Calphalon Anodized fry-pan - What a POC


 

Ron G.

TVWBB Wizard
<FYI "C" = Apcrae, for those who know pig-latin>

A few months ago, while killing time / scrounging at our local Goodwill - looking for Halloween Costume stuff, one of my finds:

Calphalon hard-Anodized 10-inch skillet
It looked almost new, had the all-metal commercial type (cast) handle and was REALLY thick and heavy
Built like a tanks hub-cap

Thought that I was getting a "steal" for a mere $5 bucks

It HEATS REALLY NICELY

Problem is - EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING sticks and leaves a burnt-tight residue
After using it about 10 times on various stuff (meat, eggs, onions) I tossed it into the recycle bin
[And I don't give-up easily]

Maybe the non-stick version is good / better - but I certainly expected more, and was happy that I did not try this brand-spankin' new...
 
I've had Calphalon pans for decades. Their recommendations for how to care for the pans have changed rather significantly over the years. When I got my first set they said to basically treat it like cast iron -- season it before use, always use oil when cooking, and continue seasoning over the life of the cookware. Somewhere along the line, I suspect because marketing told them people didn't want to do all that, they started to recommend not seasoning the pans, even though the material was exactly the same. They wanted to advertise non-stick and non-stick doesn't need to be seasoned, so out went the seasoning recommendation.

My big issue with Calphalon is their "hard anodized" surface is not permanent. Years of cooking acid foods, even with careful cleaning right afterwards, and that anodized surface will wear off. All the pots I regularly used to make pasta sauce have lost their anodization and now are used for nothing but boiling water. They're very expensive for water boilers.

I will say the pans that I seasoned have worked very well for many years and are still in pretty decent shape. They aren't as non-stick as modern Teflon pans, but they really aren't bad as long as you treat them properly. The saute pan is one of my favorites. Excellent heat distribution.
 
I have many of those same pans. I love them BUT you have to re-learn how to cook using them. I wish you would have posted on here BEFORE tossing it. I would have bought it from you. They are impossible to find any more. As for the GG comment jukst one more reason I don't understand the fascination with a product like that. YOu'd actually have better performance fitting CharBroil IR grates to your grill
 
I have one but it's very different from the true commercial product they used to make. The Chinese stuff is cast rather than forged, does not cook/heat nearly as evenly and requires much more heat to do the same work
 
Well, one cannot see how the pan was treated before it got to the local Goodwill, what were you expecting, perfection?
There’s a reason thing like that go to the resale shops, usually original owner failure to treat them properly, hey it’s five bucks, less than a six pack, move along.
 
I got a 10" square all-clad anodized fry pan (brand new) and had about the same experience with it. I've been cooking almost exclusively on cast iron or stainless (or porcelain enameled cast iron), but a a little over 3 months ago I got a non-stick skillet that won the ATK test & have enjoyed it.

OXO Good Grips Non-Stick 12" Open Frypan
 
I typically find that Oxo's stuff is REALLY GOOD (for the money) - It is usually at the upper-end of what I consider to be "mid-scale".

for large frying / browning jobs, I have a large (15"?) Kitchenaid non-stick pan with rounded sides.
It's not as thick and heavy as the Calphalon, but it does the job and was also moderately priced.

What I'm looking-for now is a nice medium-size 10-ish non-stick for cooking eggs-for-two etc.

Recently watched an episode of ATK where they tested Saucepans - All-Clad got their top-rating with a Cuisinart coming in second.
Haven't seen any of their tests of non-stick fry / saute pans though.
Since I really liked the way that the Calphalon heated - if they have a good non-stick version, I suspect THAT would be good too.
 
I typically find that Oxo's stuff is REALLY GOOD (for the money) - It is usually at the upper-end of what I consider to be "mid-scale".

for large frying / browning jobs, I have a large (15"?) Kitchenaid non-stick pan with rounded sides.
It's not as thick and heavy as the Calphalon, but it does the job and was also moderately priced.

What I'm looking-for now is a nice medium-size 10-ish non-stick for cooking eggs-for-two etc.

Recently watched an episode of ATK where they tested Saucepans - All-Clad got their top-rating with a Cuisinart coming in second.
Haven't seen any of their tests of non-stick fry / saute pans though.
Since I really liked the way that the Calphalon heated - if they have a good non-stick version, I suspect THAT would be good too.

The oxo won their fry pan test by a large margin. Their tests included cutting food in the pan and beating it against a curb. My all-clad pan warped on my old electric coil range (now gas).

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/equipment_reviews/1716-nonstick-skillets (sub site but you might be able to find the complete review)
 

 

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