Review: Tramontina Limited Editions Stainless Steel Everyday Pan

What makes this pan so good? Well, when you first take a look at it out of the box, it visually appears stunning. It's beautifully polished and curved, showcasing all the principles of classic Italian design. It has an elegant finish and a solid weight in your hands that tells you this is a serious piece of cookware. The handles are ergonomically designed and do indeed feel good in your grip, whether turning around on the stove-top or taking out of the oven.

Because that's my favorite thing about this pan overall: that you can take it without worry from stove-top to oven making it perfect for all kinds of browned-then-braised preparations. It's oven-safe up to 450F, so that means you can start something like a Shepherd's Pie on the stove top, browning beef and vegetables, and then take it straight to the oven to bake for a crispy top crust. It's large and deep enough to oven-braise roasts, pork belly, shoulder steaks and other tough cuts of meat after searing on the stove top. There aren't a lot of pans I've had that I've felt really safe using in that way or been pleased with the results the way I have been with this pan.

I also love using this pan in a lot of other ways. It's big enough to finish off a pasta dish, after cooking down the sauce in the pan. It gets hot enough quickly to lightly fry a piece of fish without it getting burnt or sticking to the surface. You can also set the temperature low enough to slowly cook a chili, or stove-top cook a chicken stew. About the only thing I don't do in this pan is boil water for pasta or make soup and stock; there are some things for which a stock pot can never be replaced!

All pots and pans in the Tramontina line of cookware is made of "Tri-Ply Construction" - that means it's composed of three layers:

1. 18/10 Stainless Steel
2. Aluminum
3. 18/10 Stainless Steel

What that does is make it extremely efficient at conducting heat evenly throughout the cookware, and give the pan durability and strength. Really, you have to work with the pan to see how nicely it performs compared to a basic stainless saute pan, or even a wok or cast-iron skillet.

On top of all of those uses, I've also found it's incredibly easy to clean. Even when I've left some browned or blackened bits in the pan overnight, after a long braise or high-heat stiry-fry, it takes almost no effort to clean the surface back to nearly-new conditions. Just a little soapy water and a scouring pad, and it's wiped clean in just a few seconds. I am not exaggerating. (The pan is dishwasher safe, but it's so easy to handwash I only ever clean it in my sink.)

You can see some pictures of my pan in action below, being used to prepare a variety of different dishes:

Do you have that one special piece of cookware that you love, and could never be replaced? What would you recommend as a piece of cookware that every home chef should own?