One example is shown below; the rest are found on the Jamie Oliver page.

Dishwasher and oven safe with a 6.8 litre capacity, this is a stylish and contemporary pot which will not only look good now, but is likely to stay looking good for many years to come. Did we ever tell you how fed up we got with the appearance of anodised pans being totally ruined in a dishwasher? No such problems here – just a little care when drying to avoid wetspots.

All these Le Vrai Gourmet pans come with a nifty copper base so you can see that you’re going to get even heat transfer through the base with no hotspots. They are all very well made with thick gauge stainless steel on the main pan body. They’re only available through Debenhams

Ingredients:

• medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and cubed, preferably organic
• clove of garlic, sliced thinly
• a couple of leeks, sliced and preferably organic
• vegetable stock – I usually use Swiss Marigold
• can of butter beans
• sea salt and freshly-ground pepper to season

Method:

Splash some olive oil in a heavy-based stainless steel pan. Gently warm up the sliced leeks until they are softened. Add the cubed squash and the garlic.

Make up the Swiss Marigold with boiled water and add enough to cover the other ingredients – about a pint (454ml) or so depending on the diameter of the pan used. Season to taste – that means you DO have to taste it; it’s not just an expression! I like to add a little stuff to make it warming, perhaps a little finely chopped red chili. Don’t forget to remove the seeds. Chop while wearing rubber gloves if you are a contact lens wearer – you have been warned…

Bring to a slow boil then cover and simmer very, very slowly for about an hour.

Just before serving, add the butter beans and check seasoning again.

Serve in large bowls with home-made bread. Yum.

Serves two with generous portions as the main event, or more people if used as part of a larger meal.

Back to Stainless steel pans.

What do we like so much about these Le Vrai Gourmet pans?

You certainly get the basic 4 piece set of pans to help you get started in your kitchen – the 16 cm, 18 cm and 20 cm saucepans, and a smashing 24 cm frying pan. They look very smart and the copper bottoms hint at a truly professional pan set. But it really is the value that’s quite outstanding.

For around £80 you can get the whole set and in today’s world that really does seem like a real bargain. Of course, if you really want something a little more heavy duty then check out the Jamie Oliver or the Le Creuset ranges – we love both of these, but if you want to get a great set of solidly performing pans at a knockout price, then we think the Le Vrai Gourmet pans are the ones for you.

Back to Stainless Steel Pans home.

One of our favourite offers is the Jamie Oliver 5 piece set.

Next up are some great sets from Le Creuset. Ever since buying our first Le Creuset stockpot (a long time ago now!) we’ve always been very keen on their cookware and their new stainless steel saucepans are extremely eyecatching and ooze professionalism. We would just add that some people do find the Le Creuset pans a little heavy – but in our book that means solid construction and a lifetime of serious use.

Finally we found an excellent stainless steel pan set in the Le Vrai Gourmet range – only available from Debenhams. This is ideal if you really are on a budget and need to compromise a little on cost. But make no mistake – these pans are solidly built and will give many of their more expensive neighbours a good run for their money.

We were a little unsure at first about recommending these as our first choice of best stainless steel saucepan set – due to the fact they have Teflon coating, but having used them we really are won over! This has to be the best use of Teflon we have yet to come across and if these pans are any indication of what’s to come, then the stainless steel pan industry is going to come up with some big surprises. The coating here really is superior to any other we’ve used – just be careful as always and don’t use steel implements even though they do reckon its metal utensil safe. They are dishwasher safe but avoid using anything too abrasive – with care the outer will retain its appearance. Better be safe than sorry.

Here’s a quick rundown of them – the stainless steel exterior really does give them a professional look and with a little care these will stay looking good in your kitchen for a long time. And that lovely exterior is coating a heavy gauge aluminium core so you get both good thermal transfer and good heat distribution at the same time, so no more hotspots. Tefal has incorporated a great heat indicator that just starts to glow when you hit the right temperature so that reduces the possibility of burning food too.

You get a great selection of pans – with this pan set you get 20 cm and 24 cm frying pans, a 24 cm saute pan, and 18 cm and 20 cm saucepans.

Other features include stay cool handles with soft touch insert for a comfortable grip and a flared lip for drip-free pouring. They’re oven safe up to 260C, and those rubbery silicone handles really do work.

We’ll be giving another review of our fave pan set without any sort of Teflon if you’re a stainless steel purist, but having tried these they really do rate as the best stainless steel saucepan set you can buy, in our honest opinion. We liked them so much we bought them.