Whether cooking is your life's passion, or you're the type who would rather use their oven for extra shoe storage, food preparation is an unavoidable part of life. Regardless of how enjoyable you find it, cooking is one of those things that can be made exponentially easier with the proper instruction and, moreover, the proper tools. Yes, a chef is only as good as her best kitchen utensil. It's ok if you aren't exactly comfortable with cooking—most people have had their fair share of culinary faux pas (even big league chefs have to start somewhere). What isn't ok is using subpar cookware. If you're using crappy kitchen products, you're probably underselling your own abilities. Not only will the quality of your food suffer, but so will you. If your pots and pans aren't up to standard, it will make the act of cooking more challenging. You'll spend more time making sure your meats are cooked through. You'll end up with blackened veggies when you just wanted a nice browning. Now the smoke alarm is going off. See the problem?

The good news is that there's an easy fix: Upgrading your cookware. Once you get cooking with some of high-quality cookware, who knows what could happen? There'll be no stopping you. Look out, Julia Childs. Plus, with the holiday season fast-approaching, what better way to spoil the foodie in your life than with a set of top-rated cookware. From nonstick and stainless steel to cast iron and copper, here are 15 of the most high quality cookware brand for all of your sautéing, caramelizing, and stock-potting needs.