Quince Stainless Steel Cookware Review (and Other Kitchen Accessories!)

We’ve just taken the dive into Quince’s kitchen and cookware collection. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as, like many Quince fans, I’ve dabbled in the bedding, towels and apparel so far.

So how do Dan and I feel about the stainless steel pots and pans we tried from Quince, as well as the other surprisingly nice kitchen accessories?

In this review, see our photos and thoughts, and decide if Quince’s new kitchen line is for you.

Stainless steel cookware (pots and pans)

Since starting a family and starting to learn about the “yuck” factor of Teflon (non-stick surfaces on pots and pans), we’d been thinking about going all stainless steel. We didn’t have space for the entire 10-piece Quince Cookware Set, but we did have budget and space for trying one 3-quart pot and one 8” frying pan.

In the review below, learn about what we experienced and if it’s for you.

The price

Let’s get into the price first. As you’d know from reading my Quince home collection review, everything from Quince is pretty darn affordable.

We found out about Quince pretty much with when we moved into our first house (our “forever home”) and the timing couldn’t have been better (I almost wrote “bedder”) for us to be trying out Quince’s bedsheets, down alternative pillows, throw blankets, curtains, pillow covers, table linens and bath towel sets.

So what about Quince’s kitchen line, which falls under “Home,” but is a category of its own? I guess I’m not too familiar with what cookware tends to cost, because Dan and I have been cooking on the same set of two non-stick Tramontina pans from Amazon and some stainless steel Farberware pots since the beginning of time.

But this is no joke: If you look at Quince’s 5-Ply Stainless Steel 10 Piece Cookware Set, the price is half of what you’d pay from leading brads like All Clad.

I mentioned that we ordered the 3-QT 5-Ply Stainless Steel Saucepan, and Quince compares that one to a 39% savings, compared to the ones from Caraway Home (a brand that often bombards me on Instagram).

For the frying pan, Quince makes a quick comparison to the pricing from Made In, a brand you’d be familiar with if you started Googling stainless steel cookware. Quince comes in at 36% cheaper, according to the website.

For people (me and Dan) who use cookware EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK (I’m serious—we barely order in), having reasonably-priced saucepans and frying pans are pretty important. Our pots and pans get tons of use for multitudes of foods we make.

The quality

Quince stainless steel pots and pans are nice and heavy, and have a matte look to them. I like this better than the shiny style stainless steel we have from Farberware and from other brands we got on Amazon.

Quince states that the quality is “5-ply.” I didn’t know what this meant until today. It means the cookware is made of five layers of stainless steel and aluminum so that the heat distributes evenly when you put them on your stove. (Quince makes a Cookware 101 page to explain this, for people like me - yay.)

Non-toxic qualities: this is probably where we put some emphasis when deciding to try Quince’s pots and pans because we’ve been cooking on non-stick surfaces, save for one stainless steel pan we have in our kitchen. Quince stainless steel cookware is free of the following substances: PFA, PFOA, PTFE, BPA and cadmium.

(I feel more comfortable knowing this, because we’re cooking dinner every night for our toddler.)

The lids

Lids: let’s talk about them! The lid from the saucepan (the pot) is nice, with an ergonomic handle design that’s large enough to use while having my hand in a dish towel for taking it off when hot. Further, the handles is designed to stay cooler than other handles. I’ve nearly burned myself making rice in our current pot, so that’s pleasant news for me.

Super ironically, the lid for the 3 QT saucepan fits the 8” frying pan. I think this is a coincidence.

Care

I don’t want to mess up our new Quince cookware, so I read the care pamphlets that each product came with. There are some tips about hand-washing versus using the dishwasher, and some how-to about getting stuck-on food off by using boiling water on the product. It’s all available at the Care 101 page.

Should you get them?

Yes, for sure. I would consider these if you’re already looking at stainless steel cookware of the same caliber (5-ply, made in Italy) from other brands like the ones I mentioned above.

Like much from Quince, I have very few complaints, and if you’ve read my reviews like Quince vs. Brooklinen for bedding sets, you know I do NOT lie!

Realistically, you can indeed get cheaper stainless steel cookware, like from Cuisinart on Amazon. But when it comes down to it, the cookware from Quince looks really nice, with that matte finish I want to see hanging out on my stove.

For that reason, I put Quince stainless steel cookware as a great Quince gift idea for people who like professional-grade pots ‘n pans.

And Quince loudly makes a statement to responsible production, use of recycled materials and renewable energy and overall sustainability. These are all important to me and I refuse to let go of my values when shopping for items that I purchase as “new.”

Other Quince kitchen products we tried: a review

We tried more than just the stainless steel cookware! See the other Quince kitchen products we chose to invest in.

Italian Olivewood Utensil Set

We got the Italian Olivewood Utensil Set because, well, we didn’t have any serving utensils. It’s just always been something we skipped, and I guess we forgot to put something along the lines of a set like this on our wedding registry ages ago. We’ve been surviving with out it.

Until now! We both took the utensil set out of the package when it came in the mail and said, “Ooooh.” I said, “We can have nice things!”

At just under $50, there’s a lot to love about these wooden serving utensils, and we do love the price. I’m comparing it to brands like Sardel Kitchen, where for $40, you only get two utensils, not a set of four. And Quince compares their utensil set to Crate & Barrel’s, which retails at twice the price.

While not made of heavy wood by any means, the Quince olivewood utensils look beautiful, with slender handles, curved spoon bottoms and a slight curve in the “blunt end spoon.” They’re perfect for when we have friends over, or a dinner party, or a potluck.

Quick tip: Tack on the Quince Mineral Oil to your purchase so that you can condition your olivewood and other wooden kitchenwares to stay like-new after each use. The Quince Bee’s Oil Wood Conditioner is one of my top picks for the most affordable products from Quince.

(Next on my list is the Quince Olivewood Salad Servers (set of 2) for whenever we get back into making big salads)

Stainless Steel French Press

Dan told me he wanted a new French Press and I said, “Why, we have a perfect good one from OXO.”

“But that one is plastic,” he said,” and I answered, “Oh yes, you’re right.”

In our aim to stainless-steel-ify our kitchenwares, a stainless steel French Press just made sense. And luckily, we found the affordable one from Quince — and it’s a smidge under 30 bucks.

Is it nice? Yes, it sure is! Is has a certain “weight” to it, whereby it feels more solid, denser and heavier than our OXO plastic French Press. (We originally got that one because I broke our glass French Press last year… oops, sorry.)

And a stainless steel French Press is unbreakable. Yay! It’s fully stainless steel, and free of BPA, lead and cadmium. OK, what I like most about it is that the entire thing is dishwasher-safe (thank you, Quince!). It’s travel-friendly, too, so if we want to take it on a road trip: no problem.

One more thing is that it looks really nice in a photo (of course), but moreover, looks nice on the table when we have friends over for coffee. ☕

Essential Steel Kitchen Shears

First, before I forget, here is what we want you to know before you buy these kitchen shears: they do come “apart” if you expand them too wide.

However: this is great, as Dan explained it, because so many kitchen shears don’t come apart, and then they are impossible to clean, from kitchen grease, oil, messy side dishes, you name it.

The Quince Kitchen Shears are something we needed for our kitchen, and they’re under $25 (by just a dab), at the time of us writing this review.

We bought them just as a pair of kitchen shears to have around, but did you know they have built-in MacGyver features that I didn’t even realize they have? The interesting and noteworthy design has a jar opener, nutcracker, and bottle opener, all BUILT IN!

Check out the Kitchen Shears product page at the Quince website, because there’s a little graphic to explain where all these features are hidden in the scissors themselves — you won’t believe it.

Why trust us?

We’re just regular people, honestly. We’re a husband-wife duo who run this blog (I do most of the writing and Dan, a web developer, codes the “back-end” to make this website what you see right now).

We don’t own fancy stuff and we’re choosy about what we bring into our home: products we choose for our home, kitchen and lifestyle have to be versatile, not hyper-trendy and ready to stand the test of time, quality-wise.

We tell you what we honestly think of what we tried, and why we chose it versus something else. (You also probably noticed by now that we have a toddler, so it’ll be clear that we own very few things that are breakable and we’re mostly “child-proof”). We hope you enjoy our reviews as down-to-earth articles that help you shop a bit better!