Judge Vista 3-piece saucepan set review

The pans are suitable for all hob types and dishwasher-safe. They’re oven-safe to 150C.

• Read our full guide to the best saucepan sets

What is the Judge Vista 3-piece saucepan set like to cook with?

The Judge Vista saucepans have comfortable handles that remain cool in use. They’re on the chunkier side, but are slightly shaped and fit the contours of the hand well. They also have hanging holes for easy storage.

These pans are pretty lightweight. Despite having a weighted base, we still found them a little unstable on the hob, especially when mixing quickly.

There are some brilliant extra features built into these pans, like the pouring lips either side of the pan, the draining holes in the lid and the useful volume markings found up the side of each pan. We were a little disappointed by the oven-safe temperature though. Whilst it’s great that the pans are oven-safe, 150C is fairly limiting.

Results

These pans are quick to heat up. Whether heating up oil or boiling water, the pans are ready to cook in no time. The water for our pasta reached a rolling boil in just a couple of minutes and boiled evenly. When the lid was on, the bubbles rose high in the pan, but didn’t boil over. Once the pasta was cooked, we used the draining holes. We found this an easy enough function to use, but we used the largest pan to cook in and found that the pan, plus the weight of the pasta and water caused some straining when trying to drain the pan – this wasn’t the case with the smaller pans.

Each saucepan gently curves where the sides meet the base, meaning we were able to reach right into the edges to ensure every ingredient is fully incorporated. This was especially useful on both our scrambled eggs and porridge tests. When cooking scrambled eggs, these became ever so slightly overcooked because of the speed with which this pan heats up. After cooking, a thin layer of both porridge and egg stuck to the pan (as expected). After soaking, they cleaned up like a dream and were good as new.

We struggled to get the results we were looking for when cooking onions. As the onions cooked we noticed that the base of the pan was browning where bits of onion were sticking to it, but the loose ones on top were only browning slowly. Soaking helped to get the majority of the stuck on onion off, but elbow grease was required for the persistent bits.

Conclusion

If you’re after a classic pan set that cooks relatively well, this Judge set it a good choice. It’s attractive and offers good versatility in the form of draining holes, pouring lips and volume markings.

Some foods did get stuck, but on the whole it cooked evenly and consistency. This pan set is fast though, so don’t take your eye off it when cooking.

Specifications

Size of pans: 16, 18, 20cm
Non-stick coating: no
Material: Stainless steel
Induction compatible: yes
Oven safe: yes to 150C

Saucepan recipes

Top 10 storecupboard pasta ideas
Cheese sauce
Vegan chilli
Chicken madras
Spiced carrot and lentil soup
Homemade custard
Vanilla panna cotta

More pan reviews

Best non-stick frying pans
Best pancake pans
Best griddle pans
Best sauté pans
Best griddle pans
Best pan sets
Best saucepans