Why It's Almost Never Worth Buying Kitchenware Sets — Do This Instead

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The existence of free space does not imply a need for that space to be filled. In other words, just because you have enough room in your cabinets to accommodate a full set of pots and pans doesn't mean you should. In his magnum opus "Kitchen Confidential," Anthony Bourdain expressed his dislike for knife sets, advising foodies, "[A]ll you will ever need in the knife department: ONE good chef's knife." Similarly, Ann Rogers' 1979 cult-classic "New Cookbook for Poor Poets and Others" asserts that, more than a refrigerator full of ingredients, the universal key to a good meal is fresh bread, butter, a bottle of wine, and a candle for the table. Just the same, the case for buying individual pots and pans versus a whole set is a matter of quality over quantity.

As a general rule, the essential pots and pans to stock in a kitchen are a 10-inch frying pan, a 3-quart saucepan, and an enameled Dutch oven or 8-quart stockpot. Cramming an 8- to 11-piece cookware set into your cabinets is a surefire way to end up with excess stuff you'll rarely need. Instead, invest in fewer, high-quality pieces individually. Much can be accomplished with one durable, medium-sized skillet. Beyond frying a single egg or preparing the twice-annual crêpe brunch, miniature and oversized pans seldom justify their real estate. Extraneous, unreached-for cookware pieces are the effective equivalent of unitasker kitchen tools you shouldn't waste your money on like novelty-shaped "avocado-savers," whose principal function is to make your drawers awkward to open. 

A Reddit thread in r/Cooking dedicated to the set-versus-piece matter advises, "[B]uy the pots and pans that are appropriate to what you want." Building your cookware toolbelt this way enables personal tailoring suited to your daily cooking habits. Cook a lot of veggies, but rarely make big soups? Then you might be well off to invest in a carbon steel wok, while the large stockpot in your cookware set collects dust on some forgotten shelf. Another commenter expounds, "[A] set of Walmart pans for 40-60 dollars is even a worse purchase. Re-arrange your mindset and start thinking $20 for a teflon-coated fry pan, $30-$50 for an enamel-coated skillet and some $80-$100 for [a] Dutch oven." Another post echoes, "I was gifted a set before going off to uni too [...] there were definitely pieces I never used." 

For those embarking on the piece-by-piece quality investment path, All-Clad is the absolute best cookware brand for a lifetime of use, according to Reddit foodies for its top-notch durability. Here at Tasting Table, we're also loving the cookware from Lodge and Caraway. TJ Maxx and HomeGoods can also be terrific places to score individual cookware pieces, like a heavy-duty stainless steel saucepan or a copper skillet. Keep in mind that these stores offer irregular, ever-changing inventories, so you'll need to make any browsing trips in person and cross your fingers (no online stores here).