Three very different chef-brand relationships give this cookware test a useful question beyond whether an expensive pan or knife can perform basic kitchen tasks. Tom Kerridge’s M&S cast-iron set, Tom Aikens’ association with ProCook knives, and Thomas Keller’s work with Hestan represent progressively different levels of involvement, from an established retail partnership to a straightforward endorsement and finally a collaboration in which the chef is described as contributing to product development. That distinction becomes more revealing than celebrity status itself, particularly once the products are put to work.
The Kerridge cast-iron set demonstrates both the strengths and compromises of designing cookware around home convenience. Its stackability is immediately appealing because traditional cast-iron pieces can consume considerable cupboard space, while the enamel surface makes the pans easier to approach than raw cast iron. Cooking pork, onions and other ingredients confirms that the pans can produce the expected browning and retain heat, but the testing also exposes practical annoyances. The rough finishing at a join feels out of place, the griddle's usable cooking area is reduced by its shape, and one pan allows oil to migrate toward the edges rather than remaining evenly distributed. These are specific observations that make the eventual middling-to-positive scores feel earned rather than dictated by Kerridge's reputation.
The ProCook Damascus knife produces the clearest example of why an endorsement alone should not settle a buying decision. Tom Aikens is presented as having promoted an existing ProCook product and demonstrated how to use the company's knives rather than having designed this particular model. The knife performs competently, especially during the monkfish preparation where its compact blade becomes useful, but neither tester is particularly impressed by its balance or six-inch proportions. More importantly, it struggles with a tomato until receiving attention from a honing steel. For a knife costing £109, their expectation that it should arrive impressively sharp is reasonable within the terms of their own evaluation.
Thomas Keller's Hestan cookware provides the most convincing case for the central argument because the claimed relationship goes considerably deeper. The presenters describe Keller as first adopting Hestan cookware in his professional kitchens and later contributing insights to product development and design. During cooking, the pans maintain an even surface, handle heat effectively and draw praise for details such as flush rivets, handle shaping and the small notch intended to improve grip. Kush ultimately sees little obvious room for improving the stainless-steel frying pan and awards it five out of five. The £215.56 price for two pans remains substantial, but the enthusiastic verdict is based on observable construction and performance rather than Keller's name alone.
That progression gives the comparison more substance than a conventional celebrity-product roundup. The presenters arrive at a sensible principle: the underlying manufacturer needs to make a strong product first, while meaningful chef involvement can add credibility or refinement rather than magically transforming ordinary equipment. Mike also makes a useful consumer point that researching what a celebrity actually contributed to a collaboration can reveal whether the name represents design involvement, long-term professional use or little more than marketing. The three examples support that distinction particularly well because their relationships with the chefs are not treated as interchangeable.
Kush and Mike's professional-versus-home-cook perspectives also complement each other effectively. Kush notices issues involving pan geometry, heat behavior, knife balance and cooking surface that a casual buyer might overlook, while Mike repeatedly brings the discussion back to affordability, accessibility and what an ordinary home cook is likely to notice. Their demonstrations are practical enough to expose flaws that handling products briefly on a countertop would miss. The playful celebrity-endorsement quiz provides some variety, although it interrupts the strongest section of the knife discussion and contributes little to determining the quality of the featured equipment.
There are still limits to what these tests establish. The Kerridge cookware is explicitly judged on first use rather than extended ownership, so expectations about longevity remain predictions rather than demonstrated results. Dishwasher durability, enamel wear, repeated heating and long-term knife edge retention are not examined, all of which matter when evaluating cookware at these prices. The selection is also too small to support sweeping conclusions about celebrity cookware generally. What it does provide is a thoughtful framework for evaluating such products: look beyond the famous name, determine the chef's actual involvement, consider the manufacturer's existing reputation, and then judge whether the equipment itself performs well enough to justify its price.
Pros
- Comparing three different levels of chef involvement makes the discussion of endorsements more meaningful than simply testing celebrity-branded products.
- Real cooking exposes specific strengths and weaknesses, including the Kerridge pan's oil distribution, the ProCook knife's initial sharpness and balance, and the Hestan pans' construction and heat performance.
- Kush's technical observations and Mike's home-cook perspective provide complementary criteria for judging expensive kitchen equipment.
- The discussion encourages buyers to investigate what a celebrity chef actually contributed to a product rather than assuming the name itself guarantees quality.
- Price is considered alongside performance, allowing the presenters to distinguish competent equipment from equipment they believe genuinely justifies a premium.
Cons
- First-use testing cannot establish the long-term durability, edge retention, enamel wear or repeated-use performance of the products.
- Three products are not enough to support broad conclusions about celebrity chef endorsements across the cookware market.
- The celebrity endorsement quiz is entertaining but briefly distracts from the more useful product analysis.
- Some conclusions about durability and long-term value are necessarily speculative because those qualities are not tested directly.
The comparison succeeds because it treats celebrity involvement as something to investigate rather than an automatic guarantee of quality, and the contrasting Kerridge, Aikens and Keller relationships give that idea practical weight. Specific cooking tests reveal enough meaningful differences to make the recommendations useful, even though long-term performance remains untested. As a consumer-oriented cookware discussion, it is informative, entertaining and appropriately skeptical without dismissing worthwhile collaborations simply because a famous chef is attached.
