Watching diner cooks flip eggs and pancakes with an effortless flick of the wrist is one of the most satisfying restaurant experiences. But making restaurant-worthy breakfast at home? It's not as easy as it looks if you don't have slick pots and pans. As Yahoo's resident culinary product tester and French Culinary Institute alum, I went in search of the best cookware sets for whipping up aspirational brunches. Which one took the gold for easiest to clean? That would be the popular Ninja Foodi NeverStick Premium 12-Piece Cookware Set, marked down a whopping $200 for Amazon Prime Day. Who doesn't love a sizzlin' sale?
Why is it a good deal? 💰
Compared with many of the other sets of pots and pans we tested (HexClad, Le Creuset, Made In), this one's an absolute steal at $300 (down from $500) — matching the lowest price it's been all year. While it was not the least expensive of the bunch (that spot is occupied by the Cuisinart Multiclad Pro Triple Ply 12-Piece Cookware Set), this is the best price we've seen. At 40% off, it's a stellar deal.
Why do I need this? 🤔
As a Yahoo shopping editor and our resident cookware tester, I found this set's most valuable asset is its nonstick surface. I scrambled eggs in the 8-inch frying pan using less than a teaspoon of cooking oil. The eggs slid right off the surface like they were on an ice luge, and the chicken breast I seared browned nicely with no residue left behind.
Made of aluminum and stainless steel with a PFOA-free nonstick coating, you can use this cookware on glass, electric and ceramic glass stovetops, plus it's safe to put in the oven up to 500°F. That means you can get a nice sear on proteins and then finish them in the oven to cook them to your liking. It's also dishwasher-safe, but when I washed the pot (after heating up tomato sauce and letting it sit around for a while), all it took was a few seconds with a soapy sponge to get everything looking as good as new.
There's truly value here, as the set includes seven pots and pans (many with coordinating glass lids). This is an excellent purchase for someone furnishing a post-college kitchen or anyone who simply despises the work of scrubbing after meals.
Good nonstick cookware will become your most-reached-for cooking equipment. (Getty/iStockPhoto)
What reviewers say 💬
It's not just my opinion — more than 4,500 Amazon customers adore the Ninja Foodi NeverStick 12-Piece Cookware set too.
Pros 👍
"Cleanup is wipe and rinse, even after several hours, including the exterior. Obviously, you want to use soap afterward, but you're not going to be doing any scraping," raved one convert.
"The 'non-stickiness' of this cookware is better than I expected. When I felt the texture of the cookware, I thought, 'how could this be non-stick?' and the first egg I tried to cook without oil or butter was a definite mess, but I hadn't pre-heated the pan, and apparently that matters. When I tried again, and the pan was fully preheated, it worked flawlessly. I have used butter and oil with no problems as well ..." shared one buyer.
"I love this set. The pots and pans are nice and thick, but not too heavy," said a third home chef. "Absolutely nothing sticks to them. No matter what you cook, you can easily wipe out with a paper towel! You can even use metal utensils with no problem, just nothing sharp. I've had other, more expensive pots and pans, but these are the best of all of them."
Cons 👎
One shopper expressed this frustration: "My only 'wish' is that the glass lids do not have a small steam hole. Other than this, this set provides a very impressive array of sizes of pots and pans to satisfy almost any kitchen need at an outstanding price point."
"The saute pan is TINY — good for small meals but not normal/large family-size portions (still use my stainless for this job and almost no need for this one)," said a final reviewer. "Does not come with a strainer/steamer insert for stock pots."
Premium nonstick cookware that's dishwasher-safe and can be used with metal utensils is hard to come by, so snag this set while it's at its lowest price of the year.
Save $200 | Lowest price of the year
If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
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