8 Cookware Essentials Every Guy Should Own

There are certain, uh, sticky situations—like whipping up an omelet, pancakes or a skin-on fish filet—where it makes sense to reach for your trusty nonstick skillet. For everything else, there's stainless steel cookware, a step-up option that both looks and cooks like professional-grade equipment.

This 12-piece set features skillets, saucepans and saute pans (plus matching lids) made from a core of aluminum clad in stainless steel, which allows for more even heat distribution, and better browning of your food, than teflon-coated cookware. The multi-clad set is also ideal for making sauces and gravies and can go from stovetop to the oven without getting damaged (you can't do that with a nonstick pan). Despite the name, not much adheres to stainless either, which is why you can use it for 99 percent of dishes you can ever imagine cooking.

(macys.com; $375)