Cookware is the essential item on this site. According to the most conservative estimates, early humans began cooking food around 400,000 BC. This is roughly 402,016 years ago before AirPods were invented. While forms have remained relatively constant over the years, there has been a lot of innovation in recent centuries. Kitchen gadgets are now available that would have been considered magic in 1823.
Even though all the large appliances, smart cooking gadgets, and new blenders are shining, the most important item in your kitchen is still cookware. It is the cookware that makes the difference. We thought it was worth listing the top cookware brands that you can buy online.
You don’t have to keep a dozen pieces of cookware. You don’t really need more than a couple of pots and pans if you have the right pieces. If you are a home chef, you can scale it up to try new recipes. We’ve compiled a list of 12 top cookware brands. D2C viral newbies such as Our Place and Caraway, but also old-school favorites like Le Creuset or Lodge and All-Clad. Your path to becoming a chef begins here, regardless of whether it’s a brand of cookware for professional-grade chefs or nifty new inventions.
Le Cruset – Dutch Ovens Best
Where to buy: Le Creuset. Amazon. Williams Sonoma. Sur La Table. Bloomingdale’s. Nordstrom. Saks Fifth Avenue. Wayfair. Bed Bath & Beyond.
Le Creuset’s vibrant, sheeny dutch ovens un Je ne sais quoi is what have made it such a beloved brand. Perhaps it’s the nearly 100-year history of enameled cast metal cookware. It could be the durability, heat resistance, shock resistance, and high performance of Le Cruset cookware. It could be because of the way it looks on the stovetop. You’ll soon be cooking like Julia Child if you buy a dutch oven, skillet, or complete set.
Caraway – The “I Went Viral” Cookware Brand
Caraway is big on easy organization and the Instagram aesthetic. Caraway’s ceramic pieces are made in bright, striking colors. They have been awarded the “I went viral” insignia via social media.
Caraway has substance, however. Caraway uses a ceramic coating, which is becoming more popular than traditional synthetic nonstick products. While regular nonstick can be used, it is becoming increasingly clear that ceramic coatings are less likely to have lasting effects. Caraway started out as an essential brand. But it is now expanding. Caraway now offers a wide range of cookware and bakeware.
Our Place – Small Kitchens Best
Another brand that is very Instagrammable is Our Place. Their cookware truly went viral. This brand is one of the most recent on this list so you’ll always find new products.
While you wait for the brand’s pasta pot to be made, you won’t notice it as much. Multitasking is a key feature of Our Place. The cult-favorite Always Pan is a multitasking masterpiece that can replace eight other cookware items and can be used for braising, steaming, and sauteing as well as boiling and serving. You can even get a tagine or spruce steamer that will replace 10 (ten!). cookware products.
This brand is perfect for those who have a small kitchen or don’t want to be Gordan Ramsey at the stovetop.
Made In – The “Bang for Your Buck” Cookware Brand
Editor’s choice: Give your Microwave a rest and cook everything–Yeah! Everything–in this Perfect Wok.
Its pieces, which include every pot, pan, and cookware set that you could ever need, are surprisingly affordable considering their quality and durability. They are made according to professional standards using materials such as carbon steel and stainless clad. (We just had to endorse the Wok. Even if you are a novice home chef, Made In will make it seem like you have succeeded.
Material – Best For Essentials
Editor’s Choice The Cutting Board that Brings Honesty-to-Goodness Excitement To Prep Work
This is a great way to stock up on kitchen cabinets that your wallet will appreciate: Only buy cookware based on intention and necessity. This is the best way to cook. You only need a nonstick skillet, a saucepan, and a saucepan.
Esquire loves its vibrant, sustainable cutting board, which makes your mise-en-place something we look forward to.
Lodge – Cast Iron Experts
Down South, Lodge cookware is in everyone’s kitchen, and a lot of it is handed down from great or great-great-grandparents. Cast iron skillets and dutch ovens are traditional gifts for newlyweds. They’re meant to be a symbol of how long your marriage will last. Lodge is the best at casting iron. There are many cast iron brands on this list.
The brand’s 120-year-old experience makes each piece heirloom-worthy cookware. There’s also the consistency: Lodge’s pans and griddles, dutch oven pots, grill skillets, sets, etc. all come in a glossy cast iron black. The material also has the flexibility that comes with it: You can grill steaks over a campfire, or bake cornbread in the oven. You can do anything. Lodge cookware can be ruined if it is properly cleaned and seasoned.
HexClad – Celebrity-Endorsed Cookware Brand
Gordon Ramsey uses HexClad at his home. Oprah loves the stainless steel pan. And we–Esquire–consider it as one of the best cookware brands ever.
The brand’s technology-backed, laser-etched hexagonal hybrid cooking surface is the star of the show. It’s nonstick and stainless steel. HexClad makes stainless steel nonstick. This is serious stuff. Gordon Ramsey was also impressed and called HexClad “the Rolls Royce for pans.” This was after some yelling.
Abbio – The Most Durable Cookware Brand
The most well-known one is often the most difficult to write about. Unfortunately, we are not an encyclopedia. We’ll try our best to make All-Clad, the 51-year-old Pennsylvanian cookware guru that’s a market giant, our best. It is the one-stop shop for everything.
All-Clad is best known for its stainless-steel pots and pans, but it also offers ceramic, nonstick, and hard anodized cookware, in both sets and a la carte. These range from stockpots up to 12-quart stockpots, to kettles, to 12-quart stockpots. Although the pieces can be a bit more expensive than others, consider each All-Clad purchase a lifetime investment. These are the best investment for cooks at all levels. They are durable, reliable, and can be used every day.
Ayesha Curry – Celebrity Cookware Brand
Ayesha Curry, the cookbook author and television personality on cooking, and Stephen Curry’s spouse, make a strong case for celebrity worship… at least in the kitchen.
Curry’s kitchenware brand puts form and function together like the enamel on steel. Its range includes everything you need to stock up on, including pots, ovens, and grills as well as bakeware and cast iron. The bacon grease jars are also great gifts. Because it makes cooking easy, the Hard Anodized Collection stands out.
