The best non-stick pan – if you treat it like a non-stick pan!
I think T-fal makes the best non-stick surfaces. They will maintain their non-stick properties for a long time – IF you use them how they were meant to be used. If you use them to sautée delicate foods like veggies, fish and eggs under medium heat, the performance can't be beat. There's really no need to ever put them in a dishwasher, either, because they clean up so quickly. However, these T-fal pans really don't hold up under heavy, every-day, all-purpose use. That's not what they were made for. The coating is top notch, but the overall construction is not heavy duty. Get yourself a good, heavy aluminum, stainless steel, or cast iron skillet if you want a scorching hot sear, or want to make pan sauces, or skillet fry something. It might be worth doing a comparison between this pan (the Ultimate Hard Anodized) and the popular Professional Total Nonstick T-fal E93808 Professional Total Nonstick Thermo-Spot Heat Indicator Fry Pan, 12.5 Inch, Black , since I've owned both, now, and some might be considering one or the other. I originally bought the Professional based on the Cooks Illustrated recommendation (as many others have), and it's a great pan. So great that my wife simply couldn't resist using it as an every-day pan, so it's lifespan was shortened. One feature of the Pro pan is that it's stainless steel clad on the bottom, so it will work with induction stove tops. It's not a thick cladding, though. While the company touts this as "anti-warp protection," I found that this construction actually makes it MORE prone to warping. First, unlike more expensive 2-ply or multi-ply pans, this one just features a fairly thin stainless steel "disk" mated to a fairly thin aluminum body. The different metals expand and contract at different rates under the same conditions. Since the aluminum is not sandwiched between stainless steel, the pan is more likely to warp. And that's what happened – just enough that it did not sit flat on our ceramic cooktop anymore. It's probably not as much of a problem with a gas burner or a coiled electric top, though, as it conducts heat fairly evenly and easily. So when it came time to replace this pan after the non-stick surface wore out, I decided to go with this hard anodized aluminum version. It was a good decision. since it is made with one, very heat-conductive metal, and is a little more heavy duty (although just as light as the Pro version since it's all aluminum). It's still straight and flat, even though it's gotten overheated a couple of times (we have one runaway burner that we have to keep an eye on, sometimes!) Not that the construction is slightly different. Both skillets have the same non-stick surface and the same oven-safe handle, but the shape is a little different. This one is a 12" skillet and the Pro is 12.5". However, I found that this measurement is based on the lip of the skillet, and the Pro version is more flared-out on the sides, where this skillet has more straight, up-and-down sides. In fact, despite a smaller diameter at the lip, I've found the Anodized skillet has slightly more cooking surface than the Pro version. While the flared sides might be a little more omelette-friendly, I haven't had any problems sliding anything out of the pan. In fact, if you are stir-frying anything, I have found that the straighter sides are better for holding things inside the skillet. All in all, I would recommend this anodized aluminum pan over the Pro version – unless you have an induction cooktop. Then the Pro version is your only choice. Read more
