All-Clad Stainless 9-Inch French Skillet

All Clad 13" French Skillet Pan: If you get it, it works best when using gas ranges
My All Clad LTD 13" French skillet pan will now get more use now that I converted from an electric range to a (natural) gas range. I tried using the 13" French skillet on my 8" electric element and was disappointed with the uneven heating: the outer portion of the bottom did not get hot enough to cook the food (in my case, omelets). That was not a problem with my All Clad 12" fry pans (Copper Core and LTD). Now that I have a natural gas range, the French skillet's entire bottom heats evenly and my omelets turn out great. The handle length works for this largest of All Clad's French skillets. I decided to buy this pan over the All Clad 14" fry pan while both pan bottoms are the same diameter, the French skillet's pan top has a smaller diameter than the 14" fry pan due to the steeper slope. If I need to cover the French skillet when cooking, I can use the lid from my All Clad 6 quart sauté pan (which fits)! There is no All Clad lid I know that I can cover the 14" fry pan,...

Good Pan but could have been better
I've been using this pan a lot since I bought it a few months back. I bought this pan as an alternative to my old All-clad 12-inch pan which is just too wide for my small stove top. Dimensionally, this 11-inch pan is just right.

While I thought the older 12-inch pan was an overall excellent product, this new pan falls a little short of 5 stars. Here's why: the thickness of the pan is thinner than the older pan (though some people will find this a plus if they thought the older pan was too heavy.) The thinness however may have contributed to All-Clad's decision to use a non-flared edge which makes the pan more difficult to clean. The edge is just too sharp. And for a saute pan with short side walls, you will need to clean the edge often. Also, since the edge is not flared out, pouring is more messy.

On the good side, the handle angle is more acute than older pan. This makes sauteing a little easier than the almost horizontal handle of the older pan. I also...

Value for money is marginal
The All-Clad stainless line is made of fairly thin stock, and the performance is acceptable, but not outstanding. My desire for All-Clad started when I used the old Master Chef products, but those were manufactured of thicker material, and they conducted better than the current stainless series of products.

January 2010 update -- check out the "d5" line of All-Clad stainless offered by Williams-Sonoma. At a glance, they appear to be heavier, and they have also added a pouring lip to the pots -- the 90-degree lip on the regular stainless pots does not pour cleanly, and makes a mess down the side of the pot. Ridiculous for a product in this market segment. I bumped into an All-Clad rep at Williams-Sonoma, and he told me that the changes were made as a result of comments from consumers.

My All-Clad stainless pots and pans are serviceable, and I use them daily, but if you want a luxurious heft, and very even heating, you may want to consider spending a bit more...

Click to Editorial Reviews