Cuisinart 735-24 Chef's Classic Stainless 3-Quart Chef's Pan with Cover

Cooking with this pan is not like using a light aluminum pan with vented lid, so take your time to adjust. The domed lid allows moisture to return to the food, down the sides, which helps reduce scorching and keeps nutrients and flavor in the food. This is not for high temperature cooking, as is the case with all stainless steel cookware. You can use much lower temps and the lid keeps the heat that would be lost out of a vent IN the pan. Remember to use a dishtowel or hotmitt to grab the handle, which is riveted and sturdy. This pan can do many things: you can do fast stir-fryups in it as well as single-pan dishes, remembering that the center bottom of the pan is hotter than the sides, which the flame should NEVER touch. Use the electric burner, if you don't have gas, that fits inside the diameter of the base disc and you'll avoid LOTS of problems, as with all base-disc cookware. Clean this pan VERY thoroughly: there is a machine oil coating on it you can't see or feel that will come off with dish soap, and then warm the pan, then get it fairly hot and THEN add some high-temp oil (canola is fine) and roll the oil inside the pan over the heat. Turn off the heat, continue to roll the oil to cover the entire inside, and then let it sit for a moment, get a paper towel, crumple it and wipe the hot oil out. Be careful to keep your fingers off the metal and oil. Leave a light film of oil behind, let the pan cool for a few minutes, rewipe with a fresh paper towel thoroughly and you're ready to cook: you've just pre-seasoned your pan and it won't give you the "first cook scorch" that others complain of. I've NEVER had that happen, and have been cooking for decades with many materials. As with any other material, you have to learn to treat and use it right and it will treat you right! My first dish was a flash-pan-fry: normally not a good first choice, but I wanted to see if it could do the job of a wok, and for the most part, it can. The graduation in temp up the sides is different than a traditional wok, which is also normally thin steel or iron, btw. The speed of this pan is excellent, and if you keep the food moving, you won't need much oil. The veggies came out very bright, hot and crisp, and I did not need to add liquid until the very end to make the sauce and turn the food in it. Very easy cleanup, too, even though this was a sweet/hot glaze type sauce. The sugars did not burn or scorch and the pan looked the same after the very easy cleanup (soak for a few minutes in hot water, use a nylon scrunch to clean and done). If you soak bare-metal pans that are seasoned properly in plain hot water, use a nylon scrubby/scrunch to clean, you'll never need soap, and oils will build up just enough to create a nonstick finish that is as good as teflon. In fact, after a dozen or so times, the metal will still be bright, not dirty, and you'll be able to do sliding fried eggs... on a pretty low temp. The key is to keep the food moving. That is SO important! To avoid spotting, try not to handle the exterior if your hands are oily, and always hand dry bright stainless pans in and out, unless you don't care about the spotting. Use a normal sponge on the exterior, a nylon scrunch if you spill over and must, and it will stay glossy. This pan has so far made soup, pasta sauces, boiled pasta, steamed (with a generic small insert), and pulled off a pretty decent risotto the first time I tried in it. It also made very good egg-foo-yung style small, thick omelettes. I don't eat meat, so I haven't tried that, but based on performance with with eggs, it should sear small cuts or cubed meats very nicely, allowing you to push done pieces to the cooler sides while the rest gets done. I have yet to dare to try doing a pan fry of tofu in it, though it did a shallow fry of tofu fine. Tofu is nature's stickum food: it sticks even to teflon coatings if you don't keep it moving and oiled. I'll let the pan season more and try. I'm not into sweets, but I suspect that this would handle making pan-style confections pretty well. I like it, and I can see this and the small chef's pan with a small fry becoming my most used pans for personal meals. It's not a substitute for a large saute or fry, and it's not quite a big dutch oven, because it's only 3 qt and frankly, shaped wrong for some of the dishes that work in a dutch oven, but for some stews or small pan roasts, I bet it will do a great job at a lower, less destructive temp, keeping food moister and brighter looking with more intact nutrition. For under $30, shipped, if you are a Prime member, it's a great pan, and for a decent sized family, might be worth having a couple of them! Oh, diameter is a very manageable 10", so it's not a stovetop hog!

This is a fantastic pan for sauces. I've recently converted to stainless steel and I honestly don't know why I didn't convert sooner. The pan is deep enough for a substantial sauce and it worked great for my roux and then the added ingredients. Low-Med does all you need to get an even temperature. Cleanup was easy.

I should start by saying that all of my stainless cookware is 'premium' fully-clad, 3- or 5-ply stainless, so I'm a little spoiled and have certain expectations when it comes to pots and pans. I went with the Cuisinart Chef's Pan because I've had my eye on a high-end saucier for some time and haven't been able to bring myself to spend the money on it. I liked the shape and the price of this one, so I decided to give it a go. A chef's pan is similar to (the same as?) a saucier and it's super useful for cooking things that tend to get stuck in the corners. So because I often make stuff like oatmeal, cheese sauces, and polenta, the shape of this is great. Whisking is a breeze and nothing gets trapped in the corners like a traditional saucepan. It's fairly large but that extra space has been perfect for everything I've made in it so far. The drawbacks to it are to be expected given the price and design. For instance, this is not fully clad but has a disk bottom, which heats up quickly but makes for a lightweight pan. I've heard of disk bottoms coming off of this type of cookware so that's a concern I suppose, plus it doesn't retain heat well on the sides because of the lack of full cladding. I also found that food burns on the bottom easily, so most everything I cook in it requires constant stirring. It's a really nice looking pan, but because it isn't brushed, fingerprints show up easily. I've been hand washing and wouldn't suggest using the dishwasher (though it's supposedly dishwasher safe). Overall it has been easy to clean. Bottom line: this is a solid alternative to pricier sauciers and the price is a huge plus. Don't expect a ~$30 pan to last forever, and do expect it to *feel* inexpensive. On the flipside, it performs and has a great shape that's very versatile.

I love the pan as I love all of my Cuisinart set. This pan is not quite as thick as my set, but it is still a good pan. A few heavy-thickness pans are better many thin ones. You can do so much more with them. The only problem is that I can't use the lid when I'm boiling water. Two times now it has gotten stuck fast due to the vacuum created while cooking. Somewhere I read that might happen, so I was prepared. I tried many tips to get it loose that I found on the Internet and even called Cuisinart. The hard part is the more you move the lid, the tighter the suction gets. Finally my son was able to pry it off without damaging the top. After going through this twice, I only use it as an open sauce pan now and choose another if I want a lid. Yes, it got a couple black spots, but they don't affect the performance and I don't need showroom perfect pans. The bigger issue for me is that they clean the easiest of ANY pan I've ever owned by simply following the directions (just add water after cooking and let it set a bit.) The food comes right off, and I've never had to use anything but a soft scrubby on them. Don't use HIGH heat, just medium-high at the most per the directions. They heat very quickly. I've burnt them BADLY (not on high heat, just by letting them go too long) and they still clean like a dream. It's as simple as adding baking soda and water, then boiling about 10 min. or so til the water has gone down. Then use your soft scrubby on the empty pan. The burnt-on thick black food flakes off and cleans up like a champ. And if you forget to add water and the food dries on, just add the water, put the lid on, and leave it for a few hours. When you come back, they clean up easy peasy. I'd buy this pan again if I needed to. Update 1/15/26: Cuisinart are still my favorite pans, alongside a cast iron one I bought. The Cuisinart pans STILL clean as easy as ever. I've burned them more than a few times unfortunately, but my instructions above always save the day. I've never needed anything more than a blue Scotchbrite soft no-scratch pad on them, and they still shine beautifully. Love these pans!!

work well and easy to clean, but i expected a heavier pan. Hope it holds up!

I bought two of these pans for my sons, both serving in the US Army; one is an officer in a high-level top secret job in DC, one is a combat airborne Ranger who's fallen in love with Italian cooking. I have nothing really negative to say about these pans, BUT I have to say that I'm somewhat disappointed in the weight of this pan. I've owned SEVERAL chef pans over the years and this one is just too lightweight; I'm used to a pan weighing literally two times more. I had a really good Calphalon pan that I used at home for years, but now Calphalon pans are too lightweight, too (and WAYYYY overpriced). This pan is probably acceptable for the home cook; it has good balance, light enough to handle well, and it's very pretty (but looks ain't everything, you know). It heats well and evenly and cleans easily. I must admit, though, that I have been VERY impressed by the Cook's Standard products and if they made a pan like this, I would have certainly bought it. My recommendation, if you truly want GOOD quality, is that you buy a Viking 12" 5-ply stainless steel chef's pan (it comes a with a lid, but IT COSTS OVER $200). You will NEVER, EVER find a better-made pan than Viking. So, after all that, my recommendation: buy Viking (THE VERY BEST, made in the USA). You may want to try Cook's Standard (THE best cookware from China that I've EVER seen or used). Sorry, Cuisinart; I'm just being honest.

It has been over six months since I got this pan. The only thing I don't cook in it is eggs. The volume is large and there is something about the base that allows heat transfer to occur far better than your typical Housewares pans--my steaks, stir fries, sauces and much more have ALL been better because of this pan. Cooking with it is an enjoyable experience. The food actually cooks faster because of the even and strong heat transfer once preheated. I continue to be excited when I'm going to cook with this pan, which is about every other day (the rest of the time I use a boiling pot) because I know it's going to be a fun experience. Cleaning is a bit of a chore: burns happen easily and the pan interior needs to soak awhile to loosen the gunk. I bought a bottle of Barkeepers Friend which came with non-scratch cloth, but I'd say the pan only gets to about 90% sparkling, stainlessly clean anymore no matter how much I try. Overall great value and a reliable, solid pan you can use every day...and one that changes the experience of cooking if what you're used to are typical department store frying pans.

This Pan ROCKS!! I bought this pan a few months ago, based on some of the other reviews posted here. I do a lot of 'one pot, Man cooking', and was really getting tired of replacing non-stick pans, whose non-stick surface would start Non-sticking to the pan, even after careful maintenance and storage. My old pans were 10" woks, and i was looking for something cormparable in size, but stainless steel. This pan Is the Answer for Me! It's around the same size as my old pans, and while it's not billed as a 'wok', it works just fine as one. Let me add that i cook with NO OILS, just water or veggie broth, and have no problems with stuff sticking stubbornly to the pan. It takes less heat to cook stuff ( because the sealed bottom conducts and Holds heat better than a thin bottomed pan) , and when i let, say, onions and garlic stick it bit, to carmelize, i drop in a bit of water, broth, vinegar, wine, or other liquid to deglaze the pan, and the stuck bits lift right Off! This is my Go-to pan for 90 percent of my cooking. I don't even Store it...it's resting spot is on top of the stove. I'll pull out other pans to join it, when my dishes get complex, but this baby is my Workhorse. Some people have mentioned some discoloration on the bottom of the pan..kind of a 'mottled rainbow' effect. My answer to that is, Ignore it. It comes and goes, and has No effect on the pan's performance. Hope that this helps with your decision. You Cannot go wrong with this pan!

Its worthy

Have been using this pan for 2 years now for my everyday cooking. Love that it is stainless steel, not too heavy and the perfect size to cook dishes for 4 member family. Easy to clean, not too bulk and the lid fits perfectly for a tight seal. Highly recommend.

Compre varios juegos y la verdad es una excelente marca, nos ha gustado mucho porque no necesita ni tanto aceite o mantequilla pra preparar comida, la recomiendo mucho

This pan is the ideal size for me. It works very well as a frying pan, saucepan or wok. It’s very easy to clean and incredibly responsive to my induction hob. I love this pan!

Good quality..