6pc & 8pc Non-Stick Carbon Steel Cookware Set with Lids – Saucepans, Milk Pan & Frying Pan for Gas & Electric Hobs

Open most kitchen cupboards and you will find the same thing. A pan from one place, a lid that does not quite fit it, another pan from somewhere else, a lid for a pan you got rid of two years ago, and nothing that actually belongs together. Every time you cook you are hunting for the right lid, making do with the wrong size, or burning your hand on a handle that was never great to begin with.

Buying a proper set once is the answer and it is one of those kitchen decisions you stop second guessing the minute everything is in the cupboard together.

These two sets are built from carbon steel with a non-stick coating and bakelite handles all the way through. Pick the six piece if you want the basics covered. Pick the eight piece if you want a milk pan and a frying pan in the box as well. Same build on both, same quality, just a different number of pieces.

Carbon steel gets hot quickly and it stays hot. The base heats evenly so you are not getting a scorched ring in the middle and raw food around the edges. The non-stick does what a non-stick should do — food moves, food releases, you use less oil, and the pan wipes clean at the end rather than needing a long soak and a lot of scrubbing.

The handles are bakelite and they do not heat up. That sounds obvious but if you have ever cooked with cheap pans that transfer heat straight into the handle you know exactly how much of a difference it makes. You grab the pan and move it. No cloth, no tea towel draped over it, no putting it down quickly because your hand cannot take it. You just cook.

The six piece is three saucepans — 16cm, 18cm and 20cm — each with its own matching lid. That covers making a sauce, cooking soup for a few people, and boiling pasta or rice for a family without having to think about which pan to reach for.

The eight piece adds two things that the six piece does not have. A 14cm milk pan for small jobs where a full saucepan is too much — warming milk, melting butter, making a bit of sauce for one portion. And a 25cm frying pan for everything that needs a wide flat surface. Eggs, bacon, fish, a steak, fried vegetables — it all goes in the frying pan and it does it properly on a non-stick surface that does not make you fight to get the food off at the end. The lids on the eight piece are glass so you can see inside without lifting them and losing all the heat every time you want to check something.

Both sets go on gas, electric, halogen and solid hot plate hobs.

6 piece set:

• 16cm saucepan with lid
• 18cm saucepan with lid
• 20cm saucepan with lid

 8piece set:

• 14cm x 7cm milk pan
• 16cm x 7.5cm saucepan with glass lid
• 18cm x 8cm saucepan with glass lid
• 20cm x 9cm saucepan with glass lid
• 25cm frying pan

Both sets:

• Carbon steel with non-stick coating
• Bakelite handles and knobs — heat resistant
• Deep carbon steel bowls
• Step and rolled edges
• Gas, electric, halogen and solid hotplate compatible

Which one to buy:

• One or two people, simple daily cooking — six piece does everything you need
• Family cooking or you want a frying pan in the set — eight piece covers the whole kitchen in one box

Either way the lids fit, the handles stay cool, and every pan in the cupboard belongs to the same set. That alone makes cooking less annoying than it was before.