ZWILLINGSpirit 3-ply 8-qt Stainless Steel Stock Pot

I have had this Spirit/Zwilling line for a few years, first the three fry pans and now the 4 QT. Comparison is to Le Creuset, All Clad including Excalibur non-stick, Viking, and Joyce Chen lightweight cast iron.Understand that you are using man engineered stoneware of sorts with all its benefits and faults. They are extremely well engineered and work exceptionally well on induction.For high heat cooking, these pans can safely get hotter than any other non-stick. I did a side by side on an induction cooktop bridge burner using a laser thermometer. The lightweight cast iron and Spirit heated in approximately the same time (iron a bit faster) to 800 some odd degrees before I called the dogs off... At first I thought the ceramic interior was marred or darkened but time has not yielded an issue. Pizzas at 550% plus convection oven don't damage the pan and slide off as if on a stone. Tip: let your dough rise in a slightly oiled fry pan, smooth the bottom before applying sauce and cheese, heat on stovetop a minute to get pan hot and place in high heat oven. (For those lucky enough to have induction, the dough can rise faster on the hold setting; these pans are also very much like Le Creuset in that they can function as a crock pot overnight.First tries on non stick yielded poor results for this high heat impatient chef. Eggs require low slow cooking to get that TV slide off ... and it does work! Burnt late night mac 'n cheese sauces clean easily the next morning.Quality of construction is on par with top brands. The see through glass lid is well made and a nice touch. The shape is slightly taller than some 4qts making it better for a single pasta boil but yielding less browning surface at he bottom of the pan. Interestingly, the glass lid fits perfectly on the 8" fry.. my guess is that the 5qt saute will work with the 12" fry and so on ... a good design feature.Spirit sears and builds a fond at least 90% as well as traditional stainless and maybe on par. There is no steaming of food. Steaks brown up nicely and gravies are easily made with bits of protein residue in the pan.They retain heat very very well.. maybe better than cast iron... for both the good and bad of it. Think flatbreads and pan pizza, hot cakes, and even serving dogs at table with a lid so that seconds and thirds are still hot. Truly a baking stone so beware: food will keep cooking if not removed from a very hot Spirit.They are indestructible. My sharpest knives and metal utensils never leave a scratch. Clean up is a dream. Wrecks and burns happen but water over time will clean anything off a rock. I use a heavy duty Chore Boy cloth (Publix) for these and cast iron woks with excellent results.Quite heavy. The 4 qt comes in at about 3lbs, 6oz. about one pound heavier than an All Clad 3qt and a pound less than a 4qt Viking WITH the helper handle. Small folks and seniors may have trouble... this pan needs a helper handle! The stay cool Y handles do the job.. my 8" lacks the Y design and gets very hot... the pics on Amazon suggest they have been changed to the Y design but beware. Assuredly, the are much lighter than Le Creuset.Spirit takes a bit of time to heat, consistent with a baking stone. My induction cooktop brings it to temp quickly but regular tops will take more time. It heats and cools like Le Creuset (or other cast iron) but has better non-stick properties.There are hints of hot spots in the pans; I perceive that there are more than in other pans but am not certain; this has in no way been a deal killer.These spirit pieces are increasingly my goto cookware while many more expensive brands sit idle. If I had to buy one set only for a small kitchen or couple just getting started, this would be it, hands down. Also check out the lightweight chinese cast iron from Joyce Chen for seared smoky stir fry... even less expensive pans, albeit with their own set of drawbacks, that also leaves the big boys in the drawers.

I have had these pans for a couple of months now, so it's time to jot down my initial impressions. The three brands and the pans I have areCuisinart GGT19-18 GreenGourmet Tri-Ply Stainless 2-Quart SaucepanZwilling J.A. Henckels 3-qt. Thermolon Ceramic Nonstick Spirit Saute Pan, 6-qt. Dutch Oven, andDuxtop Whole-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless Steel 3-Quart Saucepan and 10-Inch Fry PanAll these pans are made from 3-layer sandwiches of magnetic stainless steel on the outside to absorb heat from any stove, including induction, an aluminum layer to distribute the heat over the bottom since stainless steel is a poor heat conductor, and another layer of stainless steel on the inside. All have riveted handles, which is probably inevitable with pots made from a tri-layer sandwich. All have a lifetime warrantee. The nonstick pans have an additional layer to prevent sticking. I made a very rough estimate of the thickness of the aluminum layer, which is critical for heat distribution. Judging by how the edges are polished by the manufacturer, the three layers can, in places, be discerned and their thicknesses estimated. Here are my estimates:Duxtop: Total thickness: 2.7 mm (total thickness is the most accurate of the estimates). Outside SS: 0.7 mm, inside SS 0.3 mm, therefore the aluminum layer is about 1.7 mm.Zwilling-Henckels: Total thickness: 3.6 mm); Outside SS: 0.5 mm, inside SS 0.5 mm, therefore the aluminum layer is about 2.6 mm.Cuisinart: Total thickness: 2.7 mm; Outside SS: 0.8 mm; inside SS 0.6 mm, therefore the aluminum layer is about 1.3 mm.The Duxtop pans are by far the most beautiful, with a high polish to the stainless steel inside and out. The handles are heavy cast alloy, also highly polished, and the most comfortable handles in this group. The Duxtop, unlike the Cuisinart and Zwilling pans, do not have nonstick coating. They are ideal for cooking or heating soups and other liquids, and they do a fine job on eggs as long as there is sufficient butter in the pan. However, when it comes to foods that tend to stick, like oatmeal, the nonstick surfaces win out. Also on the negative side, the bottom of the 10-inch frying pan is sufficiently thin that on an induction heater that is only 4.5-inches in diameter, as many are, the edges of the pan are sufficiently cooler than the center that omelets are best done on gas. The highly polished interior does discolor when cooking some foods; however a light application of Bar Keepers Friend brings back the original luster. Not available with nonstick surface, and single piece selection is limited. An 8-piece set is quite reasonable priced.The Zwilling J.A. Henckels pans are somewhat more expensive than the other two and seem of the highest quality. The nonstick is free of both PTFE and PFOA, for those concerned with such things. The claim is that this coating is stable up to 850 F. The handles are perhaps the least comfortable of the three, but OK and not unattractive. The outside finish, while not having the high polish of the Duxtop, is businesslike. In general use, these also seem to spread the heat better than either Duxtop or Cuisinart, which is not surprising given their noticeably thicker aluminum layer. The see-through lids, which neither Duxtop nor Cuisinart have, are nice, though like the others the lid handles do get warm enough eventually that a pot-holder is advised. Of the three brands, this is my favorite.The Cuisinart pans have an outside polish similar to the Zwilling-Henckels with more-comfortable handles, but for their lower price they have thinner tri-ply and solid lids. The nonstick surface is claimed to be PTFE and PFOA free and good to 550 F in the oven. As I only have the 2-qt. pan, there's not much to say, but nothing to complain about. It has been fully nonstick for me, even for challenges like oatmeal, though some others with frying pans have complained about sticking. The bottom seems to spread the heat of a 4.5-inch induction heater better than the Duxtop does, in spite of the thinner estimated aluminum layer. That could be because the lower conductivity of the nonstick allows the aluminum to do its job before the heat makes it through the nonstick. There are reasonably priced sets available that should fill most kitchen needs, and several single pieces are available.

We purchased this pot because we have the exact same pot that we really like and could use a 2nd.Our existing similar pot is very old, has been well used and shows no sign of wear or scratches on the coating.This new pot that we expected to be exactly the same has already scratched after two uses - as usual, they've cheapened the product and continue to market it as "the same". Corporate swindle in my eyes - BS.I'll be trying to send it back - very disappointed.

The utensil looked so nice with quality finishing !