Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I'm not 100% convinced that the copper core is worth the premium price tag when the aluminum core Master Chef line performs about as admirably in terms of evenness of heating, but this one was in stock and the other one wasn't, so the choice was simple.
It's a tiny little guy, but a solid performer. It came up to temperature quickly, and my infrared thermometer showed the sides staying within 5-10 degrees of the bottom at all times with no significant hot or cold spots anywhere. I elected to prepare a very simple dish--Farina with coconut milk and palm sugar--for its maiden voyage, and it cooked well without any scorching at all. I actually had a hard time telling when it was done because of the complete absence of bubbles--something I'm used to seeing with my old pan which has hot spots a'plenty.
Some people have complained that All-Clad's 1-quart sauciers are off balance and easy to tip. While a bit of pressure on the end of the handle will indeed lift the front off the range by about an inch, you'd really have to knock it pretty hard to actually slosh anything out of it, and every other similarly sized pan I've ever tried exhibited identical behavior. It absolutely does not wobble around of its own accord and I wouldn't worry about it tipping any more than any other pan you might own.
My only real gripe is the handle. I hate all of All-Clad's handles; they're not only uncomfortable, they actually hurt. Using a towel mitigates this somewhat, but the whole point of the stay-cool riveted handle is to eliminate the need for such measures. This one loses extra points because the rivets are simply too large for a pan this size. They jut out way too far and make both stirring and scraping down the sides a tedious, noisy affair. A minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.
All in all, it's a great pan and it runs circles around the old Calphalon pile of junk it's replacing. It's also made in America and boasts a lifetime warranty, so if you ever manage to stir your way down through to that precious copper, you'll get a new one. Just make sure you realize there is NO LID for this model; gotta step up to the 2-Quart for that.
P.S. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DEEP FRY ANYTHING IN THIS PAN. I just had a late night falafel (yes, I know that falafel is not a sauce) preparing incident and while the pan performed as admirably as ever, the fact that the sides conduct so much heat means that all the oil splatter that would ordinarily just kinda sit there until you washed it off BAKES onto the surface. It's not ruined or anything, but man what a lot of scrubbing.
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Up until now All-Clad's excellent heat conductivity has been a result of an aluminum core. Another metal equally efficient when it comes to conducting heat is copper. All-Clad now has a complete line of copper core stainless steel cookware which uses bonded 5-ply construction to achieve culinary perfection. The copper core is exposed in an attractive band around each piece, adding warmth, color, and authenticity. Unlike pans with an abundance of exposed copper, these pieces clean easily and are lined with durable food-safe stainless steel. This saucier would come in quite handy for making sauces, warming vegetables and melting butter.
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