The heating phenomenon of gas stove-top is quite different than its electric counterpart. Gas stoves have the tendency to heat up the cookware much more quickly than electric stoves. The reason for this difference is that heat in case of gas cook tops doesn’t spread uniformly. So cooking on gas stove-top is quite different to cooking on electric cook top.
Gas stove-tops are very amenable to all types of cookware but certain types of pots and pans perform much better than others. So here in this article best cookware sets for gas stove we will explore some of the products with special features that make the cooking process easy and better.
The main difference between a right cookware and the one out of place is cooking results. If you have a right cookware the results you will get be a perfectly done food while not suitable one will produce imperfectly cooked food or burnt.
IN A HURRY? Here’s Our Top 3 Picks for Gas Cooking Ranges…
- Our favorite overall : All-Clad D3 Stainless Cookware Set, Pots and Pans, Tri-Ply Stainless Steel, Professional Grade, 10-Piece – 8400000962
2. Our Favorite under $100 Set: Cooks Standard 9-Piece Classic Stainless Steel Cookware Set
- Our Favorite Under $200 Set: T-fal C836SD Ultimate Stainless Steel Copper Bottom 13 PC Cookware Set, Piece, Silver
Our Favorite Overall Cookware Set For Gas Ranges
All-Clad D3 Stainless Cookware Set, Pots and Pans, Tri-Ply Stainless Steel, Professional Grade, 10-Piece – 8400000962
It is of course one of the best cookware sets in stainless steel category. If you are looking for a quality cookware set to be fully compliance with harsh flaming of your gas stovetops then there would be no better option than this All-Clad D3 Stainless Cookware Set 8400000962. But the set is not for all those kitchen lovers who are on tight budget and can’t afford to pay more. It is an expensive cookware set. At time of writing this piece of content its price was more than 600 bucks. For today price click on the link above!
It is obviously an expensive cookware set but when we look at its durability and long lasting lifespan it deserves the price. Once bought it will serve your kitchen for your entire lifespan! As we know stainless steel cookware sets are famous for their robust construction and long lasting lifespan. But this premium quality cookware set is especially designed so you will find it more durable.
If the cookware set collection is properly cared it will serve your kitchen for your entire life. You would never feel to replace it with a new set. So it is one of the best options for home chefs looking for a quality stainless steel cookware set for their gas cooking ranges.
The set is quite comprehensive includes all the pots and pans making your daily culinary routine very easy. The set includes;
- 8 inch fry pans
- 10 inch fry pan
- 2 quart covered sauce pan
- 3 quart covered sauce pan
- 3 quart covered sauté pan
- And an 8 quart covered stockpot
All the pots and pans are made of tri-ply stainless steel. As pure stainless steel is poor conductor of heat, so to address this issue there is an aluminum core sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel. A thick gauge aluminum core ensures even better and even distribution of heat across the cooking space. So there are not hotspots.
Why It Is Not Easy To Find A Quality Cookware Set For Gas Stovetops?
Practically any pan is amenable to the uneven and burning heat flow of gas stovetop. A traditional method now is in replacement mode. Modern heating systems such as electric and induction are becoming common with passage of time. If you want to buy a quality cookware set for your gas stovetop then you need to stay away from all those products with bright exterior color. Nonstick cookware set with bright exterior colors can become an easy prey of the harsh burning flames of this cook top. The colors of the cookware are badly damaged with couple of months. If you love colorful sets then our advice is to stay away from them. Instead buy a quality stainless steel cookware with aluminum core.
If you have already a nonstick cookware set then you can save it by cooking your food on medium heat. Ceramic for example is one of the excellent conductors of heat and it also works better for retaining heat. So for cookware set made of this material, preheat it before starting the cooking process and then cook your food in lower or medium heat.
Now due to technological advancement, gas stovetops are becoming obsolete. Modern cook tops are becoming more popular such electric and induction.
One of the main causes of this shift is energy saving. Gas stovetops waste too much energy in form of useless flames. When you try to transfer heat from flames to your cooking pan there is lot of loss of energy because instead of flame to focus on the bottom of the pan, it heats up the surrounding environment as well.
As a result of this poor heating your pan also builds up cold spots. This is reason you need to continuously move your food for getting even heating.
The main characteristic of a pan for gas stovetop should be one that can withstand high heat as well as with stainless steel bottom. As mentioned earlier, don’t buy pots and pans with colorful exterior. If you love a cookware set from a particular brand with exterior then choose one with black color. According to our experience, stainless steel set with aluminum core performs exceptionally well on gas stovetops.
How to Choose a Best Pots and Pans Set For Gas Stovetops?
Your new cookware set should have ideal properties for better results in this peculiar heating environment. So it is best to look for main criteria when choosing the best cookware set for your gas stovetop.
Quick Heating
We want to complete the cooking in quick span of time. We don’t want to wait for long time before starting our cooking process. A cookware set with fast preheating is more appreciated than one that takes more time. Another feature a pan should have is its heat retention. If a pan loses heat quickly then it will lengthen the cooking process. You need to supply more heat and there is also a chance of food burning, if excessive heat is supplied.
Even Heating – No Hot Spots
Even heating is one of the features mentioned in every cookware description. If your pan fails to distribute heat evenly then it becomes very difficult to get the desired cooking results. This even heat flow criteria takes more weightage in case of cookware sets especially designed for gas stovetops. The importance of this criterion here is quite obvious because in gas ranges the heating pattern is quite condensed. So the cookware ability to flow the heat evenly across the entire cooking space becomes more relevant.
Quick Adaptation to Change in Heat Level
If you want your food should be cooked perfectly then it is necessary that it receives the amount of heat it requires at specific time. Too much of heat supply can lead to food burning while the effects of less heat is also extremely damaging. So to maintain the heat at required level your cookware needs to have some features to respond to this uneven heating from gas range.
So to avoid under or over cooked results, choose a cookware set with properties that can quickly respond to changes in temperature!
No Exterior Color
Stay away from cookware sets with exterior colors when you want to use them on your gas stovetop. Pots and pans with exterior color lose their beauty in couple of months when exposed to direct flames. So we don’t recommend pots and pans with exterior colors to be used on this heat source.
The Features of a Gas Cook Top
Electric stovetops are more modern than gas stovetop but the later one is still the preferred choice of many chefs for number of reasons.
The first and most strong argument in favor of gas stovetop is its easy process to setup and adjust the heat level. You can easily turn on and off the burner of the heat source. With easy to use knob you can adjust the flame according to your heat requirement at specific time of your cooking. If you want to cook your food at low temperature now, you can easily adjust the heat by adjusting the size of flame. The flame height is the visible gauge to judge the heat level. If your cooking recipe needs low heat at some point of time then you can reduce the flame size to adjust the heat. So in simple words the heat setting is extremely easy here.
Many chefs love the easy heat adjustment of gas cooking ranges. The flames provide visual indication about current heating level. You can easily judge it in case of electric or induction cook tops. Dark glass tops of electric or induction stovetops don’t provide such hassle free way of judging the heat level.
Another positive of gas cook tops is the flame plays a vital role in accomplishing the roasting of small items such as bell peppers, corn tortillas and marshmallows.
Gas cooking is comparatively cheap than electric based cooking systems. Gas cook tops need fuel such as natural gas, propane, butane or petroleum. All these natural resources are very affordable when compared to electricity.
All types of cookware and different types and shapes of pots and pans can be used on gas ranges. Gas stovetops are durable and robust so there is no risk of scratching the surface especially in those recipes where you need to move the pan continuously over heat surface. You can use all type and material made cookware – from skillets to tall stockpots. Some cookware especially with peculiar shape is hard to use on electric or induction stovetop because of the risk of scratching. Woks round bottom is especially problematic for induction and electric stovetops. It can easily damage the glassy surface of electric or induction stovetops. For glass stovetops you then need to buy a flat bottom wok especially designed for these heat surfaces.
Gas Range Cookware Sets Raw Material Comparison
Now we know the properties of our desired cookware sets but what materials are best for supporting these criteria are still need to be addressed?
So let’s explore the materials work excellently well on gas stovetops.
Copper
Copper cookware sets are loved for their traditional look. They come with super heat conductivity features. Copper pots and pans distribute heat evenly and also respond quickly into change in temperature. Quick response to change in temperature is something essential for gas stovetops.
Pros:
- Even heating
- Fast heating
- Quick adjustment to heating
Cons
- High price
- Not lightweight
- Need care and maintenance, easy to scratch and discolor
- Very reactive, results in unacceptable amount of copper in your food. So don’t have the freedom you enjoy in case of stainless steel cookware sets. This is the reason most of the copper cookware sets come with interior stainless steel cooking surface.
Looking at above pros, copper cookware is the winner. It distributes heat evenly. It heat ups fast. And it also responds quickly to change in heating. So all the three criteria are met by a quality copper cookware set we set for gas stovetops.
But copper pots and pans have one big problem:
That is the reactivity. Copper is very reactive and can change the taste as well as heath attributes of your food. There is possibility of copper that can adversely affect your health.
If you regularly consume copper or your food includes large amounts of copper then you body can have significant health problems such as liver, stomach, anemia and kidney issues.
But it doesn’t mean that you can’t exploit the ideal cooking properties of copper because of the abovementioned cons. How can you get the benefits and avoid the cons, discussed below in this article.
Aluminum
Aluminum cookware collections are low price.
Pros
- Not expensive
- Quick heating
- Even distribution of heat across the pan
- Quick response time to change in temperature
Cons
- High reactivity
- Not robust, can’t withstand high temperature, can warp due to high heat
- Easy to scratch
Aluminum is our next material for finding a suitable cookware set for gas range.
Looking at above pros, aluminum also satisfies the three criteria set such as fast heating, even distribution of heat and quick response to change in heating level.
But like copper aluminum is also not a good candidate too for this purpose because of its high reactivity. It is very reactive. Aluminum can easily leach into food. When you regularly consume aluminum or ingested it into a large amount, your health can face issues such as brain, liver, bones, spleen and muscles.
But it doesn’t mean that cons completely knocks out this material. You can still safely use it so read the rest of the article for how to exploits the benefits of this gas ranges friendly material.
Cast Iron
Pros
- Low Cost
- Quick and fast heating
Cons
- Very heavy
- Very slow heating
- Slow to respond to changes in temperature
The next option for you when choosing the most appropriate material for your future cookware set for this particular heat source is cast iron. Cast iron is not the worse choice but we also don’t consider it the best one as well.
As mentioned above in its cons, the pan made of this material is quite heavy and thick, can make the cooking difficult for some users.
The heat up process is reasonably even. The heat flows evenly across the pan. But the overall heating process is not fast. So it requires lot of time to get the temperature to desired level.
As our target cookware set for this heat source needs to adjust the temperature quickly. But in case of cast iron the adjustment of cooking temperature of the cooking surface is difficult and slow. So these features slow heating and slow to adjust to change in temperature make it a poor choice for your future cookware set for gas ranges.
Carbon Steel
Pros
- Not Expensive
Cons
- Slow to heat
- And uneven distribution of heat
Carbon steel made pots and pans are quite cheap when compared to stainless steel cookware sets but the things make it unviable option include poor heat conductivity and slow heat up.
It lacks the ability to hold heat well at all. So it means that it is fast to adjust to change in temperature changes it also means it finds hard to maintain a higher temperature when needed.
Stainless Steel
Pros
- Durable
- Scratch resistant
- Corrosion free
- Hassle free cleanup
Cons
- Slow heating
- Uneven heating
- Hotspots development
- Slow reaction to changes in temperature
It is obvious that stainless steel is extremely poor choice for making cookware from it. It is the worst material for cookware set. This is the reason you will find this material in form of clad over another material such as aluminum and copper.
Stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat. It distributes heat unevenly resulting hotspots. It lacks the ability to hold heat for longer time and also not fast to heat up.
The positive points of this material are corrosion resistant, hassle free cleanup. And the last but not the least is it is not expensive like copper cookware but its price lies in somewhat in mid range.
The handles are well riveted ensure long lasting performance. The handles work for entire lifespan of the pots and pans. So there is no need for repair and maintenance.
The pots and pans in this All-Clad cookware set are warp resistant. They are induction compatible. The cookware set is oven safe up-to 600 degrees without lids and dishwasher safe for breeze cleanup.
The cookware set is covered with limited lifetime warranty. And it is made in USA. Majority of current owners reviewed this product in positive tones. They say the pans heat evenly and look beautiful.
Ceramic
Ceramic is almost found in form of nonstick coating on cookware, more commonly over an aluminum base. Ceramic can’t beat stainless steel as far as long lifespan and durability is concerned. High temperature can easily damage the nonstick ceramic coating. Ceramic made cookware sets allow cooking food with over low or medium heat.
Our Favorite under $100 Set
Cooks Standard 9-Piece Classic Stainless Steel Cookware Set
If you are on tight budget and can’t afford the abovementioned All-Clad Premium Stainless Steel Cookware set then don’t worry here we have a quality stainless steel with almost the same number of pieces but a very low price. At time of writing this review Cooks Standard 9-Piece Classic Stainless Steel Cookware Set was offered with price under $100. What’s its price now check the link above.
One of the best features you will find in this affordable stainless steel cookware set is “the impact bonding”.
What’s Impact Bonding?
Impact bonding is the process of making the stainless steel more conduction friendly. As we know pure stainless steel is not a good conductor of heat. It heats up slowly and distributes heat unevenly across the cooking surface. This uneven distribution of heat generates hotspots, the undesirable thing that can burn your food. Because of hotspots some of the area of the pan becomes too hot. So the food in contact with these heat intensive spots gets too much of heat resulting food burning. To eliminate this poor heat conductivity the manufacturers of stainless steel cookware set introduced a solution. That solution is that an aluminum or copper core is sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel. As we know copper and aluminum are best heat conductors so they reduce the poor heat conductivity features of pure stainless steel metal materially.
The aluminum disc at bottom of pan enables to retain heat and then distributes the heat from the flames evenly across the cooking surface. All the pots and pans come with this impact bond of aluminum.
The pots and pans include in this affordable stainless steel cookware set includes;
- 5 Quart Sauce Pan with Lid
- 3 Quart Saucepan with Lid
- 6 Quart Stockpot with Lid
- Universal steamer with lid
- And a 10 inch Fry pan
The cookware is made of 18/10 stainless steel well known for its resistant against corrosion. It is extremely nonreactive so you can cook all types of even acidic nature such as tomato sauce with confidence. There is no chance of leaching some unwanted metal into your food and there is no chance of food color change. It supports a healthy and gourmet style of cooking.
The pots and pans are oven safe up-to 500 degrees F (without lids). It is compatible with all stovetops; gas ranges, electric, ceramic, halogen and induction.
Don’t need to worry about stubborn food stains to wash with your hands. All the pots and pans are 100 percent dishwasher safe. Its lustrous and glossy look will not diminish if dishwasher use is the routine phenomenon of your kitchen.
The pots and pans handles are firmly riveted and they stay cool even on stovetop.
Our Favorite under $200 Set:
T-fal C836SD Ultimate Stainless Steel Copper Bottom 13 PC Cookware Set, Piece, Silver
If you are looking for a quality cookware set compatible with your gas stovetop but you don’t want spend more than 200 bucks on it then T-fal C836SD Ultimate Stainless Steel Copper Bottom 13 PC Cookware Set is the perfect choice for you. This stainless steel cookware set meets all the perquisites of the gas range such as quick heating, even distribution of heat and quick adjustment to change in temperature. And it also color free so there is no risk of beauty loss when pots and pans are exposed to effects of direct flames.
The set includes generous number of pieces:
- 8 inches fry pan
- 5 inches fry pan
- 12 inches fry pan with cover
- 1 quart saucepan with cover
- 2 quart; saucepan with cover
- 3 quart saucepan with cover
- 5 quart Dutch oven with cover
- And stainless steel steamer
The cookware set comes with heavy gauge base with multilayer strength. The multiple layers of stainless steel, aluminum and copper ensure fast and even distribution of heat across the cooking surface.
The 18/10 stainless steel extremely nonreactive construction so there is no risk of food color and taste change.
The visible copper bottom of the pots and pans supports channel heat from the center outward. Copper is also a best conductor of heat. So in this cookware set a company of two super conductive materials copper and aluminum makes the heating process extremely fast and ensures even distribution of heat to exceptional level.
The inner of the set is made of stainless steel. The stainless steel interior wouldn’t react to acidic foods so there is no risk of food taste or color change. For best cooking results preheat the pan first then add a thin coat of oil and then continue the cooking process. If you follow these steps there would be no food sticking.
You can use T-fal stainless steel cookware set on all stovetops including induction. It is oven safe up-to 500 degree F and dishwasher safe for breeze cleanup.
The set is covered with limited lifetime warranty.