All-Clad Master Chef 2 12-Inch Fry Pan

Great little pan
All-Clad pans are always well made, and this pan is no exception. A couple things to keep in mind with this particular pan:

1) Master Chef 2 finish - I love the brushed aluminum finish, which should age well, but for now, not everything is available in this finish, though the selection is pretty good.

2) This is an 8" pan, which I find a nice size for a lot of stuff, but it is "small" (of course, there is a 7", if you like tiny pans :^)

3) This is the stainless steel interior, not non-stick. While All-Clad guarantees their non-stick interiors, I love the stainless, no worries about scratching, you can get in there and scrape away when making sauces. But you will want to use a bit of olive oil or other fat whenever cooking; but then again, why wouldn't you.
All-Clad is the best overall
The ongoing debate over cookware at my house is over: All-Clad is the best cookware overall and is worth the extra money. Our coppers tarnish and require retinning. Our encapsulated disk cookware (Reverer and Farberware) suffer from loose and broken plastic handles and too-small disks which limit the cooking area of the fry pans. The biggest debate was between Calphalon and All-Clad. My wife really liked the lighter weight of Calphalon's anodized aluminum stuff. After living for both for several years, All-Clad has shown its overall superiority in the following ways:
1) Denser anodized finish. The All-Clad LTD finish is much denser and more even that that on Calphalon. This makes it more attractive and easier to clean. On the MC2 stuff the finish is not anodized, but it is tightly frosted and well made. It's quite attractive too. I've started to accumulate MC2 stuff because it's cheaper and performs just as well. The LTD stuff does look better on a rack mixed with Calphalon. It's...
Great looking, Greak cooking
All Clad make beautifully constructed pans that are built like tanks, and the Master Chef 2 finish ages beautifully. Some folks worry that the brushed aluminum finish will be impossible to clean, but cleans up fine with steel wool, with no worrying about scratching the shiny finish. Best of all, if you don't bother, its still looks great, because the brushed finish looks equally good with a well used patina.

And of course, it performs wonderfully too. The whole pan heats evenly and quickly, the stainless steel holds a fond well for making pan sauces, while cleaning easily when you're finished.

You might also want to check out the lid, which makes this pan even more versatile.
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