I've owned this pan for about two years ... it's simply wonderful. The Calphalon Commercial line is the top of the line, just like the Professional, but with stay-cool handles. The thick, sturdy aluminum heats up quickly and evenly, and goes from the stovetop to the oven up to any temperature.
My favorite dish to make with this pan is a large omelette for two to four people. You saute the onions, etc., until carmelized, then add the whipped eggs, top it with diced tomatoes, basil, oregano and cheeses, then broil at about 450 for a couple minutes until browned. Simply wonderful!
I also cook stir frys, poach fish, bake casseroles, and brown meats in this truly Everyday Pan.
Now, for the issues: As with all true Calphalon products, you can not put hard-anodized aluminum into the dishwasher. It will damage the surface, leading to pits and discolorations, and void the lifetime warranty to boot!
Second, this is not a nonstick pan. If you want nonstick, buy Calphalon Commercial Nonstick, the best ever made (The Commercial nonstick line has the more advanced LRS3 coating versus the much less effective LRS coating on the cheaper Professional Nonstick II line).
To clean, simply buy a Dobie pad or its equivalent. For the tough stuff, I find a little Bon Ami or Dormond cleaner does the trick without too much effort.
Enjoy!
The Calphalon Commercial line is ideal for those who want quality cookware that's guaranteed for life and pretty much indestructible. My absent-minded-bachelor kitchen contains nothing that cannot withstand all manner of accidents, falls, and spills. The Calphalon Commercial line enables me to cook like a pro without endangering my cookware--and to clean like a fiend when I've cooked like a pyro by accident.
You can clean these pans with abrasive cleansers like Comet. I used to sell them in a boutiquey store where they'd have come back in droves if we'd misinformed people on this point. Another reviewer expresses appropriate caution regarding putting them in the dishwasher--it's for dishes, silly, not knives of pots--but I do this on occasion and it would take regular dishwashing with powdered (sandblasted in there) detergent and lotsa stuff to bang the pans to really do a number on them. Discoloration is not the stuff of diminished utility.
Aside from the line being the most practical stove top option bar none, the pan is a dream. Not so shallow as an omelette pan, nor so deep as a wok, it does the range from stir-fry to saute, to bake and roast. I'd recommend this pan to anyone who maybe wants to start a cookware collection--it's so many pans in one. I used to sell this stuff (not on commission, mind you) to students with their first apartment. Moms and dads would express concern that the kids would ruin it--au contraire: you get a ten dollar pan and it'll be beaten to bits in a matter of weeks by the likes of careless ol' me, but you get a heavy, solid pan like this, they'd have to be trying to break it.
Cautions:
-Lower the heat if you're used to inferior pans. If you get this pan and find yourself saying, "It burns everything," you're conveniently forgetting who chose the heat on that burner.
-It's not non stick--and they *do* sell the best non stick--but it is highly stick resistant, especially if you LOWER THE HEAT.
-The handles can get HOT so be sure you're armed with a potholder of any sort.
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I have bought this pan just recently after reading the many reviews on this site, as well as doing some research on the Commercial Hard-Anodized line of Calphalon products.
This was really worth the money and I can see how people would pay full price for it was well, since so far I haven't found a drawback to this pan.
It cleans up as easily as nonstick pans do, and that includes the inside of the lid that gets splattered when stewing stuff covered in the oven.
It heats VERY evenly, there are really no hot spots at all, and very quickly.
It may not be nonstick, but when preheated properly and with a bit of oil/butter/rendered fat, even tender meats such as lamb don't become burned onto the pan.
The meat browning is excellent, yielding wonderful deglacage, and it also allows you to brown the meat, add other ingredients, and put the entire thing into the oven. More importantly, the meat cooks so that it is browned on the outside and tender inside, as opposed to nonstick skillets that make even the better meat cuts really tough on the inside and do not give a nice brown crust at all. The hard-anodized surface of this pan seals in the juices, making even stew beef more tender than you could ever cook it after you browned it in a nonstick pan. In fact, I haven't used my nonstick pan at all since I got this one--I don't need it.
The handles don't get too hot on stovetop, but they do get rather warm with prolonged cooking. However, that is to be expected, and I haven't had a problem using them with a pair of thin potholders. They obviously do get hot in the oven, but that is to be expected as well.
Overall, a great pan. It's been sitting on my stovetop since I received it, and I have been using it quite a bit.
I will recommend it to anyone starting a new kitchen, or just choosing a first skillet to buy. The size is nice, it is large enough to make stew or other dish enough for 4-6 servings easily, likely more but I haven't tried to fill it up further than just the bottom.
Another important point--if you plan to fry eggs, I would recommend a nonstick pan instead of this one. I like my eggs beaten with milk, and that sticks really easy, so I would not trust that to any surface other than nonstick. This hard-anodized pan beats nonstick hands-down for anything and everything else, however.
If you haven't tried this Calphalon line yet, definitely buy this pan--it's well worth the money, and it is likely to become your favorite kitchen toy!
UPDATE:
I have been using this for about about half a year longer now and I am still as pleased with it as I was before.The surface has not become damaged even after extensive use (although I have not cooked many acidic foods in it, I have used it for making wurst&kraut in the oven), it has not warped, and the clean-up continues to be a breeze.
Recently I have used it to sear some sesame-oil coated scallops for a Thai curry dish, then deglazed it with coconut milk (a pretty thick liquid), and it all came together rather beautifully, with no burned-on spots or off flavors.
Another huge advantage I have noticed over time is the fact that the handles are small, and do not get in the way of cooking something else next to the pan when using it on stovetop.
I have before, and I still recommend this to everyone and anyone.In fact, I have recently purchased a second one, because I use the one I have literally all the time.
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Having used Calphalon pots and pans in our kitchen 20 years or so, and my wife and I both being avid cooks, and having raised four children in the process, I feel I can give some pretty good advice here.
This particular Amazon offer is how I like to buy Calphalon, at least after my initial set purchase. Everynow then you see something really useful for your collection at a GREAT GREAT price. I've got this very pan among the 15 pots and pans in my Calphalon collection, and use it quite a bit.
Some reviewers contend that you can't wash these pots in the dishwasher, you can't use brillo, or that the anodized coating will wear off, or that the handles get hot.
Yep, all true, But, errr, so what?
I have purchased Calphalon for my family many times, and most recently for my recently wedded son in law and his bride.
What I figure about Calphalon is this:
You got two choices with it:
A. You can use brillo, toss it in the dishwasher and don't worry about it, OR
B. Take very good care of it, meaning don't put it in the dishwasher and don't use brillo.
Now in comparison, All Clad Stainless steel can be put in the dishwasher, but you're now using a stainless steel pot around an aluminum core, and I think Calphalon on a gas burner is the cat's meow as far as I'm concerned cooking. Copper pots are pretty, super expensive, but they are a REAL pain to keep pretty. (My wife snorts reading this...you DON'T know, she says. I guess she does clean our copper pots and I don't.)
What I like about Calphalon is that you CAN toss them in the dishwasher over and over. (By the way it's the harsh dishwasher detergent that causes the problem of metal discoloration.) And I do use brillo. YES, eventually some of the anodized coating wears off (on the inside) and this way of cleaning them results in metal discolorations over a period of months or years.
So what, I ask? They're just POTS, for gosh sakes. We don't need to mystify them. I still use the original pots I bought 20 years ago, and like the ONE RING, I don't think you can destroy these pots. I've dropped them on concrete floors, left them on burners and in the oven.
And yes the handles get a bit hot. Use a hot pad. With metal handles you can toss the whole thing in the oven at any time.
And I like the metal lids over the glass. They don't break. I can take off a lid to look inside the pot if I need to.
I'm not trying to be smart alecky, it just seems to me that if you want eternal pots and don't EXPECT them to look brand new ten years down the road, you can clean these pots anyway you want to and they'll remain completely functional for YOUR lifetime, at least.
If you're THAT picky about looks, you can get copper and work yourself to death using copper polisher, and alternatively brillo will still scratch All Clad in stainless steel (even though you CAN toss those in the dishwasher without discoloring the finish). So since no pots are PERFECT, then the PERFECT, but expensive solution will be to buy pretty copper pots to hang up and display above your stove (but don't actually use THEM), and buy the Calphalon to use, take shortcuts, be lazy, abuse the heck out of them and store them in the cabinet...
But I just buy the Calphalon (and a couple of copper pots and cast iron items for other things), and the copper pots aren't looking so swift either cause we (errr...she) got tired or cleaning them meticulously years ago.
Pax,
Chris
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This is going to be my favorite pan very soon. Its a large size being 12 inches across. Its heavy and its also 3 to 4 inches deep. This pan is perfect for frying, sauteeing, making stir fry, and pasta dishes in here. This is an extremely attractive price for this pan, and I couldn't pass it up. This pan is wonderful as it goes from the stove top to the oven. The handles are heat resistant and you can turn the pot on the stove while cooking. It also comes with a large lid that fits the pan.
This is a pan is heavy aluminum, and while it is not non-stick, it is stick resistant, and besides a quick deglaze of the pan generally takes care of any residue left over its easy to clean up. The thick aluminum makes the pan heat evenly, so there are no hot spots. I look forward to adding more of these pans to my collection!
If you are replacing an older style pedestal, be aware that this one will not be as snug a fit.It puts your pan up 1 to 1.5 inches higher and there is more wiggle between the base and the pan.Otherwise, it seems to be fairly stable.
