I loved this pan so much that when I was testing it, before I was even done, I was like, "I want this pan," and I ordered one for myself, which I never do. So I've had mine for several years and I love it. I cook in it all the time.
Lisa McManus
Executive editor for ATK Reviews and co-host of America's Test Kitchen's Gear Heads series on YouTube.
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Skillets
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Stainless Steel Cookware
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We tested eight pans, and believe me, they were not all good. Some of them were real clunky, some really just never took to seasoning. They had sides that were too high, really off in balance. They just were not worth it. This one's our favorite. It's Matfer Bourgeat 11 7/8-inch Black Steel Frying Pan.
the non-stick pans that you buy are gonna gradually become less and less non-stick. So the great steering that you can get in this pan and its ability to become more and more naturally non-stick makes this a favorite here at The Test Kitchen. All of our Test Cooks love this pan and we love to use it. In fact, we kind…
Cites coating durability, heat retention, maintenance, non-stick surface, versatility
As we saw with the burgers, the carbon steel pan has certain traits that really make it a great all-around pan. It definitely has that nice heat retention and heat transfer of a cast iron pan. It has that nice release of a non-stick pan. This is a great all-around pan, does almost anything you want it to do, it's…
Both of these sets performed beautifully, aced all our tests.
Cites even heating, handle, heat conduction
Both of them have fully stainless steel handles, which means that on the stove top at least, they will not heat up while you're cooking.
we actually have co-winners from All-Clad, a 10-piece set, and from Made In, another 10-piece set.
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
- best in class about Made In 10-piece cookware set Tested it cites build quality
- best in class about All-Clad 10-piece cookware set Tested it cites build quality
Honestly, a lot of those All-Clad pieces are some of our favorites in their categories.
Retains a lot of the properties that we love in cast iron, this ability to retain heat and really put a nice sear on food, but it's much easier to handle.
Cites ergonomics, heat control, safety, ease of cleaning, even heating, heat retention, non-stick surface
Other secret of this pan is its ability to become naturally non-stick. So the smooth grain of this takes to seasoning a little faster than cast iron and it becomes very rapidly non-stick when you season it. And you can cook in it with just a little bit of fat, and food will just come right out. So if you're really…
Stainless steel or, in particular, a fully clad pan where there are layers of stainless steel, aluminum, and stainless steel is really known for its ability to make even, uniform heat. The aluminum transmits heat very quickly, stainless steel much more slowly. The stainless retains it so it spreads, and you get this…
In the carbon steel, I think we got the sort of Goldilocks moment. You get this really beautiful golden brown crust that is deeply brown, and nice, and crusty. Inside is nice and pink. And you really get this nice contrast between the brown crust and the cooked interior that is nice and juicy. So I thought it was a…
When we were done, there was almost nothing in the pan. It was just, I wipe it out, rinse it out, and we're good to go.
The other thing that mattered was the height of the sides. These are about two and a half inches.
Cites handle, shape and form
The third thing we really loved was this low handle. It was a nice level handle and it was comfortable to grip. Has this little bit of a dent in it that really helps you grab it when you're pouring out sauces and things. It actually stays rooted in your hand.
They're both made of stainless steel and they're fully clad. So they have stainless steel, aluminum and stainless steel sheets that are bonded together before the pan is made. So you get nice even cooking with no hotspots.
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
- performance about Made In saute pan Tested it cites even heating, heating speed, size and capacity
- performance about All-Clad skillet Tested it cites even heating, searing and crust, shape and form
This one really did stand out from the pack because it had a few things that we loved. One is that the cooking surface is nice and broad. This is really important because if it's too narrow meat is crowded when you're browning it. So this broad cooking surface really did matter. Greens cooked quicker because they…
They both have a wide cooking surface, but then that skillet has those low flaring sides that bow out like this. This is great for browning nicely and encouraging evaporation with those low sides.
It also really took to seasoning well. It basically got seasoned and kept getting more and more non-stick. Some of the other pans seemed to really take a step back occasionally. You'd go through the whole seasoning process, cook something, and it would just come up. This really just kept building.
Cites seasoning durability
Yes, and it's also fully clad, well constructed, really beautiful pieces. In fact, closer to our ideal sizes.
Cites build quality, price
So although All-Clad's four-quart is our winner, they didn't put one in this set.
Cites size and capacity
Something like this handle, this is an All-Clad, they have sort of a famously uncomfortable handle.
Cites ergonomics (against), handle
what we're looking for is a nice broad cooking surface right here. This flat part is what's contacting the heat and it's browning your food. If your pan is too much like a bowl, everything is crowded to the middle.
Cites base and rim, size and capacity
First of all, we wanted steel handles, all-steel handles, because steel does not conduct heat quickly.
Cites handle, heat conduction
Don't buy pans with what are called encapsulated or clad bottoms. The layers are only on the bottom of these cheaper, thinner pans.
Cites build quality (against)
What happens is those heat up very slowly because they're really thick and so then you turn up the heat and then they acquire heat and they hang onto it and everything's burning
Cites even heating (against), heating speed (against)
After many years of testing cookware, we decided to focus only on sets made of fully clad stainless steel.
Cites build quality
From our years of testing, we also know that fully clad cookware construction is tough, it's durable, and it cooks more evenly without hotspots.
Cites durability, even heating
The saute pan L-shaped sides, taller and straighter. You've got a higher side, you've got a big domed lid. You can hold a lot of food in there without anything spilling. This is gonna be great for brazing where you wanna simmer and it's going to hold in lots of food.
Cites oven safe, size and capacity
This is our winning skillet by All Clad and this is our winning saute pan by Made In.
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
- best in class about Made In saute pan Tested it
- best in class about All-Clad skillet Tested it
A saute pan is a cross between a skillet and a sauce pan. They usually come with lids. They are nice and wide and have high L-shaped sides and they're great for browning and searing for shallow frying, for braising, and yeah even for sauteing.
Cast iron, that is a very heat-retaining material. Once we preheated the pan, we dropped that burger, it stayed pretty steady and it got quite hot. We got a deep brown crust almost to the verge of being almost burned, which is, I kinda like it that way, but not everybody does. By the time we were really ready to take…
Cites flavour impact, heat control (against), heat retention, non-stick surface (against)
The stainless steel pan, as is their want, left some fond. It stuck a little bit. There was a brown spot where the burger had cooked, and that's great if you're gonna make a pan sauce or whatever. It's not a non-stick pan. It has none of the traits of non-stick the way cast iron or very well-seasoned carbon steel have.
One other factor that was important with skillets, especially ones that you're gonna be searing in and that you might be baking in or cooking in, is rivets, the way the handle is attached to the pan. A lot of them had big, lumpy rivets, and they actually acquired a lot of schmutz, basically. This is nice and smooth.…
Cites build quality, ease of cleaning
There are several things that we really loved about this pan and one is you want some space to cook. This is 12 inches or 11 7/8 rim to rim and that's how they measure it. Then, the sides come down, and some of these tapered down like a wok to this little tiny space at the bottom. This one gives you a good broad…
Cites even heating, size and capacity, handle
Finally, the angle of the handle, this goes up a little bit. A lot of European pans do that. They tend to angle up. American pans, for whatever reason, tend to go flat. This is a French pan. It is angled up a little bit, but not so high that it was hard to get into the oven. When we were making tarte Tatin, you start…
one of the pans sadly warped by the end of testing, and just a little bit.
Cites durability (against)
They're not as comfy but they don't rotate in your hands dangerously. They stay anchored.
Cites ergonomics (against), handle, safety
In our experience, more layers, more ply, it's not great because sometimes that either means the pan is very heavy and really heavy cookware is kind of discouraging to use
Cites build quality (against), weight (against)
And this is also really prone to falling off with thermal shock and impact.
Cites durability (against)
Now, because stainless steel is on the surface layers, these pens won't rust or react with acidic food and there's no coating to wear away. There's almost no maintenance and they can last a lifetime.
And every single piece is coated with non-stick. And what we know about non-stick is its lifespan is, you know, a couple of years.
Cites durability (against), non-stick surface (against)
There's some things that a skillet is really terrific at. Specifically the browning, a saute pan.
Cites searing and crust
The pans in our lineup range from two to three inches and actually the higher sides were not that helpful. It was harder to reach in with tongs to get at those meatballs or to stir anything basically halfway to a sauce pan.
Cites shape and form (against)
Both pans can be used on the stove or in the oven because they're fully metal and the handles are both just plain stainless steel.
Cites oven safe
there's a lot of times when this is really the best pan for the job.
It's not so much great at that nice sear, that crisp that you want like with a burger, or a steak, or a crisp tender vegetable. Perfectly acceptable burger. But I think the cast iron and the carbon steel did a little bit better.
The handle is all metal and that's a good thing. Some of them had other things on the handle. You you wanna be able to use this in the oven or on the stove top, and we like that this one has an all-metal handle. It's not super comfortable, but it's not bad. Some of the hands we tested had very awkward balance when you…
Cites ergonomics (against), handle, oven safe
So the Goldilocks set may a slight bit less durable, but it is a beautiful set, it's well made, and it's a real bargain.
Cites build quality, durability (against)
Although we love a 12-inch skillet, neither of these sets have a 12 inch. They have an eight and 10. So you may wanna add that on if you have these sets.
Cites size and capacity (against)
The All-Clad 10 piece set, it is about $700 for the 10 pieces. The Made In, for the 10 pieces, about $800.
Cites price (against)
if you add up each piece bought a la carte, the All-Clad represents a 29% savings. This was 16% savings for Made In.
Cites price
So if you've already got a great skillet and a great sauce pan but you're looking to expand a little bit to a little bit more specialty cookware, definitely check out the saute pan and the saucier that Kate talked about.
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
- recommendation about Saucepans Uses it professionally
- recommendation about Sauté Pans Uses it professionally
If I had to go to a deserted island with either this or my skillet, I'm still kind of a skillet person.
So here at ATK saute pans are a little bit overlooked because we will often push the recipes you'd wanna do in this into either a skillet or a dutch oven.
Cites reputation
at atk some of our most frequently used cookware are dutch ovens and skillets
Cites reputation