The Best Ceramic Cookware Set

Buying Guide

Having a full set of matching cookware is a great way to start building a functional kitchen for those looking to fill the cabinets of a new house or even for those who simply want to upgrade from some of their old pans.

Ceramic cookware is considered to be a more environmentally-friendly option than other types, such as Teflon-coated pans. The coating is made from natural materials, such as silica (sand).

“So, nothing unhealthy will leach into your food and there are no toxic fumes — and that’s a good thing,” explains culinary expert Julie Chernoff, food journalist, dining editor of Better magazine and member of Les Dames d’Escoffier. “And the surface is still non-stick, and you can use less fat in cooking, another plus. They are easy to clean — a quick wipe with a damp cloth is often all that is needed — and generally affordable.”

There are a lot of different shapes and styles of pots and pans that you can choose from when building a new ceramic cookware set for your kitchen. Luckily, there are companies out there who are way ahead of us and have already narrowed down the options to create the perfect set of cookware to cover almost all of your needs.

The Rachael Ray Cucina Hard Porcelain Enamel Nonstick Cookware Set, 12-Piece, Sea Salt Gray is a great example. This set not only comes in some very fun colors, but it provides two sizes of frying pans, a couple of various pots — ranging from small sauce pans to a large pot suitable for boiling large quantities of potatoes or pasta — and even some additional utensils thrown in for good measure. The value of attaining all these pans in one set almost speaks for itself, as you find yourself getting bulk pricing when you get the whole set at one time. Purchasing all these pots and pans individually will add up to a significantly higher cost in the long run. 

A good set of non-stick enameled cookware can take away a ton of frustration while trying to scrub cooked-on food. Some full sets of enameled cookware will provide you a pan for almost every need while also providing the non-stick coating to all of them.

Many of the cookware sets available today come in fun colors to match your kitchen color schemes. The GreenLife Soft Grip 16pc Ceramic Non-Stick Cookware Set comes in vibrant primary colors, including red, lavender and turquoise. These pans are beautiful and have built-in loops at the end of each handle. So you can hang them up for all to see if you see, adding functional decor to your kitchen. 

One style of a non-stick surface on cookware is a ceramic coating. A set that may come in a fun gold color may have a clean white ceramic cooking surface. This provides a great aesthetic value for the price, and your dinner guests will likely notice how cool your ceramic pans look. The ceramic itself acts as a great non-stick surface too, so it melds function and form together.

But there are disadvantages to ceramic cookware, and you should know them.

“There’s some question about durability, as the coating doesn’t last as long as non-stick metal pans,” Chernoff notes. “I would recommend hand-washing pans rather than putting them in the dishwasher, which will shorten their life span. They aren’t as heavy as all-metal pans, which means that they won’t heat as evenly, but for some people the convenience will eclipse the consistency factor. You cannot expose ceramic cookware to high heat, as that will damage the ceramic coating, and you absolutely cannot use metal utensils for the same reason.”

In general, it’s important to be comfortable while using your cookware. So if you do choose to go with ceramic cookware, find a set that has an ergonomic handle. That will help you handle the heavier foods that add quite a bit of weight to the pan. The size and shape of the pans will come into play when you’re cooking as well, so look for a set that offers the styles of pans that suit your cooking preferences the best.

• If you want a colorful pop to spruce up your kitchen, look into sets that have different options in their exterior colors. You will be spending a lot of time with these pots and pans so make sure you like their look!
• If you do more frying or simmering and not as much boiling, keep that in mind and find a set that has the shallow frying pans that will help you the most. The sets that have varying pot sizes can be perfect for certain cooks, depending on what kinds of foods they like to make.
• Thinking of hanging your beautiful new pans on the wall as functional decor? Look for sets that will hang nicely with built-in loops on the ends of the handles.
• An additional tip that will help your new pans last longer is to carefully follow the cleaning instructions. Non-stick surfaces are a cook’s best friend, and every scuff and scrape that these pans take will make more and more food start sticking to them. It’s hard to flip an egg when it’s stuck to the pan. So clean your pans and pots with warm water and gentle scrubbers — never an abrasive pad.