Sardel Cookware: beautiful stainless steel from Italy
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Maverick Charleston
- Last update: September 20, 2021
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Sardel Full Set
Sardel offers a variety of fantastic products on their website, and there are lots of options if you want to add a pan or two to your collection. However, if you’re looking to replace your existing pans or just buy some premium, matching cookware, then we have to recommend their full cookware set.
There’s no denying that this set is one of the most popular purchases on their site, and it is their flagship product. It’s so incredibly popular because it offers a full range of versatility, and it’s cookware that should last for decades.
We won’t beat around the bush, though, this set is super expensive, but compared to other high-end brands, it’s a relative bargain that should be considered if it falls within your budget.
Who are Sardel?
Buying cookware can be a challenging task, and it’s a task that we don’t always get right, leaving us with cupboards full of barely used, poor-quality pans.
Even cookware experts are not immune to these mistakes, and when three brothers evaluated just how much junk they had accumulated over the years, they decided to launch a range of cookware that simplifies the cooking process and has an enormous versatility to help cut down on kitchen clutter. Thus, the Sardel cookware line was born.
Though we’re only looking at their cookware today, the Sardel market also offers a range of oils and vinegars from their ‘pantry’ and a line of high-end wooden utensils to complement their cookware.
Though their company is still in its infancy, the brothers are intent on bringing fun back to the kitchen using traditional cooking methods and simplistic tools to ensure people stop taking it all so seriously.
Sardel offers premium cookware at a reduced cost thanks to their ‘direct to consumer’ business model. This model allows them to cut out the middle-man and focus on building their client base through genuine connections and a mission statement that helps people feel ‘comfortable with their cookware.’
Design and Construction
Despite offering free shipping for orders anywhere in the USA, and having an area code for New Jersey, Sardel’s cookware is actually produced in Italy (a country well known for its love of cooking and food) by a family-run factory with three generations and over 100 years of experience in the cookware industry.
All the cookware is produced using 5-ply stainless steel, which has an interior layer of aluminum sandwiched between two outer layers and two inner layers of stainless steel.
The stainless steel ensures the cookware is exceptionally robust and will last for a very long time. At the same time, the aluminum layer helps with heat retention and heat distribution as steel alone is not an optimum alloy for cooking.
Such is the quality of these pots and pans’ construction that they heat as evenly and adjust to temperature change as competently as any piece of cookware with a far larger price point.
Sardel has near-perfected the handles on their cookware, with consumers all over the world gushing over the comfortable ergonomic shape. At the same time, their hollow construction helps them stay cool under high temperatures. The handles are fixed in place with rivets, which proves to be much stronger than welding them into position.
Most of their range is traditional stainless steel, but they offer a couple of non-stick skillets, the coating for which is PFOA-Free and has stainless steel particles infused for better and more even heat distribution.
All products are dishwasher safe for ease of cleaning and oven safe up to 500 degrees (480 for the non-stick pans) and can be used with any stove or cooker.
Sardel is so confident in the construction of their products that they offer a free 30-day trial, after which you can send the products back for a full refund if you’re not happy. At the same time, all products come with a lifetime warranty.
Sardel frying pans
1. Sardel Stainless Steel Skillet
Like many cookware companies, the skillet is one of the cornerstones of the Sardel range. Their stainless steel pan is available to buy with a ten-inch or twelve-inch diameter. You can also buy an additional lid for these pans for a little extra money.
Despite having a sturdy 5-ply, thick stainless steel body, Sardel’s customers agree (mostly) that this skillet has an incredibly lightweight feel to it, which helps with pan control, especially when it’s full of food.
The pan heats up quickly and efficiently. The heat distribution is excellent, with no noteworthy hot spots, scorching, or pooling. The shallow slanted sides are well designed for superior stirring, tossing, and mixing.
There are no pour spouts on the Sardel skillet; however, the rolled lip makes it possible to pour your ingredients out of the pan from any direction. The handle is well-produced, it has a comfortable ergonomic shape, and is hollow, so it doesn’t retain heat, so it stays cool-ish. It might get a little bit warm, but you’ll easily be able to handle it without the use of an oven mitt.
As previously mentioned, these products are dishwasher safe for ease of cleaning. While you might experience a small amount of food sticking to the bottom of the pan, it’s easily removed with warm water and dish soap once your pan has cooled a little.
2. Sardel Non-Stick Skillet
Sardel’s non-stick skillet is available in the same 10-inch and 12-inch sizes as the stainless steel version, and you can purchase a lid for these pans for the same price.
Every kitchen should have a non-stick option for those days that you just don’t have the time for lengthy cooking processes and clean-up operations. Non-stick skillets are superb for quick and convenient cooking.
There are only minor differences between the non-stick and stainless steel pans in terms of shape; in fact, it wasn’t for the black honeycomb coating, we’re not sure you’d be able to separate the two visually.
This skillet has the same pan construction, shallow slanted sides, hollow ‘stay-cool’ handle, rolled lip, and no pour spouts. This configuration clearly works for the stainless steel skillet, so why fix what isn’t broken, right?
The obvious difference is the non-stick coating. Many people often shun non-stick pans as cheaper products delaminate after a period of use, which not only causes food to stick to the pan, but it also contaminates your food, which is considered extremely unhealthy.
Sardel’s non-stick coating is infused with stainless steel particles. It has a honeycomb structure (one of the strongest shape-structures in the world) to ensure this pan has superior longevity to its competitors.
Non-stick skillets are usually more affordable than stainless steel or cast iron pans, but Sardel’s non-stick pan is actually marginally more expensive than its big brother.
The Non-stick coating performs exceptionally well, and even when you encounter rare instances of food sticking to the skillet, the pan is so easy to clean that more often than not, you’ll be able to remove the stuck food with a gentle wipe of a towel.
Failing that, you can always put this pan in the dishwasher to give it a deep clean.
Sardel Cookware Sets
There are a couple of sets available on the Sardel Kitchen website, which offer a modest saving if you’d like to buy more than one new piece of cookware to add to your collection.
3. Sardel Full Cookware Set
12-Inch Stainless Steel Skillet, 10-Inch Stainless Steel Skillet, 10-Inch Non-Stick Skillet, 8-Quart Stock Pot (with lid), 2-Quart Sauce Pan (with lid), 4-Quart Saute Pan.
The full set is probably the most popular product that Sardel sells, with more customers leaving their reviews and ratings on the full set than anything else they sell.
This set has all the versatility you’ll need to cook almost any meal imaginable. Full breakfast will be no problem, thanks to the three skillet options. Searing steaks is a breeze in the 4-quart saute pan, while a combination of the 8-quart stock pot and 2-quart sauce pan will have you covered if you want to make stews, sauces, curries, pasta, or broths.
This full set is ideal for people looking to replace their old cookware, people just starting out, or a gift for newlyweds. You’ll save almost ten percent of the individual retail price too.
Of course, it’s a lot of money to spend at once to buy the full set, but the quality of these pans are excellent, and if you can afford the outlay, they will save you money over time.
4. Sardel Small Cookware Set
12-Inch Stainless Steel Skillet, 8-Quart Stock Pot (with lid), 2-Quart Sauce Pan (with lid).
The Sardel small cookware set is an excellent option for people just looking to beef up their current cookware collection a bit. The skillet, stock pot, and sauce pan form a formidable team that, combined, should be able to whip up an excellent meal.
As with the full set, buying the small set will also give you a discount of around ten percent over the full price over the individual items.
Final Thoughts
Sardel has shown that it is possible to own high-quality, authentic Italian cookware without taking out a second mortgage.
Truth be told, Sardel’s products are still fairly expensive, but when you compare them to their other high-end competitors, it’s clear their ‘direct to consumer’ business model helps lower the price point for their customers.
We’re enormous fans of family run businesses that prioritize product quality and customer service over the bottom line and Sardel have performed admirably in connecting with the people who buy their products.
That their cookware is produced in Italy by a factory with 100 years of experience in the cookware industry not only strengthens the reputation and quality of products, but also their dedication to premium, traditional, and easy to use cookware.
