Starfrit Essentials 10 Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set

I love these pots and pans othe then the coating is coming off 2 of the pans

OK, I confess these pots aren't perfect but have to admit I really love them - they are just so pretty and a pleasure to use!!! I smile everytime I look at them and, yes, they also cook beautifully! I needed a set of pots, and had originally intended to buy Farberware or Revere or another name brand. I wanted a set with 18/10 stainless steel, no teflon, silicon or bakelite handles, an 8 quart stockpot, lids for every pot and a good range of sizes. Surprisingly, I could not find a set from the name brand manufacturers that fit that criteria. Once I started looking, I discovered I really liked the curved, french-style of pots so when I saw this set I decided to take a chance and ordered them - and have to say that after 2 months of use I am very happy with them, with a few caveats. The quality of these pots is outstanding; they are much better than the Revere ware and most of the name brands and higher priced pots I looked at in the stores and are comparable to the best quality Farberware - only a super finicky person like myself would even notice any difference between these and the Farberware. The pots have a good weight without being too heavy, sit level and solidly on the stove when empty, with no tendency to tip over (hurrah!) and are altogether well balanced. The steel is a nice heavy gauge (no fear that these will dent or break if I drop them), with a very smooth-feeling, well-milled surface both inside and outside - the exterior is shiny matte, with a wide band of even shinier mirror finish just below the rim on every pot which looks rather nice. The rims are nicely rolled, although I wish they were rolled down a bit more - they don't seal to the edge of the pot tight enough to suit me as I tend to get bits of the net from my scrubber sponge stuck in them when I'm washing up. The handles are angled up, just like the handles on the more expensive professional sets - this makes everything fit better on the stove when all burners are full, helps the handles stay cool and makes the pots easier to move and manipulate. The silicon coating on the handles of both the pot lids and the pots is great - very thick and sufficient coverage so I don't burn myself. I have also noticed that the metal ends of the handles (where the holes for hanging are) don't get hot enough to burn or be uncomfortable - I'm not sure if this is due to the angled handles or the silicon or what, but I appreciate it! The bottom of the pots has the ubiquitous "encapsulated" aluminum disks - they seem to be securely and solidly attached to about the same degree as the Farberware and Revere and other high-quality sets I looked at. Again, the net on my sponge does tend to get caught in this seam on all the pots once in a while, but not enough to be a huge bother. The bottom of the pots are stamped as 18/10 stainless steel and are marked made in China. The "made in China" gave me pause, so I decided to apply the magnet test which my beautiful pots failed miserably, i.e. they are strongly magnetic. Since the quality of the steel appears high and this could be due to some extent to the aluminum bottoms, I decided I could live with it but please be aware that the 18/10 statement may be somewhat questionable. The glass on the lids is a nice thickness, and has venting holes for steam, metal rims. The metal lid rims do have a vertical seam which I don't care for and which, again, the net of my sponge tends to catch in - the net also tends to catch in the underside of the metal lid rims there the edges are folded. Lastly, the handles are attached with two bolts which are bolted right through the sides of the pots, so that there are two small, flat round domes on the inside of each pot. I'm not sure I like that either, but apparently this type of riveting is not uncommon on high-end pots and is preferred by some people - at least the pot handles are securely and solidly attached, I've had no problems cleaning them, and they show no tendency to leak - as the bolts are high up on the side of the pots, leaking would likely never be an issue anyway. The lids for the 8 quart stockpot and the 3 quart skillet are interchangeable (a very nice touch). The skillet is smaller than I'd realized, but I intend to buy a large, deep cast iron fry pan that will hold 6 to 8 quarts, so not an issue for me. Lastly, you also get 2 fry pans with this set, one small and one medium - the lids on the smaller pans fit the frypans nicely if needed (another nice plus). As for cooking, I had one issue with one of the pot lids leaking something black when I first used it from under the rim - I think it was just gook from the manufacturing process which I missed when I washed them - I haven't had a problem since and none of the other pots did this. My Mom told me you should always wash new pots and then boil water in them before the first use and I wish I had - Mom knows best as usual. Except for that little initial oops, these pans only seem to get better each time I use them. I cook most nights and, in addition to steaming vegetables, I've also made pasta sauce, pasta, aloo gobi, chicken marsala, rosemary chicken, onion soup, various sauces and gravies, garlic shrimp, vindaloo, thai green curry, omelets, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, etc. with these pots and everything comes out wonderful. The bell shape definitely speeds cook time and helps to keep things juicy and moist, by the by. So, as I said above, these pots aren't perfect, but I have to say I really, really love them and love using them. If you want a curved set with a good selection of sizes, but can't afford to spend $300 or more, than this set is it - at the time I purchased, I couldn't find anything else in a curved shape with this range of sizes or quality. If you don't care for this shape or would prefer a name-brand set, then I would suggest the Farberware Millenium Soft Touch which also has lids for most every pot, high-angled handles, clear silicon grips on pot and lid handles with good coverage and costs about the same as this set. The Farberware Millenium set is not 18/10 stainless, the silicon on the handles is not nearly as thick as this set, and it does not have as many pots or a lidded skillet like this set, but I looked at them closely in the store and the steel is good quality with an excellent finish, the rolled edges of the pots are perfect, the lids are practically seamless and they are backed by the Farberware lifetime limited warranty. By the by, there is another Farberware Millenium Soft Touch set which has black silicon handles and does have a large lidded skillet, but the handles on that sets stick straight out and the silicon on them is simply not wide or deep enough to protect your hand properly; I have small hands and could not grip them without touching metal. Plus they are nearly double the price of the other Farberware set). I have a couple of Farberware pots I purchased individually and I can confirm the quality is outstanding - the net on my sponge never gets caught on anything while washing them! That being said, the thickness, finish and quality of the Starfrit set is excellent and, as I stated about, only a super finicky person like myself would likely even notice the differences - which shows you just how great this set is. I highly recommend them! Well, despite my tendency to TMI, hope this review is helpful to you in choosing cookware! STAINLESS STEEL COOKING/CLEANING TIPS (SKIP IF NOT INTERESTED): I know others have posted this but let me reinforce and confirm the message - the trick to cooking with plain stainless steel is to only use low to medium heat and to always use a bit of oil or liquid no matter what you are cooking. I have found that with a good set of stainless steel pans, things cooks just as fast (or, in my case, faster) using medium heat, than a teflon set using high heat. My sister and I have actually tested this in a cook off comparing these pans to my sister's teflon coated, high-quality name-brand cookware - the stainless steel cooked anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes faster and we both agreed the taste of the cooked food was also much better from the plain stainless steel pots. Of course, the very best cookware is cast iron, but I prefer not to lift weights while cooking so limit my cast iron usage :). Another tip - I find if I heat a stainless steel pan with a little oil or liquid in it for about a minute or two while doing prep, I can shave even more time off the total it takes to prepare a meal. Lastly, stainless steel cleans easiest when it is still very warm or hot; interestingly, I've noticed that these pans actually seem to clean more easily now than they did when I first got them - does stainless steel season like cast iron? I'll have to google that. I burned some tomato sauce on the side of one of the pans last night and thought I'd have to break out the Bar Keeper's Friend to clean it off, but it washed off like magic with almost no effort, which really surprised me. Note that I did wash the pan while it was still pretty warm as I tend to wash up as I go along while cooking. No worries if you don't - several people have posted that if you put water in a dirty stainless steel pan and heat it a bit, then everything will wipe off easily, or just wash them in fairly hot soapy water. Lastly, If you also want to keep your pans looking shiny with no watermarks, use Barkeeper's Friend, which is the best thing I have found for stainless steel. A very small amount is all it takes to get the interior and exterior of all your pans looking like you just bought them - works great on this set. And, of course, it is excellent when a little scouring is called for. Barkeeper's Friend also works great on many kinds of countertops, is a fairly gentle abrasive and contains oxalic acid which is great for lifting stains out of most surfaces - works much better than cleansers containing chlorine and is more environmentally friendly.

Love! Love! Love! I need more. Where can I get them!

Had to return as bottom of pots pitted when slightly overcooked. To me this was unacceptable as I did not want any other metals getting into my food which is why I chose stainless steel.

It looks good but looks can be deceiving so had to return it because it practically rusted after one use.