The fall after I graduated from college, I moved to New York City and into an apartment with two roommates and a very tiny kitchen. It had a stove, a couple cupboards, a single countertop, and a refrigerator. Only one person could fit in there at a time, and with such limited space (countertop- and cabinet-wise), I had to leave 99 percent of my cookware and kitchen supplies, including my Dutch oven, saucepans, and stainless-steel and nonstick skillets, at my parents’ house. I would’ve loved to have had a pan that offered an all-in-one option, something that maximized functionality and minimized needed storage space.
The Our Place Always Pan promises to do just that: replace a fry pan, sauté pan, steamer, skillet, saucier, saucepan, nonstick pan, spatula, and spoon rest. Priced at $145, it’s pretty, too, with a matte finish and shades such as “spice,” “sage,” and “lavender.” Reviews in Vogue called it a “game changer” and praised the pan's "chic minimalist appeal," while Food & Wine loved its nonstick surface, nesting spatula rest, and built-in spout.
We were curious: Could the Our Place Always Pan actually do it all? And how does the pan compare with the cookware and tools it promises to replace? To find out, we put it through a round of tests, using it to make Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry; steam dumplings, broccoli, and eggs; boil pasta; and simmer tomato sauce—tasks designed to test the pan’s multiple components, capacity, and maneuverability. We also cooked eggs in the pan one after the other without any fat until they started to stick. We performed this test both at the beginning and end of testing, to see how the pan’s nonstick coating performed with use.
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