A good saucepan can take care of cooking, boiling, steaming, simmering and reheating – and last you decades, if not a lifetime.
But with prices ranging from $14 to more than $500, it can be hard to tell if spending more will take your cooking skills to the next level, or if you can save on cookware and still get great results.
“Price is not necessarily reflective of how well a saucepan will perform or how easy it is to use,” says CHOICE kitchen expert Chantelle Dart.
Our testing regularly reveals cheap products that perform as well as, if not better than, pricier ones – such as a cheapo Kmart Anko saucepan that rated higher than ones from high-end brands such as Le Creuset, Scanpan and Swiss Diamond that cost more than $350.
Four of the lowest rated saucepans in our test cost around $200 or more
Equally, expensive doesn’t automatically mean excellence: four of the lowest rated saucepans in our latest kitchen test cost around $200 or more.
We scoured our saucepan test data and asked our experts for their advice on what to look for and how much to spend.
Saucepan prices range so widely, but what makes one more expensive than another?
“A saucepan’s brand, construction and whether or not it’s induction-compatible are all factors in how much it costs,” says CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair.
“More expensive saucepans may have thicker bases, oven-safe handles that are riveted or welded, and may be dishwasher safe.
“Cheaper saucepans will have thinner bases, non-stick coatings that can degrade quickly, and handles that are screwed to the pot, so they may become loose over time.”
What type of saucepan should you buy?
All kitchens and budgets are different, so before you buy, do some research to find out what’s going to work best for you.
Materials
Before you even hit the shops (or the sites), it’s worth deciding which kind of saucepan you want. We’re not talking surfaces here (we’ll discuss that below), but what the core of the saucepan is made of.
This can affect the price, so understanding which kind of pot is right for the way you cook will give you an idea of pricing.
Your main options are:
Stainless steel Strong, affordable and hard, but doesn’t conduct heat well so the base is usually layered with aluminium and copper. The best quality stainless steel saucepans are labelled 18/10 or 18/8.
Copper saucepans look good but can be hard to clean.
Copper Good for precise temperature control as they heat up and cool down quickly. They look good but can be harder to clean, and tend to be more expensive.
Aluminium Lightweight, tends to be cheaper and doesn’t rust, but the whole surface heats up (not just the base), so food can stick to the sides. Look for anodised aluminium.
Enamelled cast iron Good for low-heat cooking as they heat up evenly, but take longer than other materials to heat up and cool down. They’re very heavy and can rust if the enamel surface is chipped.
Not sure which is best for you? We explain the pros and cons in our saucepan buying guide.
There’s been a lot of talk in recent times about the safety of non-stick coatings, such as Teflon, that contain PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) that make surfaces slippery and resistant to water and oils.
While the jury’s still out about exactly what these chemicals do and whether the alternatives are any less problematic, if you want to avoid Teflon-type surfaces, the most common options are ceramic, cast-iron or stainless steel cookware.
Fiona assesses enamelled cast-iron pots in our lab.
“Stainless steel, cast iron, enamelled cast iron, and even ceramic-coated pots are good options as they are mostly PFAS/PTFE-free,” says Fiona.
“Each material has a place when cooking so I would recommend having a few different types of saucepan materials in your kitchen.”
Keep in mind that the type of surface will also impact how you need to care for your cookware.
“Non-stick saucepans are easier to clean, however, you need to take care not to scratch the coating,” says Chantelle.
“And even if they’re advertised as dishwasher safe, we suggest not putting them in the dishwasher as this will reduce the life of the non-stick surface.”
The same goes for cast-iron saucepans: putting them in the dishwasher can cause the enamel surface to dull and lose its non-stick properties.
“Stainless steel saucepans can go in the dishwasher, which can make cleaning up easier. Just be aware that dishwashers can cause the handles and screws to deteriorate, so proceed with caution,” says Chantelle.
When we buy saucepans and frypans to test, we make sure they’re compatible with induction cooktops.
“You’ll want to make sure that the base of the saucepan has good coverage for your induction cooktop,” says Chantelle.
“You can check this by placing a magnet on the base of the sauce pan and checking that it has a strong connection over the entire base.
“This will also ensure even heating and cooking.”
What makes the perfect pan?
A new saucepan won’t always be the most exciting piece of kitchen kit you’ve ever purchased, but the right saucepan will be a pleasure to use and give you years of service.
Here’s what Fiona says makes the perfect saucepan:
“It all depends on what you are cooking, but you may need to have a variety of saucepan materials,” she says.
“It’s important to have a well-constructed heavy based saucepan with layers of different metals bonded together (stainless steel with aluminium or copper).
“Look for a well designed saucepan that’s well balanced, has handles that are secure that don’t become loose over time, and is oven-safe.”
Now, we can’t give away all our secrets here (they’re available for CHOICE members though), but we can tell you that, of the models our experts recommend, several of them cost less than $150 – so it is possible to get great performance without cooking your credit card.
Still not convinced? We crunched the numbers of the best and worst scoring saucepans in our tests. Here’s what we found.
While the $300+ category has the highest average scores and the highest number of products recommended by our experts, the cheaper end of the price range still delivers some solid scores on average, and at a much lower price.
Text-only accessible version
Saucepan performance vs price
This graph plots CHOICE’s saucepan test results by comparing lowest to highest CHOICE Expert Rating (vertically) and lowest to highest price (horizontally) to illustrate that there are some high performing saucepans across the range of prices, including in the low price range. Brand and model information is not included in this graphic.
How CHOICE rates the best saucepans
In our kitchen lab test, we score saucepans for both performance and ease of use. The best saucepans score well for both of these tests.
This can help you decide whether a saucepan is worth the asking price.
Performance
A good saucepan will heat up quickly and evenly, and will let you cook without food sticking.
To assess this, we firstly measure how quickly each saucepan heats 1L of water. The saucepans our experts recommend score 80% and higher for this test, which equates to 4 minutes 30 seconds or less.
We also cook scrambled eggs to check how evenly each saucepan heats up and whether food sticks while you’re cooking.
Ease of use
No matter how good a saucepan is to cook with, if it’s difficult to handle and clean, you might find you don’t reach for it as often.
During the testing process, our kitchen experts assess each saucepan’s ease of use by checking:
how well balanced it is
how comfortable the handles are to hold
steam control
ease of pouring
how easy they are to clean.
What does it all mean?
While some of the more expensive products were also among the top performers, it’s still quite possible to find a cheaper model that performs very well. Conversely, there are more expensive models that won’t deliver.
Bear in mind, though, that some expensive brands may offer lifetime guarantees for any defects, so sometimes paying more can buy you peace of mind. Just make sure you know exactly what the guarantee covers before you hand over your cash.
And while recommended retail prices for saucepans vary wildly, there are often considerable discounts to be found, particularly on cookware sets, so it pays to shop around.
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
Alice Richard is a Content creator and marketer. Alice writes on a range of topics, from health insurance to heaters and BBQs to bargain-hunting, always with the aim to help consumers find the best products to buy, and which to avoid.
Alice can take vast amounts of data from CHOICE product tests and turn it into content that is easily digestible and fun for readers.
Alice has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. LinkedIn
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