you need for an induction cooktop. The catch is that these pads on some pots don’t cover the entire bottom of your pot or pan, and that’s problematic.

First and foremost, it means that on most cooktops, you don’t get the advantage of the pan’s full size. Heat doesn’t get all the way to the edge, meaning there’s an outer ring around the pan’s edge that won’t get to the same heat as the rest. You can also have the opposite problem if you’re cooking on gas. A gas flame licking at the outer corners of the pan, where the pad doesn’t reach, can cause food in those areas to stick and scorch. It’s not a deal-breaking detail (especially at lower price points), but it’s something to be aware of and a potential tie-breaker between pans.

My final piece of advice is simply to have a degree of healthy skepticism about any cookware, individually or in sets, that seems oddly cheap. As with so many other things in life, “too good to be true” is a valid concern.

I’m not talking about scenarios where unusually low prices have a visible explanation. I got my own set of fully clad cookware after the manufacturer was acquired by a larger company, and the ones I had my heart set on were discontinued. Similarly, if you’re buying factory seconds or from a closing-out sale or a clearance outlet, those discounts are typically valid.

What should strike you as a red flag is cookware that’s weirdly low-priced without any of those obvious reasons. We all know that many countries are lower-cost producers than the U.S., but if you’re comparing cookware of similar origins, you should expect their prices to be similar as well. If you see a set that’s strikingly lower in price, that’s a sign that someone’s cutting corners somewhere, and that’s a worrying thought. It’s usually best to pick and choose from items that are comparable in quality and cost rather than looking for the outlier.