[2 - 6] See how this is burbling? On guard.
[6 - 7] Do you want me to...
[7 - 8] Can I cover this?
[8 - 9] Should I cover this?
[9 - 13] This make a very big mess? (upbeat music)
[13 - 15] The Our Place Always Pan
[15 - 17] is a trendy piece of multipurpose cookware
[17 - 20] that promises to replace all kinds of things in your kitchen
[20 - 23] from a Dutch oven and a skillet to a sauce pan and more.
[23 - 26] - This pan has thousands of positive reviews
[26 - 28] on Instagram from celebrities,
[28 - 30] in publications like "Vogue,"
[30 - 32] but can it really do it all?
[32 - 34] - We are gonna put it to the test and find out.
[34 - 36] We're gonna compare today the Our Place Always Pan
[36 - 39] to all of our correlating winning pieces of equipment
[39 - 41] that it promises to replace,
[41 - 43] so you can decide if the Our Place pan is right for you
[43 - 49] or if it's better to buy the equipment separately. (upbeat music)
[49 - 52] Okay, so today, I'm gonna show you three primary functions
[52 - 54] that this pan promises to replace.
[54 - 56] First up, eggs.
[56 - 57] So this pan is made of aluminum.
[57 - 59] It's a ceramic non-stick pan
[59 - 61] which means it has a coating
[61 - 63] that's made from something like beach glass
[63 - 65] and it does not off-gas.
[65 - 70] Traditional PTFE Teflon pans can off-gas on the stove top
[70 - 73] if they hit temperatures 500 degrees and over.
[73 - 78] This ceramic coating does not have that off-gassing factor.
[78 - 80] You do have to make sure to use these at lower heats
[80 - 82] because high heats will totally ruin
[82 - 83] the surface of these pans.
[83 - 84] Our non-stick tests,
[84 - 87] whether it's a Teflon pan or a GreenPan,
[87 - 90] they always start with a 50 egg test.
[90 - 91] Right out of the package,
[91 - 93] we cook 50 eggs, back to back with no fat.
[93 - 95] This is an industry standard test
[95 - 97] and it really gives you a read on the surface
[97 - 99] and how long it's gonna stay non-stick
[99 - 100] and how long it's gonna give you
[100 - 102] that really good release and performance.
[102 - 104] Just for some context,
[104 - 108] all of our traditional PTFE Teflon non-stick pans,
[108 - 109] when they're brand new out the box,
[109 - 111] they ace this 50 egg test.
[111 - 112] They go through 50 eggs
[112 - 114] with all of them releasing perfectly.
[114 - 117] Ceramic pans, they're a little spottier.
[117 - 121] If they do get overheated, the surface can actually crack
[121 - 124] and those microscopic fissures and cracks cling onto food.
[124 - 127] So it makes them less non-stick
[127 - 128] if you start to mess up that surface
[128 - 130] and it's really easy to mess up that surface.
[130 - 134] So ceramic non-stick pans tend to not perform quite as well
[135 - 136] in the non-stick department,
[136 - 137] but I'm gonna show you that today.
[137 - 140] We'll start with some eggs and we'll see what we see.
[140 - 141] Start with one in here.
[141 - 143] Like I said, no fat.
[143 - 146] It's gonna go directly into the pan.
[147 - 151] Not delicious, but illustrative.
[151 - 153] All right, so let's start with the good news,
[153 - 155] the things we liked about this pan.
[155 - 158] First of all, it has these nice high walls,
[158 - 159] which can be really nice.
[159 - 162] You can do a little flippy flip when you're stir frying.
[162 - 163] We loved that.
[163 - 165] It kept everything nice and contained
[165 - 168] when we made this delicious beef and broccoli stir fry.
[168 - 170] We also loved the pour spouts.
[170 - 172] At the end, pouring out that stir fry,
[172 - 175] we were able to get every last drop of the delicious sauce
[175 - 177] really neatly and tidily out of the pan,
[177 - 179] which is nice for handling, easy for cleaning,
[179 - 181] and moving it around.
[181 - 183] It has a helper handle, which is nice too.
[183 - 186] And the non-stick coating also makes it super easy to clean.
[186 - 188] Everything comes right off with a light scrub.
[188 - 190] So that's the good news.
[190 - 192] We did like things about this pan.
[192 - 193] Now, onto the bad news.
[193 - 195] I'll start over here at the handle.
[195 - 197] You can see this is very squared off.
[197 - 199] It's just not comfortable to hold.
[199 - 200] It digs into your hand.
[200 - 203] And especially when you're trying to lift and maneuver it,
[203 - 204] it's just not comfortable.
[204 - 205] This is a nice light pan
[205 - 207] and we appreciated that maneuverability.
[207 - 210] It's made from aluminum though, which makes it so light.
[210 - 214] It also makes it not conduct heat that evenly.
[214 - 215] Heat just rips right through aluminum.
[215 - 217] It can have a lot of hot and uneven spots,
[217 - 218] hot spots, cold spots.
[218 - 219] And another thing we didn't love
[219 - 221] was the cooking surface area.
[221 - 223] We talked about this a lot with skillets in our pans.
[223 - 225] If you're cooking for one person always,
[225 - 227] this pan might be fine,
[227 - 228] but we love a pan where you can cook for one person.
[228 - 230] "Oh, your friends coming over, cook for two.
[230 - 232] Oh, you wanna have a party, cook for six."
[232 - 234] We prefer pans that have a little more versatility
[234 - 235] in their capacity.
[235 - 238] It also determines how many batches of something you can do
[238 - 241] because, say, you're browning beef for stew, for example,
[241 - 243] you don't want to crowd your pieces.
[243 - 247] They're gonna be steamed instead of nicely golden brown.
[247 - 249] So you have to give them more space.
[249 - 251] And if you don't have space, you have to do more batches.
[251 - 253] So the whole thing takes longer.
[253 - 254] And if you've ever browned something,
[254 - 255] it's already a messy procedure,
[255 - 258] you don't want it to take any longer than it has to.
[258 - 260] So cooking surface is really important to us.
[260 - 262] This was eight and a half inches across.
[262 - 263] It's a little small.
[263 - 264] All right, so lastly,
[264 - 267] let's talk about the non-stick ability of this pan.
[267 - 269] We wanna make sure our winners last.
[269 - 271] So with the Our Place pan...
[271 - 274] I'll flip this egg right here and show you here. Mm.
[276 - 277] It is sticking a little bit. (laughs)
[277 - 279] I have to say that didn't look too great.
[279 - 281] This yolk is broken.
[281 - 283] And this is like frayed here.
[283 - 286] That is really that non-stick surface
[286 - 287] clinging to the egg.
[287 - 288] It doesn't wanna let go of it.
[288 - 289] It loves the egg,
[289 - 291] but that's a problem with ceramic non-stick.
[291 - 295] A really good pan can cook, release 50 eggs with no oil
[295 - 298] in either tests, beginning and end of testing,
[298 - 300] nothing has changed but the quality of the pan.
[300 - 302] That's a sign this non-stick surface
[302 - 303] is gonna last for a long time.
[303 - 307] This pan stopped at egg 44 in the first test.
[307 - 310] So it was better than some of the other GreenPans
[310 - 312] we tested, but not as good as our winners,
[312 - 315] and definitely not as good as the Teflon pans.
[315 - 318] Okay, so this pan also promises to replace a sauce pan.
[318 - 320] So we, of course, had to put that to the test.
[320 - 324] I've got some nice tomato sauce in here, burbling away,
[324 - 325] but the problem is...
[325 - 327] It again comes back to the shape of the pan
[327 - 328] and the height of the sides.
[328 - 330] Think of a traditional sauce pan shape,
[330 - 332] the walls are much taller
[332 - 334] and that's so you can stir things with abandon.
[334 - 337] You can have things burble without them flying out of it.
[337 - 338] It's a little nerve-racking to stir in this pan.
[338 - 341] I have to be really... Ugh.
[341 - 341] So we didn't love that.
[341 - 344] I like the luxury of a little bit more, whoops,
[344 - 346] breathing room for stirring.
[346 - 348] And it's also a safety thing. Whoa.
[349 - 354] See how this is burbling? On guard.
[354 - 354] Do you want me to...
[354 - 355] Can I cover this?
[355 - 356] Should I cover this?
[356 - 357] Speaking of safety,
[357 - 359] I wanna talk about using this in the oven
[359 - 360] which is a big no-no.
[360 - 363] Our traditional PTFE non-stick winner from OXO
[363 - 366] is oven safe till 430 degrees.
[366 - 370] And our GreenPan ceramic winner is safe till 600 degrees.
[370 - 371] So if you can't put this pan in the oven,
[371 - 374] you won't be able to do some of our most delicious
[374 - 376] and amazing recipes, which are up on our website,
[376 - 379] because they call for you to put the skillet in the oven.
[379 - 380] So you can't do that with this pan.
[380 - 381] You'd have to find another pan.
[381 - 382] And the whole point of this pan
[382 - 384] is you don't have to have any other pans.
[384 - 385] It's not true.
[385 - 386] All right, so next up,
[386 - 388] I wanna talk about steaming baskets
[388 - 390] and steaming foods in the Our Place Always Pan
[390 - 393] because this is another thing that it promises to replace.
[393 - 396] I have the steaming basket right here.
[396 - 398] It's got these cute little feet on here.
[398 - 399] Two handles on top.
[399 - 401] I'm gonna pour a cup of water in here.
[404 - 407] Put the pan right in there. Two heads.
[407 - 409] It fits all in really nicely.
[409 - 410] We love that it came with a lid.
[410 - 413] We love a skillet with a lid, a pan with a lid.
[413 - 415] But if you don't have a lid, you can't steam, right?
[415 - 416] Nothing will trap it.
[416 - 418] And we love it to contain splatters,
[418 - 420] to warm things up so it doesn't get dried out.
[420 - 422] It has a nice handle that stayed cool.
[422 - 424] It's nice and light and maneuverable,
[424 - 425] so we liked that too.
[425 - 427] The lid locks in place nicely too.
[427 - 429] As you can see, it's a nice good fit
[429 - 431] to prevent steam from escaping.
[431 - 432] We loved that.
[432 - 434] All right, so I think my broccoli's ready.
[434 - 436] Open this up. Ooh, gorgeous.
[436 - 438] So it is, I have to say, a little daunting
[438 - 442] to put my hand right into this hot steam.
[442 - 450] Yeah, I'm definitely gonna use a cloth. Yeah.
[450 - 451] It's a little dicey.
[451 - 452] It's not great.
[452 - 454] It's a little bit dicey to hold this.
[454 - 458] Definitely getting my hand a little hot right now.
[458 - 460] I'm gonna put this right here.
[460 - 461] So again, capacity was good.
[461 - 463] It fit all this broccoli, which was great.
[463 - 465] We also made dumplings, which was delicious.
[465 - 467] It fit a lot of them, release them really cleanly.
[467 - 469] You know, dumplings can stick to things,
[469 - 470] that non-stick coating on there
[470 - 472] really let them release really cleanly,
[472 - 474] so we liked that,
[474 - 476] but the handles did feel a little bit dicey.
[476 - 478] Overall, it tried to address
[478 - 480] some of the capacity problems here,
[480 - 482] but we ran into the same issues,
[482 - 484] "Jack of all trades, master of none."
[484 - 486] Yes, it's a vessel that can hold things
[486 - 488] and you can heat things on it in the stove,
[488 - 489] but it just didn't perform
[489 - 491] as well as any of our winning equipment.
[491 - 494] All right, so now you saw the Our Place Always Pan.
[494 - 495] Now, Lisa is gonna show you
[495 - 497] all of the corresponding equipment
[497 - 499] that this pan promises to replace.
[499 - 500] She's got a great lineup of our winners
[500 - 505] so you really can see the difference. (screen whooshing)
[505 - 508] - So one of the pans that the Our Place pan
[508 - 510] promises to replace is a skillet.
[510 - 513] And this is our favorite ceramic non-stick skillet.
[513 - 515] This pan is by GreenPan.
[515 - 517] It's the GreenPan Valencia.
[517 - 519] And we love it for a couple of reasons.
[519 - 520] It's a nice, wide pan.
[520 - 523] It's 12 inches with a nice, generous cooking surface.
[523 - 526] It has sloping sides that are curved
[526 - 528] and it's easy to sweep a spatula around.
[528 - 530] It has a stainless steel handle
[530 - 532] that stays relatively cool on the stove top.
[532 - 534] It doesn't heat up as quickly.
[534 - 535] The pan itself is made of aluminum.
[535 - 537] It's anodized aluminum
[537 - 539] which is a heat treatment that makes the surface
[539 - 542] a little bit harder than traditional aluminum.
[542 - 545] This one's good, oven safe to 600 degrees,
[545 - 546] which is really high.
[546 - 548] You can put it under the broiler
[548 - 550] to brown something on the top after you've cooked it.
[550 - 552] So I'm gonna fry some eggs in this pan
[552 - 556] and we'll see how it releases compared to the Our Place pan.
[556 - 557] I haven't cracked some eggs in a while
[557 - 559] cuz one of my kids is allergic to eggs.
[559 - 561] We don't cook with them at home.
[561 - 562] Let's see how I do.
[567 - 568] It's not too terrible.
[568 - 572] So when you measure skillets, this is 12 inches rim to rim.
[572 - 573] You'll see that a lot of times.
[573 - 574] This is 12 inch skillet.
[574 - 576] That doesn't mean as much as it does
[576 - 577] when you're actually using the skillet.
[577 - 581] The sides slope, and sometimes they slope in very radically
[581 - 583] and you get this little tiny base.
[583 - 585] This is about nine and a half inches
[585 - 588] on the flat cooking surface which is the money part.
[588 - 589] That's the part you want.
[589 - 591] So here we go.
[591 - 592] These are starting to...
[592 - 593] Oh my gosh, look at that.
[593 - 595] They're already not sticking.
[596 - 597] And I don't have any fat in here.
[597 - 599] I mean does not gonna taste good,
[599 - 601] but it's a point that it's very releasable.
[601 - 603] It doesn't stick.
[603 - 605] This handle, which is stainless steel,
[605 - 606] that's a real benefit
[606 - 608] because the pan is mostly aluminum.
[608 - 612] Aluminum transmits heat much more quickly than steel
[612 - 613] which is why it's great for pans.
[613 - 616] But steel is slower, it will hold heat once it's hot.
[616 - 617] So once you've had this in the oven,
[617 - 619] be sure you have a pot holder.
[619 - 621] But on the stove top,
[622 - 625] I'm good all the way down to way down here.
[625 - 627] It's just a little hot.
[627 - 629] This fork is designed to dissipate heat.
[630 - 632] So this solid part where your hand is
[632 - 634] isn't gonna get hot for a long time
[634 - 635] even on the stove top.
[635 - 638] So you don't always have to fumble for a pot holder
[638 - 639] which is great.
[639 - 641] And this is a pretty comfortable handle.
[641 - 643] So it has this nice rounded shape,
[643 - 644] but it's got a little bit of an edge.
[644 - 647] So when you're lifting it and turning the pan,
[647 - 648] it's not gonna flip around in your hand
[648 - 650] like some really rounded handles.
[650 - 654] If you look this egg is not at all stuck.
[654 - 658] After all this time, it's just scooting around.
[658 - 660] Now we're gonna check out the next piece of gear
[660 - 662] that the Our Place pan promises to replace
[662 - 664] which is a sauce pan.
[664 - 666] It doesn't really get any more basic than a sauce pan.
[666 - 668] It's a bowl with a handle,
[668 - 669] but there are some things to consider
[669 - 670] that make it much more usable,
[670 - 673] more durable, more friendly to handle.
[673 - 676] And we tested a bunch of large sauce pans.
[676 - 678] This is our best buy by Tramontina.
[678 - 680] It costs about $90.
[680 - 681] It's a four quart pan.
[681 - 685] The Our Place Always Pan holds 2.6 quarts.
[685 - 686] This is a four quart sauce pan,
[686 - 688] it's a large sauce pan.
[688 - 691] If you're gonna have just one sauce pan, go big,
[691 - 693] because you can always do less in a big pan,
[693 - 695] but a little pan is gonna boil over
[695 - 697] or you're gonna run into capacity issues.
[697 - 701] Our favorite by All-Clad costs about $100 more,
[701 - 703] very similar pan as you can see.
[703 - 706] Both of them are triply which means there are three layers,
[706 - 709] so stainless steel, aluminum, and stainless steel.
[709 - 712] They're both induction compatible and have a helper handle
[712 - 716] and a lid, stainless steel handles on the lid
[716 - 717] and on the pan.
[717 - 719] So they stay a little bit cooler on the stove top.
[719 - 721] You don't need to grab pot holders as quickly.
[721 - 725] So like Hannah said, the Our Place Always Pan,
[725 - 729] it's a "Jack of all trades, master of none."
[729 - 733] It is too low-sided to be a really effective sauce pan.
[733 - 735] This sauce is gonna stay in there.
[735 - 736] It's not going to burn you.
[736 - 737] It's not gonna boil over.
[737 - 739] I have plenty of sauce here
[739 - 741] and I could add a lot more
[741 - 744] and not be at any risk of overfilling this pan
[744 - 746] and creating a dangerous situation.
[746 - 748] They're two different pans.
[748 - 750] Doesn't really work in both ways.
[750 - 751] So let's move on to the third thing
[751 - 753] that the Our Place Always Pan
[753 - 755] claims to replace which is a steamer.
[755 - 758] Our favorite steamer basket is this one by OXO.
[758 - 759] It's really great
[759 - 763] because it is very compact for storage, as you can see.
[763 - 764] And it has a couple of fantastic features
[764 - 767] that make it very safe and easy to use.
[767 - 770] For one thing, the legs, you can use it...
[770 - 772] If you just have a little shallow area,
[772 - 773] they they pop up a little bit.
[773 - 776] But if you need to get it over a good deal of water,
[776 - 778] the legs just come right out and it stands up.
[778 - 780] It's so cute.
[780 - 784] It also has a really nice wide capacity
[784 - 786] and this handle telescopes.
[786 - 789] So it goes all the way up for when you're lowering it
[789 - 791] or taking it out of the pan.
[791 - 794] And when you need to close the pan, if it's too tall,
[794 - 796] you just push it down.
[796 - 799] And if you need the full capacity, this even screws off.
[799 - 801] So you can lay filets of fish across here
[801 - 802] or anything you wanna do.
[802 - 806] And they will definitely fit without any crowding.
[806 - 809] In that case, you will need to get the handle
[809 - 810] and screw it back on to pull it out.
[810 - 813] But if you need that space, you have it.
[813 - 815] So let's do some broccoli.
[815 - 820] I've started to heat up some water here in our Dutch oven.
[820 - 821] This can go into a sauce pan.
[821 - 823] It can go into a Dutch oven,
[823 - 826] and it will expand to fit the pan that you have.
[826 - 828] Gonna put some broccoli all the way around.
[830 - 833] Yeah, we did like that about the Our Place steamer basket,
[833 - 836] it's nice and wide and holds a lot of food,
[836 - 840] but so does this one and you put the lid right on
[841 - 842] and that's gonna steam.
[842 - 845] So one of the great things about the OXO steamer basket
[845 - 847] is that it expands or contracts
[847 - 849] to fit a lot of different vessels.
[849 - 851] So in this case, I'm using the steamer basket
[852 - 857] in our best buy medium sized enameled cast iron Dutch oven.
[857 - 858] This is by Cuisinart
[858 - 860] It's 5.5 quarts.
[860 - 862] This just under $100,
[862 - 864] and it's a fantastic pan.
[864 - 864] It's a good size.
[864 - 866] If you have a smaller household
[866 - 869] or you don't have as much space in your kitchen,
[869 - 870] which is I'm sure why you'd be tempted
[870 - 872] to buy the Our Place pan
[872 - 875] is that it's a sort of minimal single pan
[875 - 876] that can do all kinds of things.
[876 - 877] This can do even more.
[877 - 878] I mean, you can bake bread in here.
[878 - 879] You can deep fry.
[879 - 881] You can make stews.
[881 - 882] We're always showing you the Le Creuset,
[882 - 884] here's the best buy alternative.
[884 - 885] And it's terrific.
[887 - 891] Oh my goodness, "Emerald City." (laughs)
[891 - 892] It's so pretty.
[892 - 893] And turn this off.
[893 - 896] And now here's the beauty part, bare hands.
[896 - 900] I can reach in, get this telescoping handle,
[900 - 902] did not burn myself.
[902 - 903] And when I wanna take it out,
[903 - 906] I'm gonna move it into this, and I'm just gonna pull it out.
[912 - 914] We love that telescoping handle, which is you just saw,
[914 - 916] it made it so easy to retrieve the food
[916 - 918] from the hot, steaming pan
[918 - 920] and that it adjusts to the height of the pan
[920 - 922] that you're cooking in.
[922 - 925] The sides, like a lot of collapsible steamers,
[925 - 927] will adjust to the size of the pan that it's in,
[927 - 929] but this one really opens to a nice capacity.
[929 - 931] So if you have a nice wide pan,
[931 - 933] you can put a ton of food on here.
[933 - 935] You can see that it really holds a lot.
[935 - 937] And we really love that it's tough and durable.
[937 - 939] We spent hours and hours,
[939 - 943] opening and closing every single basket, hundreds of times,
[943 - 946] and this one did not bend or break.
[946 - 948] It kept moving easily even after
[948 - 951] we washed it a bunch of times and used it a bunch of times.
[951 - 954] Some of the other ones got a little, let's just say,
[954 - 955] they were kind of janky,
[955 - 958] they got stuck, they got rusty.
[958 - 959] This was really nice and smooth.
[959 - 961] It's got a nice mechanism.
[961 - 963] We've been using it in the test kitchen for years
[963 - 964] and we love it.
[964 - 966] So now, you've seen it head to head,
[966 - 967] the Our Place Always Pan
[967 - 969] versus all these dedicated pieces of equipment.
[969 - 974] The Our Place, should you buy it? Maybe not.
[974 - 978] Honestly, it's a "Jack of all trades, master of none."
[978 - 981] It's a good compromise, I guess, if you're starting out
[981 - 983] and you need one pan and you have no space,
[983 - 986] but you're really gonna outgrow this pan very quickly.
[986 - 988] And it's got limitations.
[988 - 990] As we saw, it doesn't have the capacity.
[990 - 992] It's only 2.6 quarts.
[992 - 993] It's got low sides.
[993 - 996] It will not have the capacity of either the sauce pan
[996 - 996] or the Dutch oven.
[996 - 998] It doesn't have the versatility
[998 - 999] that all these pieces include.
[999 - 1000] You're gonna outgrow it.
[1000 - 1002] You're gonna want some dedicated cookware
[1002 - 1003] that can grow with you.
[1003 - 1005] If it's a matter of money,
[1005 - 1008] buy one piece at a time and expand over time.
[1008 - 1010] And get the nicest things that you can,
[1010 - 1012] so you're not throwing things in the landfill
[1012 - 1014] and replacing them every couple of years.
[1014 - 1016] If you're a serious cook or you wanna be one,
[1016 - 1018] you wanna invest in serious cookware,
[1018 - 1019] you want stuff that's gonna last
[1019 - 1022] and really perform for you over time.
[1022 - 1023] For more information on all the products
[1023 - 1024] we talked about today,
[1024 - 1025] check out the links below
[1025 - 1028] or go to americastestkitchen.com.
[1028 - 1029] - Yeah, and what do you think?
[1029 - 1030] Would you buy one of these pans
[1030 - 1031] or would you stick with the separate gear?
[1031 - 1033] Everybody has different needs.
[1033 - 1035] So let us know in the comments what your choice would be
[1035 - 1037] and make sure to like this video and hit subscribe
[1037 - 1041] so you never miss an episode. (upbeat music)