Paula Deen Signature Stainless Steel II 12-Piece Cookware Set

Overall Happiness MAY Depend on Your Cooking Surface
Thanksgiving dinner is an ideal time to put new cookware through a workout; my Paula Deen Signature Stainless Steel II 12 piece set arrived in time for the holiday. As a food writer and recipe developer who's been cooking for more than 30 years, pots and pans are heavily used in my kitchen.Over the years I've bought and reviewed many brands of cookware. I've cooked on gas stoves, electric, and even glass topped electric ranges. Different kinds of cookware work better depending on the type of stove you have *and* how you tend to cook.

For example, a gas stove heats immediately. It's never a good idea-unless you're bringing liquid to a boil-to set the range temperture on high. In fact, with a gas stove, I even boil water over medium-high heat with any kind of pots or pans, especially nonstick. With an electric stove, care must be taken with regards to how long you leave a pot or pan on the hot burner, and for traditional cookware (without nonstick surface), you'll have to...

Lightweight, Simple Design, Good Starter Set
The Paula Dean Signature Stainless Steel II 12-Piece Cookware Set is great for beginners, first-time homeowners, and as a general starter cookware set. The set is fairly inclusive with a couple of utensils, stockpot, three saucepans, four lids, and two skillets.

The skillets are very lightweight, which is good or okay depending on your desire. For those that need a lightweight set because of difficulty of lifting heavy items this is great. It's one of the lightest I've ever used. However, I personally prefer a thicker bottom for heat distribution and even cooking. The stockpot and saucepans are also fairly lightweight.

The lids are well made, however, some of the handles and screws were loose upon opening the box. They just needed a quick tightening, but it could be a question of quality in the future. The lids are glass and great for seeing what's cooking. The design is fairly simplistic with straight handles and gently molded stainless steel that curves...

Nice for the price...
For the current selling price, I think that this is a good starter set of cookware. I personally prefer my Calphalon Professional and Commercial hard anodized cookware, but it is unfair to compare the two because of the vast difference in price. I am currently using this Paula Deen cookware set at a weekend vacation cabin, and they are a big improvement over the old set of Farberware that I previously had.

The set comes with a nice variety of pieces, including:
1, 2 & 3-Quart Stainless Steel Covered Saucepan
6-Quart Stainless Steel Covered Stockpot
8 & 10-Inch Aluminum Nonstick Skillets
Slotted Turner, Slotted Spoon

The insides of the skillets have non-stick coating, but the saucepans and stockpot do not. The lids are glass, which is nice because I do not have to lift the lids nearly as often. The information included says that these can be used in the oven up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, but I have not used that feature yet.

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