Monday, August 10, 2009

Product Review: Calphalon Everyday Pan

Disclaimer: Calphalon has not asked me to review this product; I am not receiving any compensation for this review. I am doing this because I enjoy using it and hope that you will too.

A little over a year ago, I found an amazing sale on Amazon. They had several Calphalon pans on sale for over 60% off! I bought two pans: a griddle and an everyday pan. Amazon listed their normal price as over $200 combined and I got them for under $60 (including shipping).

The everyday pan is everything the ad suggested it would be. I would use it everyday if I could. I can't because I don't cook everyday and because, well, it doesn't boil pasta very well. But it does everything quite nicely. I've braised meat in it, cooked seafood, made my favorite pinto, etc.

I like to use it in place of a skillet. The pan has a broad, flat bottom with sloping sides, so there's a lot of heated surface to place the food on (especially if I can manage to keep it on my ceramic stove-top burners, but that's another story). The pan heats quite evenly, so food around the outside cooks nearly as quickly as the food near the center.

The everyday pan's two-"helper" handle design is wonderful. With two small "helper" handles on the sides, like a five-quart pot, turning food out of the pan is a snap -- no awkward wrist contortions to get to the food. In addition, there are no long handles to get in the way of my other burners; I can use them all!

If I had one complaint about the pan, it's that I can't put it in the dishwasher without voiding the lifetime warranty. Fortunately, the anodized surface is easy to clean, nearly as easy as Teflon (eww, ick). That's all to the good as I really don't have much elbow grease anymore.

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