Very few of us are afforded the luxury of a full arsenal of All-Clad pans when we move into our first apartment. As nice as it would be for your first set of cookware to be the only set of cookware you ever have to buy, it’s much more likely that the foundation of your first kitchen will be an eclectic medley of economical cookware.
Having tested pots and pans for years now, I must (somewhat reluctantly) admit that well-made, more-expensive cookware consistently performs better than budget counterparts. By “performs better,” I mean it distributes heat more evenly, is less likely to scorch food, and tends to be more comfortable to handle, both in balance and weight. (But you can read more about all that in our reviews here.)
But this doesn’t mean budget cookware is patently unusable. Cheaper pots and pans are often less forgiving of common mistakes. It’s easier to burn food if the heat’s too high, and they’re more prone to warping if you accidentally shock them with cold water—two things green cooks tend to do. However, this doesn’t make them useless. If anything, they might help you become a better cook as you learn through the process of trial and error…and I’m speaking from personal experience!
That said, some lines of budget cookware are certainly better than others. Taking price, performance, design, and overall quality into consideration, my go-to affordable recommendation is definitely Goldilocks. Here’s why.
What I like about Goldilocks Cookware
Goldilocks pots and pans consistently impressed us with their performance and design during testing. We were able to brown onions and crisp up chicken thighs with relative ease. They’re lightweight, making them easy to maneuver with one hand. The pans have spacious surface areas for better searing and browning, and the cooking surface isn’t particularly sticky either.
In general, the shape and design of the skillet and sauté pan are similar to the broad and shallow dimensions of All-Clad pans. Goldilocks strays more with the saucepans, opting for a more typical ratio between diameter and height (All-Clad saucepans are notably tall and more narrow), but it’s clear that the makers of these pans have thought these things through.
The pans are made with tri-ply construction: two layers of stainless steel surrounding an aluminum core. For a while, cladding was synonymous with high-end cookware (hence the name All-Clad) because this layered construction distributes heat more evenly across the pan. These days, cladding is standard on most decent stainless-steel cookware, but it’s still a reliable marker of quality.
Goldilocks sells two main cookware sets simply named The Cookware Set and The Cookware Set Plus. The basic set consists of two saucepans, a 10″ skillet, and a stockpot, and three lids, with the largest fitting both the skillet and the stockpot. The plus set includes an additional 12″ skillet. They also offer a couple of other pieces, like a 3.5-quart sauté pan and a 6-quart Dutch oven. For these cookware sets, the price-to-quality ratio is pretty fantastic, with the 7-piece set going for $235.
What I don’t like about Goldilocks
Praise aside, these pans do suffer from some shortcomings. They are a bit more volatile over the heat, prone to scorching and burning if you aren’t keeping an eye on your sautéed onions. (It should be noted that similarly priced pans we’ve tested were just as, if not more, prone to this as well.) Higher quality stainless steel cookware heats at a more consistent and even pace, allowing for gradual yet expedient warming that encourages browning rather than burning. So a more reactive pan requires more attention.
The metal finish on these pans isn’t quite as polished as more expensive cookware, with an ever-so-slight rough finish on the cooking surface. While this surface texture didn’t significantly impact the pan’s performance, it did make the pan more prone to discoloration with repeated use.
Bottom line: These pans are still great.
Despite a few criticisms, I think it’s important to note that these differences in quality are really only perceptible when comparing pans in a controlled side-by-side environment. Cookware is as capable as the hands that wield it, so if you have a basic understanding of how to cook, I am confident that these pans will serve you well. Who knows, you might end up holding onto these for years and years to come.
