Reviews of Made In Cookware Set- Top Picks Of 2023

Check out our Made In cookware to see if this new brand can match the established icons in the cookware industry.

Looking for Made In cookware reviews?

That’s understandable, since the Made In brand is quite new to the cookware industry. Who knows about them among consumers?

After all, they may just be one of those Johnny-come-lately brands that are all about making a quick buck using low-cost materials.

But that’s not exactly what Made In is all about.

The Made In Story

It’s true that the Made In brand is brand-new. It was only launched in 2017. Yet, it has a longer history than you might think.

Jake Kalick partnered with his childhood friend Chip Malt for a particular purpose. That is to offer high-quality cookware, except at half the price points offered by premium brands.

To do this, they looked for factories that were family-owned, with generations of history of their own. These types of factories often have a tradition of passion and excellence, and that’s what they wanted for the Made In brand.

They also approached their suppliers of raw materials directly. This allowed them to make sure that their raw materials were made to their exacting standards. Also, they were even able to negotiate the prices down. These materials were even recyclable—the leftover bits were used for car parts.

Then they simplified the business chain, to minimize the prices. They got rid of the people in between their factories and their buyers. That means they don’t have resellers, distributors, and retailers in the business model who would then add to their prices. The elimination of these in-betweeners means that consumers like you enjoy the tremendous savings.

By 2019, Made In has made its mark in the cookware industry, garnering a loyal customer base and earning various “Best Of” awards. Their cookware can be found in many restaurants with 3 Michelin stars. The most notable of these include the Le Bernadin in New York City and Alinea in Chicago.

Key Features

Let’s take a look at some of the crucial features that differentiate the Made In brand from the rest of the cookware industry.

The Cladding Process

Cladding is a special way of fabricating metal. In this process, they use several layers od different materials and then bond them together to form a single piece of metal.

Usually, the 2 types of metals include one that’s highly conductive so that the heat can be distributed efficiently and evenly. The other material is non-reactive, which means they don’t affect the taste of your food ingredients when you cook them.

When Made In says that they use the cladding process, they mean it. All their cookware comes from a fully clad material (meaning, the single sheet with several layers of metal). Some of the other brands may also claim that they offer clad cookware, but they only mean that they’ve put in a heat-distributing disc at the bottom of their pots.

With Made In, the use of the fully clad metal conducts the heat from the base of the pot to the top edge. This results in a cooking surface that’s truly evenly heated.

5-Ply

Many of the clad cookware manufacturers use a tri-ply (3-ply) design. Usually, this means you have 2 layers of stainless steel, and in between them there’s a layer of copper or aluminum.

But you’ll generally find 5-ply cookware with Made In. That means you have 2 more inner layers with a heat-conductive metal. It gives you more efficient heating with even heat distribution.

If 5-ply is better, then why not go with 7-ply? The problem here is that the use of 2 extra layers will add to the price—but it doesn’t necessarily add to the quality of the cookware. Keep in mind that the overall thickness of the cookware will also affect heat distribution.

Adherence to Quality

The Made In founders insisted on partnering with the family business factories, because the cladder must bond the various metals properly. Without the special care in ensuring the proper cladding process, even the most premium materials won’t matter.

With the family business factories, the Made In founders had cladders with the necessary machinery and knowledge to create the high-level bonding process needed to make a durable pan or pot that can endure extreme cooking temperatures,

More importantly, these family business factories had the passion to pay attention to details. They apply stress tests to make sure that they only use the highest quality materials for their clad cookware.

Made In Cookware Reviews

To explain why Made In has made such a name for itself in such a short time, let’s examine some of their more popular cookware sets.

1. The Executive Chef Cookware Reviews

The items included here are the following:

• 12-inch Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan.
• 10-inch Stainless Clad Frying Pan.
• 10-inch Nonstick Frying Pan.
• 12-inch Stainless Clad Frying Pan.
• 12-inch Nonstick Frying Pan.
• 2-quart Saucepan with Lid.
• 3-quart Saucier with Lid.
• 4-quart Sauté Pan with Lid.
• 5-quart Stock Pot with Lid.
• 8-quart Stock Pot with Lid.

All of these items don’t have rubber on the handles, because they’re not needed. These are “stay-cool” handles that don’t get hot even when you’ve left the pots and pans on the stovetop.

Stainless Steel

These stainless-steel cookware components are made with 5-ply stainless clad metal, and they’ve been made in the US and Italy. You can use these with various stovetops, including induction stovetops. You can also stick these into your oven with the temperature up to 800 degrees F.

Just don’t use metal utensils on these pans.

Carbon Steel

These are made in France, and with these you’re able to use your metal utensils. You can use these with your induction stovetop, and stick these in the oven with the temperature as high as 1200 degrees F.

You may have to get the seasoning wax for carbon steel, which Made In makes separately. You have to season your carbon steel cookware first, before you use it.

Nonstick

Isn’t it nice when the food you fry doesn’t stick to your pan? It makes food preparation and cleanup a lot easier.

This can also be used with induction stovetops, though you can’t use these with metal utensils. You can still stick this in the oven, as long as the temperature doesn’t go past 500 degrees F.

2. Blue Carbon Cookware Steel Kit

Made in France, these excellent pans have now made it in the US and all over the world. These pans are actually a hybrid, with the best features of a cast iron skillet and a stainless-steel frying pan.

You get the heat retention of the cast iron, while you also enjoy its nonstick properties. Then you get the heat control, light weight, and cooking speed that you enjoy with stainless-steel cookware.

Items

Your set includes:

• Carbon steel wok.
• 12-inch carbon steel frying pan.
• 10-inch carbon steel frying pan.
• Can of seasoning wax.

Uses

This set is great for preparing veggies with overcooking them. You can go with stir frying, or with searing.

You can use these pans with induction/glass stovetops. They’re safe in the oven up to temperatures of 1200 degrees F.

Just don’t stick them in the dishwasher. You also need to season the cookware first before using them, which is why you have the seasoning wax as part of the set. Yes, it’s a bit fussy, but you can say the same about cooking in general.

Besides, it’s all worth it when you taste the expertly prepared dishes you can make with this cookware set.

3. The Starter Cookware Kits

As the name implies, you may want to start with this set when you’re getting your first cookware for your brand-new kitchen. This is also great if you have limited kitchen cabinet space.

This particular kit is literally an award-winner, with lots of honors garnered. These include recognition as the Best Cookware Set of 2021 according to Consumer Reports.

CNET calls this the Best Direct to Consumer Cookware of 2021. Here you get the Best Skillet according to Serious Eats, while Chowhound says you also get the Best Carbon Steel Pan in the cookware industry.

Items

These are what you get:

• 8-quart stock pot with lid.
• 2-quart stock pot with lid.
• 10-inch stainless-steel frying pan.
• 10-inch carbon steel frying pan.
• Seasoning wax (for the carbon steel).

The carbon steel and stainless-steel cookware works with induction. They also have the stay-cool handles. The stainless clad is oven-safe up to 800 degrees F, while the carbon steel is oven-safe up to 1200 degrees F.

Remember that you’re not supposed to use metal utensils with the stainless clad. The carbon steel also has to be seasoned first.

Final Verdict

Is these perfect? No, since the lids aren’t made of glass. It would have been nice to be able to see inside without lifting the lid and letting the moisture and heat out.

Still, it’s pretty evident that these cookware sets have been made with attention to quality. Just about all the other Made In cookware reviews attest to this.

With any one of these sets, you’re getting a great deal with the reasonable prices and the astounding premium quality of the pots and pans.