It’s frustrating to have a fry pan or sauté pan for which the center is so high that oil or other fat runs off to the sides, leaving the center essentially dry. But it’s tough to have the bottom of a pan perfectly flat, so it’s usually desirable to have the bottom slightly concave to ensure that it sits on a burner or cooking surface without rocking. The operative word is “slightly”; the bottom of the pan should not look like Crater Lake. I got the 11″ Demeyere Atlantis 7 fry pan to replace a skillet for which the bottom was high in the middle by 2 mm, making it essentially unusable. No such problem here; as can be seen from the photo with the blue gauge, the center is high by only 0.46 mm—a nonissue. Apparently, the flatness gauge shown in the screen grab from a Demeyere product video is more than a prop. Suffice it to say that the difference between the two pans is night and day. I can’t quite say that it changed my life, but it certainly has changed my attitude toward sautéing. The heating is very uniform, though this is probably true for any decent pan of this size. In any event, I have found it great for nice, even browning. It’s not a “fast” pan like Mauviel or All-Clad Copper Core, so it needs a bit of time to heat and cool. I’m not one for quick heating by setting a burner on high and hoping I catch it before things get carried away. I just set the burner to what I want for the final setting and give the pan a few minutes to warm up. True precision would probably call for a surface thermometer, but reaching the Leidenfrost temperature (i.e., when water droplets ball and roll around the pan) seems to get things close enough. Because of its thermal mass, it retains heat very well, which is perfect for sautéing and searing. Sometimes it’s a bit much, though—for example, when making veal or chicken piccata, the retained heat is so much that the butter can fall apart almost immediately after it’s added. But the solution is simple: after deglazing the pan, pour the liquid into a lightly preheated smaller vessel such as a saucier and then add the butter—which is usually more manageable when making a small amount of sauce anyway. Demeyere claim that the 7-layer construction gives especially good performance on induction cooktops, but I use a gas stove, so I wasn’t able to evaluate this. Sticking isn’t an issue if one follows normal procedure for stainless steel: • Get the pan up to temperature. • Add the appropriate amount of oil, butter, or both. • Add whatever is being cooked to the pan and don’t move it until it has at least lightly browned. Cleaning is also easy. I would never put cookware in a dishwasher, and Demeyere don’t recommend it. I let the pan cool to room temperature and then let it soak for a few minutes in soapy water, and a quick swipe with a brush and sponging with soapy water usually does most of the job. I usually cook with extra-virgin olive oil, which burns easily, so I often follow up with a small amount of Bar Keeper’s Friend and a final cleanup with soapy water. The one possible downside of this pan is its weight; it’s lighter than cast iron, but not by much. Unless you’re a former governor of California, you probably wouldn’t use it to shake and toss things around. Of course, you probably wouldn’t do this with a chicken breast anyway. Read more
The media could not be loaded. Preheat 7 minutes on Medium Low gas burner. Test on you cook top if different Add high heat olive oil Spread oil with wood flat spatula or silicon (to avoid micro scratches) Add eggs, wait 2 minutes or 3, should be easy to slide move dance scramble flip with 2 helping spatulas. For over easy eggs cover and wait 3 minutos + Then flip or drizzle with some melted butter on side. My pan is 22 years old and purchased a new one for my son. Bar keepers and blue sponge a bit of dishwashing soap. If frying foods…use paper towels hold with tongs to removed all burned oils, then drop a 1-3 cups of warm hot water. Let it soak then wash. Without using Barkeeper powder or better Demeyere cream cleanser your stainless steel will look cloudy. Read more
I've never purchased a $260 frying pan before....but I was very tired of the discoloration that happens on the less pricey models bought at local venues, so I decided to give this a try. Just once, to see if I like it. I don't like it, I love it. With an induction cooktop, this very heavy cookware heats quickly and evenly, all the way to the edges. On an electric cooktop it does the same. It browns meat beautifully. Burned food (yes, I wasn't watching it closely enough) actually comes off without leaving a mark of any kind on it, after a light scrub with a teflon pad or some BarKeepers Friend. A similar incident on a $60 pan from Bed Bath and Beyond left the discolored stainless steel aura all over the inside of the pan that could not be removed with any amount of prayer or scrubbing. (Like the older Revere Ware.) So, yes it is three times as expensive. But I will not ever have to replace it. (It has a thirty year warranty and I probably haven't got much longer than that myself, so it's all good.) It is heavy - not as heavy as something like Le Crueset, but much heavier than the stuff you buy locally. Take that into account if you are elderly with limited hand strength - this isn't for frail individuals. The handle does not get hot, even though it is welded to the pan. And this is a small thing, but rather important from an "ease of cleaning" standpoint - the interior is smooth. There are no handle rivets to get gunked up with food inside the pan, and make cleaning a chore. Totally worth it! Excellent cookware! Read more
Very good pan. Thick material up to the edges really makes a difference in terms of even heating. Even though there's not a nonstick coating on this, it cleans up easily. (Furthermore, there are ways to cook without making a mess in the first place.) I actually think people put too much emphasis on their cookware. As long as you're not cooking in a bad pan (e.g. a $20 one from Ikea), most pans work well. People fall for the cookware endorsed by Martha Stewart and Michel Bras and other celebrity chefs. When I was picking out cookware, I almost decided to go with Mauviel upon seeing a large display of it, simply because it looked nice and I knew it was a "high class" brand of cookware. That said, these pans have the benefit of working on induction stoves and having welded (rivet-less) handles. (Mine has a helper handle across from the main handle, but I don't see it in this picture?) My dad has restaurant-grade pans (Lincoln or WearEver), and they perform similarly despite the price difference. His are, however, not ones I'd leave out or display in an open kitchen system. I also own Demeyere stock pots and sauce pans, and like them all. Read more
