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Kirkland Hard Anodized Cookware Review

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UPDATE 2014/02/16: A reader brought it to our attention that Amazon sell a version of this cookware that comes with silicone handles. You can see it over here.

Many folks out there look for economical cookware, and one of the most popular choices is the Kirkland Hard Anodized 15 Piece set. Kirkland is a brand often associated with Costco, so naturally this is a affordable set of cookware. But how well does it compare to the competition? Keep reading to find out more.

Product Features:
The Kirkland 15 piece set has a retail price of around $149.99, which makes it very competitively priced for this kind of cookware. Lets take a closer look at the set to see what it is made of and what you will get with it.
This is a hard anodized aluminum set, so it cannot be used on induction stoves. The nonstick coating is made by Dupont which is good news, and it is PFOA free. This nonstick mix contains some titanium which means it should be very durable, but Kirkland still mention in the manual that you should only use nylon, plastic or wooden utensils with this set. This set is made in Thailand, so while this is not as good as say cookware made in Europe or the USA, we would think it should be more reliable than some of the cheaper Chinese alternatives.
The handles of the set are made out of stainless steel which are riveted in place. While this makes for a great look, it may become problematic when the cookware is in use due to the heat.

Included with this set is the following: 3 x sauce pans including 1,2 and 3 quarts, an 8 quart stock pot, a 3 quart saute pan, 2 x skillets including a 8.5″ and a 10.75″ model, a 4.4 quart casserole pan and finally a round 12″ griddle. It is quite a comprehensive set, and all but the skillets and griddle come with a lid. The lids are made out of tempered glass, and come with stainless steel handles and rims.
The entire set is a dark black color, and it is a fairly modern looking design. There is nothing wrong with the design, but it does look like most other cookware sets out there. This cookware is oven safe and can be used in temperatures up to 400F. Aside from that there isn’t a whole lot else to say about the cookware, so lets put it to the test.

We begin by testing out the sauce pots and the skillets with a homemade pasta and sauce, with a mix of fried onions and mushrooms. The cookware has quite a thin base so it does heat up quite quickly. The heat distribution is quite evenly, and there was no evidence of any hotspots. The mushrooms and the onions didn’t stick at all in the pan, and the nonstick coating feels slick and smooth. There was a sight problem however and that is to do with the handles. As we have seen before with stainless steel handles, they do tend to get hot when the cookware is in use, so you will need oven gloves or a pot handle holder.
After around two hours, our sauce tasted fairly edible, and we left the remaining mixture to settle. The sauce itself was really scrumptious and the flavors were really locked in. There was no sign of any strange after tastes, and everything was thoroughly cooked. We left the pots and pans for thirty minutes afterwards to seeĀ  if we would have to scrub them or whether a few wipes with the sponge would do the trick. The pans were very easy to get clean, although to be fair there wasn’t much of a mess in those. The sauce pot which contained the pasta sauce wasn’t much more of a challenge and we simply used a bit of water to rinse out the bulk of the remaining sauce, then wiped out the rest with a sponge. So far so good.

The next day we put the skillets to the test with some hash browns and some french toast. Again we were quite happy with the performance of the nonstick coating, as nothing seemed to stick to it. We even left some leftover batter to burn in the larger skillet, but that was simply wiped up with a paper towel. After that we embarked on a slightly larger scale test when we decided to make a lamb stew using the large stock pot and one or two of the saucepans. Our recipe required a preparation time of around 6 hours, so we slowly worked our way through the recipe. There were no real problems along the way, aside from the handles getting hot as is to be expected. Once the stew was finally down we had a taste test and loved what had prepared. We were very happy with how it had come out and the cookware had certainly done a good job. Again we left the leftover reside to settle to see how easy it would be to clean, and we received more or less the same results as before. Nothing stuck, and the leftover stew was easily removed with some water and a sponge.

So that is a quick look at the Kirkland Hard Anodized Cookware set. It heats up fast, and the nonstick coating seems to work very well. There is a bit of a downside when it comes to the hot handles, and we wish Kirkland had simply added a rubber coating to remedy this. Aside from that issue however this cookware seems to be a decent affordable choice. There is no mention of a warranty, so we are assuming it is a standard one year warranty.
 

Pros:

  • Very cheap
  • Lots of different pots and pans
  • Dupont nonstick coating
  • PFOA free
  • Oven safe to 400F
  • Easy to clean

Cons:

  • Handles get hot

 
Summary:
The Kirkland Cookware set is a decent and affordable choice. The handles do tend to get hot, but if you don’t mind using oven gloves or some pot handle holders then you need not worry about this. For under $150 it is great value for money.

UPDATE 2014/02/16: A reader brought it to our attention that Amazon sell a version of this cookware that comes with silicone handles. You can see it over here.

Our Rating:
4