Kitchenaid are a big brand in the world of kitchen and cooking products, and today we will be checking out some of their nonstick cookware. They make a variety of sets, but today we will be having a look at the KitchenAid Hard Anodized Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set. This is an economical set, so is a popular choice amongst shoppers. Is it worth a look, or should you stay clear of this cookware? Lets have a better look at it below.
Product Features:
Kitchenaid as a company was formed almost a 100 years ago in 1918, and in that period of time they have released a large range of kitchen related products. At the moment they have 3 or 4 different non stick sets for sale, and the set we are looking at is the more economical version.
This 10 piece set consists of the following: 1 and 2 quart saucepans, an 8 quart stockpot, a 3 quart saute pan, and 8″ and a 9″5 inch skillets. Glass lids are provided for everything except the skillets. The lids have stainless steel handles which are double riveted, and they have silicone covers on the handles. The glass is tempered for strength, and they have a stainless steel outer rim.
The cookware is a matt black color which seems to be pretty common these days. Like the lids, the cookware has stainless steel handles complete with silicone coverings. This means that the cookware is oven safe up to temperatures of 400F. These are hard anodized aluminum, so they can be used on most types of stoves except for induction ones.
There isn’t too much info on what kind of nonstick coating is used in this set. It claims to be durable and long lasting, but metal using metal utensils is definitely discouraged. It is also not dishwasher friendly so you will need to keep looking if you want a dishwasher safe cookware set. It has been confirmed that this nonstick coating is PFOA free however, so that is good news. Being that it is hard anodized aluminum it does feel a bit light, but this is simply because hard anodized cookware is generally thinner than other cookware types. The logo is stamped underneath the pots and pans, which is a nice little detail. There’s not that more to really say about this set, so lets move onto the testing phase.
First up we took the skillets for a spin with a variety of different meals. Grilled cheese is always a favorite in our books so this is where we began. Using some cheddar slices we toasted our bread and cheese. The skillets heated up fairly quickly, and there was no indication of any hot spots in the skillets. The cheese was no real challenge for the nonstick coating, and it happily slid out of the skillet when it finished cooking. In the other pan we left an egg to fry which was coming along quite nicely. This turned out well, and was thoroughly cooked all the way round. It didn’t stick at all, and we threw in some bacon afterwards. In the other skillet we tried some hash browns. These were browning nicely in no time, and our bacon was sizzling in the other skillet. Our food in both skillets was soon ready to eat and we had no complaints about the taste or the texture of the food. The nonstick coating seems to do a good job, and then we moved onto the cleanup task. The leftover bacon grease was our main concern, but all that was needed was a wipe with a paper towel to get rid of the bulk of it. The other skillet was also cleaned with ease, so we were quite pleased so far.
Next we put the saucepans to the test. Not wanting to do anything too extravagant, we settled with a homemade pasta sauce. We like to add a variety of veggies into the mix, so we prepared our pasta mix in one pot while we did the pasta in another. This particular recipe takes around two hours, and we slowly mixed it together. The lids are a nice tight fit on the pots so not a lot of steam can escape. This helps to seal in the flavors, and allowed us to simmer the mixture at a very low heat. After we had finished the dish, we left the little remaining mixture to settle. The pasta mix had come out really nicely, and the flavors were defined and strong. The cookware had done a fine job, and we had nothing to complain about.
We gave the Kitchenaid Hard Anodized cookware set roughly an hour to cool and came back to clean it afterwards. The bulk of the mixture could be rinsed off with water, and the rest was wiped away with a sponge. So far the nonstick coating has done everything it claims to do.
We also did a small test of the stock pot a few days later with a lamb stew. We won’t bore you with the details, but it is sufficient to say that we had similar results to our other tests. The cookware performed well, and it was easy to clean afterwards. With a retail price of around $220, it is hard to really fault this cookware as it seems to do everything it claims to do. It looks good in any modern kitchen and contains a variety of cookware pieces to make many different meals. The only downside is that these are not induction friendly, but that is only a minor fault. If you are looking for an affordable cookware set, then this is one to take a look at.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Oven safe up to 400F
- PFOA free
- Heats up fast
- Easy to clean
Cons:
- Not induction compatible
Summary:
The Kitchenaid Hard Anodized Nonstick Cookware set is an affordable quality choice. It looks good, is oven safe and easy to clean. What more can you ask for from a set of cookware? At the time of writing this model was on sale on Amazon, and you can check if it is still on sale over at the Amazon product page.
| Our Rating: |
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| 4.5 |