Buying a set or buying pans individually

Sets are better value per piece and worse value per piece you use.

What this covers

What a set really contains
The pans most kitchens use
When a set makes sense
When individual pans make sense
Mixing materials deliberately
Lids and interchangeability
Weight and who is lifting
Storage before purchase
Ordering larger quantities

What a set really contains

Piece counts include lids, and often utensils and pot protectors. A twenty-piece set may contain seven or eight actual pans. Counting the pans rather than the pieces is the first step in comparing two sets honestly.

The pans most kitchens use

A large frying pan, a small frying pan, a medium saucepan and a stockpot cover the overwhelming majority of domestic cooking. A sauté pan is the usual fifth. Everything beyond that is occasional, and occasional pans are what fill cupboards.

When a set makes sense

Setting up a kitchen from nothing, replacing a whole worn set at once, or wanting matched pans for a small space. In those situations the per-piece saving is real and the pieces you use less often still get used sometimes.

When individual pans make sense

When you already own most of what you need, when you want different materials for different jobs, or when one specific pan does most of the work. Buying one excellent frying pan often beats buying a set containing a mediocre one.

Mixing materials deliberately

Many well-equipped kitchens run stainless for searing, deglazing and oven work, and one or two coated pans for eggs and delicate fish. Sets rarely offer that mix, which is an argument for buying at least some pans individually.

Lids and interchangeability

Lids that fit several pans reduce clutter and cost. Sets usually achieve this within the set; individual pans from different ranges usually do not. If you buy separately, standardising on a couple of diameters helps.

Weight and who is lifting

Heavier clad pans cook better and are harder to handle when full, particularly for anyone with limited grip strength. This is worth considering before buying a full set of the heaviest option available.

Storage before purchase

Measure the cupboard. A set that does not fit will end up partly in a loft, which means paying for pans you cannot reach. This is the most common regret and the easiest to avoid.

Ordering larger quantities

For quantities beyond what the site shows, or for freight rates on anything palletised, the order desk handles it directly rather than through the checkout. That is what the phone number at the top of the page is for.

How this applies when you are buying

Stainless has no coating to wear out, which is why it lasts, and no release, which is why food sticks if the pan is not properly preheated. Heat the dry pan first, add fat, wait for it to shimmer, then add food; it will release when it is ready. Multi-clad means an aluminium or copper core between steel layers for even heat.

Tri-ply and multi-clad stainless sets that take high heat, go in the oven and tolerate metal utensils.

On the shelf at the moment

These come straight from the Rainbow Restaurant Equipment Supplies shelf as you read this, not from a list typed when the article was written, so the prices and the availability are current.

Circulon A1 Series Induction Pots and Pans Cookware Set, 9-Piece, Graphite – $269.99
All-Clad D3® Stainless Steel 7 Piece Cookware Set- Made in USA- Includes Frying Pans, Saucepan – $599.99
Stainless Steel Cookware Set,Tir-Ply Pots and Pans Set – $109.99

Where to go from here

All of the above is the reasoning we use behind the counter at Rainbow Restaurant Equipment Supplies when someone asks. If you are weighing up two options and the listing does not settle it, ask: +1 212-966-2895 during opening hours, or service@restaurantpro.shop, answered within one business day.

If you order from us

Standard shipping is a flat $19.95 anywhere in the United States, and it is free once the order passes $150. Weekday orders normally leave Rainbow Restaurant Equipment Supplies the next working day, with three to seven business days in transit after that. Unopened items can go back within 30 days of delivery. Shipping Policy · Refund and Returns