After using the 'Made In' 5 Piece Stainless Set I don’t think I can go back to my old pans

Stainless steel cookware is gaining popularity, a trend that appears to be driven by concerns about chemical non-stick coatings on pans. But also, I think people want cookware that’ll last. We’re sick of having to replace scratched and flakey pans every few years.

A good set of pans can be expensive, so you’ll want to get it right. Choosing stainless steel should easily tick a few boxes, like being hard wearing and long lasting. But at just under £400, this set is pricey, plus the brand isn’t that well known in the UK.

I’ve put this set to the test to help you figure out if it’s the one for you. I’m also learning to fry in a stainless steel frying pan, which is definitely something that’s daunting and could put you off this set altogether. But scroll down to see if I managed to fry eggs without welding them to the pan.

In a nutshell

Made in Italy, these premium stainless steel pans are constructed using five layers of metal that are rolled and bonded together. This set includes a 1.9 litre saucepan with lid, a 1.9 litre saucier pan with lid, and a 25cm frying pan.

The saucepan and frying pan are pretty self explanatory, but not everyone will have heard of a saucier pan. Essentially it’s a wider pan with a rounded cornerless bottom, that’s well suited to making sauces.

The stainless steel frying pan has the potential to be a challenge. Most of us are used to non-stick frying pans and frying effectively in a pan that lacks a non-stick coating requires a different skillset. But, thanks to the internet and platforms like YouTube, it’s super easy to learn how to use it effectively

With an RRP of £377 this investment set is aimed at people who want premium, long lasting cookware that’s good enough for professional kitchens. None of the pans in this set have non-stick coatings, so if you’re worried about forever chemicals, it’s a good set to consider.

I was initially dubious about the usefulness of the saucier pan, but came to love it during the time I was reviewing these pans. The saucepan met my expectations, meanwhile the frying pan is a great size, and if you’re willing to learn the skills needed to use a stainless steel frying pan, it’s possible to achieve non-stick cooking.

Product specs

Materials: 5-ply stainless clad

Metal utensil safe? yes

Dishwasher safe? Yes but hand washing recommended

Pan capacity: 1.9 litre saucier and 1.9 litre saucepan

Pan diameter: 25cm frying pan, 21cm saucier, 17.5cm saucepan

Getting started

I was surprised that the pans didn’t arrive in one box. They got delivered in three separate boxes, one for each pan. Not only that, they were actually delivered by two different courier companies, which seems crazy.

The packaging was mostly cardboard, however each pan was also wrapped in a plastic bag, a pointless addition if you ask me. Before they arrived I hadn’t scrutinized the pan dimensions on the website, I’d just scanned the info. So when I unboxed them, the frying pan was bigger than I expected, while the saucier was slightly smaller than I‘d imagined.

There’s a small card in each box with care instructions. There’s limited information here and you can find more on the brands website. But the thing that immediately jumped out to me was the instruction that handwashing is preferred. I wasn’t expecting to see that as a recommendation for stainless steel pans.

The card also informs you that they are oven safe up to 800F, which is a tad annoying given that we don’t use fahrenheit for our ovens in the UK. I'll save you the trouble of working out the conversion, it’s equivalent to 425C which is way beyond the upper limit of a standard UK domestic oven anyway.

The stainless steel lids don’t have steam holes in them, so I’ll be keeping an eye on how excess steam manages to escape. The handles are long and the pans feel sturdy and well balanced, but not overly heavy. On the whole, my first impression is that they appear to be lovely quality and I’m excited to get cooking with them.

Before use, I gave them all a quick wash with warm soapy water to make sure there’s no dust or residues from the packaging or the factory.

Cooking in the Made In 5 Piece Stainless Set

Saucier pan

Despite its name, the first thing I cooked in this pan wasn’t a sauce at all. I actually used it for porridge. At the time of writing it’s a dreary, wet January, and on the mornings when we have the time, my husband and I have come to look forward to a warming bowl of porridge.

It didn’t immediately occur to me, but when my husband looked at the saucier and suggested it might be good for our porridge, I gave it a go. I use jumbo oats, so they take around 10-15 minutes to soften when cooked with milk, and need to be stirred frequently for that nice creamy texture.

The saucier pan turned out to be a brilliant choice for this job. There are no awkward corners where the porridge can get stuck, and the overall shape makes it easy to ensure you're stirring it all thoroughly. I actually far prefer cooking porridge in this pan than in a normal saucepan. It heated evenly and thanks to the shape and ease of stirring, there was no sticking.

Next I used it to make a sauce. I was making a fish pie so the saucier was the perfect choice for whipping a basic white sauce from scratch. I melted butter and added flour to make a roux, then slowly added milk.

The thing with a white sauce is you have to stir or whisk it continually while adding the milk, otherwise it can congeal on the base of the pan and end up lumpy. What I love about the saucier, is that the rounded bowl shape makes stirring easy.

I was able to use a balloon whisk to stir the sauce as I added the milk. If I tried to use a balloon whisk in a standard saucepan, it wouldn’t stir all the way into the corners and consequently there would be a lot of congealed, lumpy sauce at the bottom.

Before giving it a go I didn’t think making a white sauce in the saucier would be much different to a standard pan. But after actually using it for this type of sauce, I really can see the benefit. My sauce was smooth and creamy, and stirring was a dream, I’ll definitely be using it next time I need to make a white sauce.

Although it isn’t necessarily designed for boiling vegetables, when I wanted to simmer some whole asparagus spears without having to cut them in half, I found myself reaching for the saucier. It’s the ideal size and shape, plus it has a lid, so it ended up being the perfect pan for the job.

When I was looking at the specifications of the pans on the Made In website, I noticed that they recommend the saucier for risotto, and that seemed like a good enough reason to make risotto for dinner.

From softening the onion and leek, to the long, slow process of adding stock while continually stirring the rice. The saucier proved to be up to the job. My risotto didn’t stick to the base, and the pan responded well to any adjustments I made to the hob temperature.

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Overall I was very pleased with the result, all I would say is that if you’re making risotto for a crowd, this pan won’t be big enough. I pretty much filled it up and I had enough for two dinner size portions, with some left over for one lunch the next day.

Saucepan

I used this saucepan several times to make hot chocolate, and can confirm that the rolled edge at the top of the pan works as a great pouring lip. I never spilled a drop of hot chocolate when pouring it into my mugs.

It was also a good size for boiling broccoli, heating baked beans, warming chickpea curry, and similar everyday cooking tasks. It appears to heat evenly and respond well to changes in the hob temperature.

It's not a huge saucepan but still had ample space for cooking six portions of brown rice. The brown rice simmered for 20 minutes with the lid on. During cooking, steam was able to naturally escape around the edges of the lid, without causing it to jostle around.

After cooking for 20 minutes, the pan handle was still cool to the touch. The lid handle was warm, but not hot, so I didn’t need an oven glove or tea towel to remove it. And when I lifted it, the pan still felt nicely balanced, despite being full of rice and water.

Frying Pan

Having only recently reviewed a stainless steel frying pan from another brand, I’ve already got an understanding of how to cook in a pan that lacks a non-stick coating. However I still headed to YouTube to refresh my memory and make sure I did it the right way. I also found some helpful tutorials on the Made In website here.

To cook some halloumi I heated the pan over a medium heat and used a teaspoon of water to test when it was at the right temperature. As soon as the water beaded and danced around the pan, it was ready for the oil. This is called the leidenfrost effect and it’s worth watching some videos so you know what to look for.

I added a good splash of oil and allowed it to warm for around 30 seconds then added my halloumi. It did stick slightly but I left it alone until it needed turning. A bit of gentle persuasion was required to get the spatula underneath the halloumi slices and release them from the pan, but I managed to turn each piece without any breakages.

The halloumi fried nicely in just a few minutes and none of it was welded to the pan. I don’t think I got the pan temperature spot on though, as there were some black marks after cooking that required a fair bit of scrubbing to remove.

I used a similar method when frying cubes of paneer and it worked perfectly, no sticking at all.

Next I tried fried eggs, which is a bit of a nail biter in a stainless steel pan. The guidance on the Made In website suggests heating the empty pan on a medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes. Then you add a tablespoon of oil and allow it to heat before adding your eggs.

I followed this method and it worked pretty well. There was some minor sticking, but I managed to ease the spatula under both eggs and remove them intact without splitting the yolk. Just a couple of small crisped patches of egg white remained in the pan, but these weren’t exactly welded on.

On the whole it was very successful and I was pleased with the result. But the second time I tried fried eggs, I opted for a slightly different method where you heat the pan over a medium heat for just 30 seconds, then add a tablespoon of oil.

After the oil has heated for around 60 seconds you add in the eggs and fry gently over a medium low heat. For me this method worked much better and the eggs didn’t stick.

The other thing to note is that in a stainless steel pan, you will need more oil than in a very good non-stick pan. For some people this will be a deal breaker. I don’t mind so much because I used a healthy avocado oil and most of it remains in the pan when you take the eggs out, so I’m not going to worry about it.

If you think eggs are scary in a stainless steel pan, then pancakes are next level. I love a thin crepe style pancake with banana and chocolate spread, so in all honesty if they didn’t work, I’d be more gutted about missing out on this tasty treat than the fact I’d be scraping stuck pancake batter from the base of the pan.

Having consulted some tutorials on YouTube, I opted for the gentle method that worked well for my fried eggs. I heated the empty pan for 30 seconds over a medium heat and then added just a teaspoon of oil this time, which I preheated for 60 seconds.

Because I only added a teaspoon of oil, I used a pastry brush to make sure the whole base of the frying pan was properly coated with the oil. I’d already allowed my batter to sit at room temperature for a while because I read that if the batter is cold, it’s more likely to stick. Once added, I swirled it around, and adjusted the hob to a lower heat.

Most people accept that the first pancake of the batch is usually the worst, and while the first one wasn’t the prettiest, I breathed a sigh of relief when my spatula slid effortlessly underneath it and there was no sticking whatsoever.

For the rest of the pancakes, I added another teaspoon of oil before each one, brushed it around and then immediately poured in my pancake batter. All the time I was adjusting the hob temperature between medium and low as needed, and the pan responded well.

This pan is great size for pancakes and the angled sides make it easy to get a palate knife or spatula underneath.

All four pancakes were a triumph and yet again I surprised myself. Even though I’ve managed it before, I’m still amazed at how simple it is to cook pancakes in a frying pan that doesn’t have a non-stick coating. And I’m starting to wonder at what point we all got tricked into thinking a non-stick pan was a must-have piece of cookware.

Finally in this pan I seared tuna steaks. And let’s be clear, fresh tuna isn’t cheap, so I was worried that this would be a disaster and ruin my tuna.

I like tuna steaks seared on the outside and rare in the middle, so that’s the result I was going for. I heated the pan on a medium heat for around 4 minutes, until a teaspoon of water danced around it in one big blob.

After briefly heating some oil, I added the tuna and turned down the heat, as I wanted to avoid overcooking it.

Once it looked like the first side had cooked enough, I attempted to get the spatula under it. Thankfully it came away from the pan cleanly. I was super happy that I managed to cook the tuna exactly how I like it, without any issues.

Cleaning

Although the pans are dishwasher safe, the care instructions advise handwashing. For me this is a little disappointing as I always think one of the great things about moving away from pans with more delicate coatings, is that you can throw them in the dishwasher without stressing about scratches or damage to the non-stick.

Frustratingly, the card that came in the box also recommends using Made In Stainless Steel Cleaner, which doesn’t appear to be available on the UK website. However, if you search “cleaning stainless steel” on the Made In website, you’ll come across a care guide that gives other options like baking soda and vinegar for stubborn residues.

During the time I used the pans, I opted for a variety of cleaning methods, occasionally putting them in the dishwasher and sometimes handwashing too. On the whole they always came clean without too much scrubbing. After cooking halloumi the frying pan required a fair bit of elbow grease, but in general it was easier to clean than you might imagine, given the lack of non-stick coating.

Storage

The set can be stacked, and when the pans are all nestled together neatly, they only take up the footprint of the frying pan. What’s more, unlike non-stick pans, you don’t have to worry about scratches when storing them together like this.

How do they compare to competitiors?

I recently reviewed the Le Creuset 3-ply Stainless Steel 3-piece Cookware set. It’s another expensive set, however there is an argument to say that the large and medium sized Le Creuset pans are more useful to most at-home cooks, than a saucier style pan is. So if you’re unsure about the saucier, this is a great set to consider.

For a more budget friendly option the HEMKOMST 7-Piece Pan Set from Ikea is the affordable choice in our roundup of best saucepan sets. For less than £100 the set includes three saucepans and a frying, so it’s a great starter set.

Should you buy the Made In 5 Piece Stainless Set?

There’s no doubt that this Made In stainless steel cookware is super high quality, and that is reflected in the price. I’ve loved using this set and was surprised that having never used a saucier pan, I really quite liked it. However for most people, it’ll probably be a bit too niche, and it’s worth considering whether you’ll get more use from a regular saucepan.

If you’re reading this you’re probably already interested in replacing non-stick pans with stainless steel. It's a great choice, but I would just reiterate that you’ll need to spend some time getting to grips with frying in a stainless steel pan, otherwise you’ll fall at the first hurdle and won’t get the best from it. On the whole though, this is a great set, and the pans are also available separately if you don’t want to invest in the set.

About this review, and the reviewer

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.

Helen used these pans for around 10 days in her own home on a gas hob. She was gifted the pans after the review and despite her initial hesitation, was particularly excited to add the saucier pan to her collection. She’s also determined to continue perfecting the art of frying in a stainless steel frying pan, and may soon ditch her non-stick frying pans.