What’s your favorite brand of BIFL cookware for induction?
I'm looking to upgrade my kitchen with industrial-quality pots and pans. After about a month of searching, I came to the conclusion that the most important requirements are:
- 3-ply (or 5-ply). Fully clad (not just the bottom disc).
- 18/8 or 18/10 stainless steel on the inside
- 18/0 (or 200-grade or 400-grade) magnetic stainless steel on the outside.
- Thick layers of metal (ideally >= 3mm of aluminum)
- strong, serviceable rivets on handles (not welded)
- Handles on both sides of the pot (helper handle)
- Handles have a hole in them, for hanging
- Fits a 28 cm (or 11”) lid (easily replaceable standard size that’s interchangeable between metric and dumb units)
- Top rim should either have a pour spout or flared lip, for easier pouring
- NSF certified
From what I’ve read, stainless steel isn’t a very good conductor (NIST says that aluminum transfers heat 16x better than aluminum). But stainless steel is a better surface to cook-on, because it’s less reactive and won’t absorb flavours. So, 3-ply sandwiches a thick aluminum layer between two different types of stainless steel (nickle-free [eg 18/0 or 200- or 400-grade] on the outside, which – though less corrosion resistant -- is important for induction) and either 18/8 or 18/10 on the inside.
5-ply is also a thing, but my research suggests that it doesn’t really matter how many layers. What’s more important is the thickness of the material.
And that’s why I’m here. Because, confidingly, the manufacturers of these pots don’t seem to even know how thick the layers of their 3-ply cookware is!
Ideally I’d just find the technical specifications of their cookware on their website, make a spreadsheet, and then buy the one with the thickest material (or close to the thickest, depending on my trade-off between quality vs weight & cost).
But I’ve called maybe a dozen manufacturers, and none seem to know the specifications of their own cookware :(
So, fediverse, I ask you: does anyone know what the thickness of the layers in these manufacturer’s 3-ply cookware is? Otherwise, what’s been your experience? How do you feel about these brands? Is there some other one (not listed) that you prefer?
- Browne Thermalloy
- All-Clad
- Made-in
- Tramontina
- Cuisinart
- Other?
Edit: I should be clear that I’m specifically asking about 3-ply or 5-ply stainless steel cookware. This is for a community house, so I need something that can be (ab)used by housemates who don’t know or care for the seasonings on the pans. And I don’t want cast iron, because it’s more likely to break the glass-topped induction cooktop.
I'm also running All-Clad. Not sure/don't think All-Clad meets all of your specifications, but so far mine are absolutely BIFL. I use mine on induction, propane, and sometimes natural gas (I bring my cookware with me when I'm going to be cooking for people).
Here's my pitch: we live on our sailboat. These pans get knocked around hard. Pacific Ocean storms, salt air, salt water washing, all stainless cooking utensils (my partner knocks the utensils on the rim and the inner surface :/ ). I've had some of these for ~13 years of this abuse.
As stated in OP, my understanding is that induction-capable stainless steel use a less corrosion resistant (nickle-free) outer layer.
You wash that in salt water, and it doesn't rust?
We use a foot pump with a seawater feed for initial washing and then do a final rinse with RO water from the tanks. Our pans have halide damage + mineral deposits (clouding) on the inner surfaces from outright cooking abuse, but the pans themselves are doing great.
Please disregard the mess; I interrupted my partner mid-breakfast:
You can see the wear and tear, but the oil in the pan obscures the clouding
The other side:
No clouding, but lots of polymerization.
Here is a better pic of the clouding from reducing salty and acidic marinades in our soup pot:
The white spots are just starch from prepping my lunch this morning. The dark spots however are crevice corrosion from when I "lost" the pot on a beach for two months with an inch of tallow in the pot. Don't be like me. :D
Here you can see how the outside of the soup pot held up despite my dumbassery and abuse:
ah, final rinse with freshwater makes sense. You're not thaat abusive ;)
Pots look great! Thanks for sharing