I follow a strict regimen of man cooking, which allows for just one cooking vessel, one serving/dining vessel, and optimally, one utensil. This pan meets nearly all needs: part saucepan, part wok, and part saute pan. Brilliant.
I bought this pan in a department store on a whim; I had a gift card that was about to expire. I have some All-Clad and was hoping to find another All-Clad pan to add to my collection; I was not too surprised when I could not. I "settled" for this pan. It's not much of a "settle" because this pan is great.
I am an avid cook it's how I relax and I use this pan all the time right along side my All-Clad. I will be purchasing more Cuisinart pans in the future. For the price and the quality, you can't beat them. They are great on a ceramic top stove.
I did notice that food stuck the first time and that discoloration did appear the first few times. This is normal for stainless steel pans. Just heat up and deglaze to remove the food. For the discoloration... just keep going, all my stainless steel pans, that have been discolored, have gone back (to a stainless appearance) after I use them a couple more times. Just keep in mind that because this is a quality pan, the heat will not need to be nearly as high as with other pans. Heat being too high can cause permanent discoloration and can ruin a pan.
Over all great pan great buy.
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I waited a year after purchase to review this pan so that I could mention durability -but within a month of buying it, this became the most-used piece of cookware in my kitchen.It's big enough to do a quick saute for 1-2 persons, but if like me you do much cooking that requires reductions (stocks, sauces), you'll adore this pan.I'm crazy about it, and it's also shown such durability that I've subsequently bought 4 other pieces of Cuisinart stainless steel.As good as All-Clad products are, I honestly think these Cuisinart pieces are just about comparable to them... for a fraction of the price.
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First off, I am a devoted Cuisinart cookware fan; I own nonstick hard-anodized, stainless steel and Multiclad pieces. I bought this piece because I couldn't find a Multiclad Chef's pan in any size.It's very nice great, mirrored finish interior & attractive brushed exterior, with a safe, good-fitting (not too tight) mirrored lid. It's lighter than Multiclad in weight, as you'd expect from stainless steel. Heating is even, the capacity is generous and the shape accommodates most utensils down in the 'seam' where the pan bottom meets the bowl. If you know how to cook with & care for stainless steel, Cuisinart's will not disappoint you -it's very forgiving and easy to clean.
I tend to use my glass lid (their lids are completely interchangeable) when cooking with this, and I think it's a little too small to use in place of a wok, unless you're only cooking a meal for one or two people. But it's versatile and effective, and fits a valuable niche in my kitchen.
Now, if only it was available in the Multiclad line....
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Cooking with this pan is not like using a light aluminum pan with vented lid, so take your time to adjust.The domed lid allows moisture to return to the food, down the sides, which helps reduce scorching and keeps nutrients and flavor in the food. This is not for high temperature cooking, as is the case with all stainless steel cookware. You can use much lower temps and the lid keeps the heat that would be lost out of a vent IN the pan. Remember to use a dishtowel or hotmitt to grab the handle, which is riveted and sturdy.
This pan can do many things: you can do fast stir-fryups in it as well as single-pan dishes, remembering that the center bottom of the pan is hotter than the sides, which the flame should NEVER touch. Use the electric burner, if you don't have gas, that fits inside the diameter of the base disc and you'll avoid LOTS of problems, as with all base-disc cookware.
Clean this pan VERY thoroughly: there is a machine oil coating on it you can't see or feel that will come off with dish soap, and then warm the pan, then get it fairly hot and THEN add some high-temp oil (canola is fine) and roll the oil inside the pan over the heat. Turn off the heat, continue to roll the oil to cover the entire inside, and then let it sit for a moment, get a paper towel, crumple it and wipe the hot oil out. Be careful to keep your fingers off the metal and oil. Leave a light film of oil behind, let the pan cool for a few minutes, rewipe with a fresh paper towel thoroughly and you're ready to cook: you've just pre-seasoned your pan and it won't give you the "first cook scorch" that others complain of. I've NEVER had that happen, and have been cooking for decades with many materials. As with any other material, you have to learn to treat and use it right and it will treat you right!
My first dish was a flash-pan-fry: normally not a good first choice, but I wanted to see if it could do the job of a wok, and for the most part, it can. The graduation in temp up the sides is different than a traditional wok, which is also normally thin steel or iron, btw. The speed of this pan is excellent, and if you keep the food moving, you won't need much oil. The veggies came out very bright, hot and crisp, and I did not need to add liquid until the very end to make the sauce and turn the food in it. Very easy cleanup, too, even though this was a sweet/hot glaze type sauce. The sugars did not burn or scorch and the pan looked the same after the very easy cleanup (soak for a few minutes in hot water, use a nylon scrunch to clean and done).
If you soak bare-metal pans that are seasoned properly in plain hot water, use a nylon scrubby/scrunch to clean, you'll never need soap, and oils will build up just enough to create a nonstick finish that is as good as teflon. In fact, after a dozen or so times, the metal will still be bright, not dirty, and you'll be able to do sliding fried eggs... on a pretty low temp. The key is to keep the food moving. That is SO important!
To avoid spotting, try not to handle the exterior if your hands are oily, and always hand dry bright stainless pans in and out, unless you don't care about the spotting. Use a normal sponge on the exterior, a nylon scrunch if you spill over and must, and it will stay glossy.
This pan has so far made soup, pasta sauces, boiled pasta, steamed (with a generic small insert), and pulled off a pretty decent risotto the first time I tried in it. It also made very good egg-foo-yung style small, thick omelettes. I don't eat meat, so I haven't tried that, but based on performance with with eggs, it should sear small cuts or cubed meats very nicely, allowing you to push done pieces to the cooler sides while the rest gets done. I have yet to dare to try doing a pan fry of tofu in it, though it did a shallow fry of tofu fine.
Tofu is nature's stickum food: it sticks even to teflon coatings if you don't keep it moving and oiled. I'll let the pan season more and try. I'm not into sweets, but I suspect that this would handle making pan-style confections pretty well.
I like it, and I can see this and the small chef's pan with a small fry becoming my most used pans for personal meals. It's not a substitute for a large saute or fry, and it's not quite a big dutch oven, because it's only 3 qt and frankly, shaped wrong for some of the dishes that work in a dutch oven, but for some stews or small pan roasts, I bet it will do a great job at a lower, less destructive temp, keeping food moister and brighter looking with more intact nutrition.
For under $30, shipped, if you are a Prime member, it's a great pan, and for a decent sized family, might be worth having a couple of them!
Oh, diameter is a very manageable 10", so it's not a stovetop hog!
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