Amazon has
8" Cuisinart Chef's Classic Open Skillet (Stainless Steel, 722-20) on sale for $17.99 - $4.50 when you apply the coupon on the product page =
$13.49.
Shipping is free with Prime or orders $35+.
Thanks to Community Member
pennysave for finding this deal.
About this Item:
- Enjoy mirror finish, classic look and professional performance. Aluminum encapsulated base heats quickly and spreads heat evenly– eliminating hot spots
- Stainless steel cooking surface does not discolor, react with food or alter flavors. Measurement markings for ease of use, drip free pouring, and flavor lock lid
- Cool grip handles are solid stainless steel riveted handles that stay cool on the stove top and provide a safe a solid grip
- Dishwasher safe for an easy clean up
- Lifetime Warranty
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On an electric burner (coil, induction, or a hot plate), disc bases are less responsive than clad, meaning they heat and cool more slowly, but that's a good thing for most cooks. It means it's less likely to quickly heat up and burn your food when your direct your attention away for a few moments. But it will take longer to cool down and stop cooking. If you cook on a traditional electric burner, you're already used to moving a hot pan to a cold burner to cool it down. A pan with a thick disc base will not crash in temperature when the food is added, and you'll have less of an unheated inner circle on induction. The thick base will also transport heat beyond the edge of the burner. The temperature discontinuity between the thick base and thin sidewall won't mean burning on the edge of the base like with a gas burner, as the walls will be cooler than the base, not hotter. Cooler, but still hot. The worst result of somewhat cooler walls is that they're more likely for food to stick to them a bit as it slides out. It's not a big deal, and you may not notice.
You probably don't need a thick 8" skillet, because these have 6" bases and any burner you have is likely to heat at least 6" across, so you'd get even heat even in a thin pan. The only reason for a thick 8" skillet is to hold more heat for steady cooking and searing. Besides cast iron, which is cheap and available, and similar carbon steel, there aren't many options. The thickest stainless clad 8" skillets are thinner than this, even Demeyere Proline tops out at about 2lbs (and isn't heavier or thicker than their cheaper 5-layer series). This pan right here is as thick as you can get in a stainless pan without getting into some much more expensive thick European disc-based pans like Fissler Original-Profi or Paderno Grand Gourmet. Those would be slightly thicker and $60+, more often $80-100. The other option is a copper pan. Those are usually over $150 for a thin pan (less than 2mm thick copper), more for a thick one that can hold more heat. They do heat and cool fast, and absorb more heat from a flame. A lighter alternative responsive pan is an All-Clad G5, but with an 8" pan even thick copper isn't very heavy. But finding a copper pan with a stainless handle that won't burn you (unlike any brass or cast iron handle on a 8" pan) isn't easy. And stainless and silver surfaces are desirable unless you want the cooking restrictions (no high heat ever) that come with a tin lining, which will eventually wear off. Brands to look at include Mauviel and Falk.
Then there are some stainless steel pans with exotic less-sticky linings, notably Hestan NanoBond. The 8" skillet is over $100, if you can find it in stock.
So for $13.49, this Cuisinart Chef's Classic is a great value and anything clearly better would usually cost 10x as much. I know a lot about thick small skillets right now because I've recently been researching a thicker 8" skillet to supplement my stainless clad Tramontina 8" skillet, which I'll continue to use. The thicker skillet is for searing small amounts of food on electric burners. Eventually, budget permitting, I'd like to upgrade to a higher-end skillet that has more heat capacity, is more responsive, and/or easier to clean. But until then, good cheap skillets like these will be durable and heat evenly. Inside one of these I can pretty much cook anything that will fit, and it should hold enough heat for a very good sear, at least by small pan standards. I'm in for one.
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