Customer Reviews

All-Clad LTD 1-Quart Open Sauce Pan

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you have used All-Clad before, BEWARE: this is All-Clad only in name, not in quality! I have used All-Clad from many years and have about a dozen pots and pans from their LTD line and each and every one of them I LOVE. Unfortunately, it appears that you can no longer purchase pots of that quality and although the All-Clad label still exists, their quality is very far below that of the older pan I have. I cannot recommend them....and this is very unfortunate because I have been very, very vocal in the past about how wonderful their product line was.

Recently I purchased this pot because I couldn't resist the price...and I am returning it as I have all the other recent LTD All-Clad purchases I have made.

All six LTD All-Clad pots I have purchased recently are made in China (my old pans were made in USA). Three of the pots I returned immediately because of flaws in manufacturing. Of the remaining three, I have used two, both of which I cannot get clean (after much effort) and both of which after only one use look much older then LTD pans I have used daily for many years (and those pans still clean effortlessly!).

Do not buy this product if you are an All-Clad customer! I have not used another product for many years so I can't say how these sub-standard pans perform compared to other companies products, but I would look there before spending the money on these cheap nock-offs.

What a bummer!

I get a lot of use out of this pan. Specifically, I often use it to melt butter and sometimes to do a quick sauté of a small quanity of ingredients, like chopped onions. I think this is good value for the money.

However, I find a couple of significant flaws. The first is common to all All-Clad pans. The V-shape handle is not as comfortable as it could be. Compare the handle to that on higher-end lines like Demeyere and Bourgeat and you'll see that All-Clad falls behind. Calphalon, ..., did a nice job with the shape of the handles on their Professional series but the handles can get hot. When they designed the Commercial series, they went with a copy of the flawed All-Clad handles which is unfortunate.

More importantly, considering that this is a sauce pan, it should have a proper pouring lip. Without such a lip, pouring liquids is problematic. All too often, liquid will run down the side of this pan requiring more care than should be necessary. Some of the larger All-Clad pieces, such as the 8-Quart Stockpot and the frying pans do have a good pouring lip. Such a lip is probably most important on a sauce pan so I find this quite a shortcoming.

I would definitely recommend the LTD and Master Chef lines over the Stainless unless you absolutely need to be able to use the dishwasher. The Master Chef and LTD lines both have 0.44mm stainless steel on the interior and 3.94mm of aluminum on the exterior while the Stainless series has an interior of 0.44mm, an aluminum core of 2.03mm, and an exterior of 0.46mm. Thicker aluminum will provide more even heating.

This is All-Clad, so just plain gushing won't quite do, here. We all know it's a superior saucepan. So if I'm going to write a review that is useful, I have to go into detail.

Like the handle: comfortable, pretty, but absolutely cool enough to use a bare hand on at all times -- quite an engineering feat.

Like the fat rivets that attach the handle. For anyone who needs to keep a screwdriver in the kitchen to constantly tighten the screws on their mass-market handles, this will be a welcome revelation.

The stainless steel/aluminium sandwich construction that conducts and spreads the heat everywhere is no longer unique: I have an awesome KitchenAid 2 1/2 quart saucier that I still take to bed with me sometimes when I'm feeling lonely, because its bottom is so beautifully rounded, but let's stick to talking about 1 quart saucepans, shall we?

Why do you need a 1 quart saucepan? If you cook for more than two people, its only use is to make sauces. Ive recently started cooking for four: sauces and vegetable side dishes are the only thing I use it for, but I hang it on the wall the rest of the time, and smile in admiration every time I pass it.

All-Clad sells three different finishes on (I think) all of their pots, touting them as being equivalent, but nonetheless charging a hefty premium on their LTD line. I strongly disagree with their assessment. Anybody who was awake during their high school physics classes knows that black absorbs heat better than anything else. I ran several tests using this pan and the much cheaper (and uglier) Chefs Choice version, heating exactly 1 pint of water, and the LTD won by 35 seconds. (The preceding is just a way for you to justify buying the prettiest one.)

Cooking hint: This pan is sturdy enough to sauté anything on the cooktop, and can also live in a hot oven quite happily. A perfect combination for small slow-cooked dishes that improve by sautéing.

So, do not use detergent on it, or even expose it to detergent. Even a stainless interior will pick up a coat of cooking oils firmly attached to the stainless steel. Adding detergents just attaches detergent molecules to the firmly-attached oil molecules, and the result is a very sticky pan.

So, wash only with hot water, and scrub with a brush that has never seen detergent. Its almost like running a kosher household, but very much worth the trouble.

If you are just thinking of dipping your toes into the whole idea of high-quality cookware for the first time, then you shouldnt be looking at this specialty pan. If you are feeling cheap, then get yourself an All-Clad 8-inch nonstick frypan, and you will be in omelet heaven forever.

If you are just a little more serious, then the All-Clad 10-Inch frying pan will handle 95% of your frying needs for the rest of your life. This 1 Qt pan is not exactly essential, but I use mine at least once per week, and love having it handy.

I got this pan because I've been coveting All-Clad when reading reviews of high-end cookware, and because of the low price. I figured that the low price made it a teaser--something to get you prepared to pay the fortune you need to buy other items in the line. It's a nice pan, but limited. On the good side, it's hefty, has a perfectly flat bottom for good contact with the stove, heats evenly and holds the heat. It is not non-stick, so I use it when I want the contents to produce the fabled "brown bits" that come up with deglazing. Stuff sticks, unless you use a lot of fat. As noted by other reviewers, it does not have a pouring spout. The rim is squared off, so the pouring stream tends to be very wide. My other major gripe is that it does not have a lid. All-Clad lids are pricey, like everything else in their line. I sometimes use a cheap tempered-glass lid with it. I still covet All-Clad pans, but not as much as I did before.

I ordered this pan a few months ago, and I would like to say I couldn't be happier with it. This little pan is the perfect size for one or two servings of oatmeal in the morning. It heats like a dream, with no hot spots, and even heating up the sides. To top it all off, cleaning this pan is incredibly easy, with hardly anything sticking to the smooth steel interior. The one downside to this pan is the anodized exterior can scratch, and did on mine, but I don't really care what this pan looks like as long as it cooks well. If you're looking for a small pan, and don't need a lid for it, I strongly recomend this one.

This pan is handy, heats evenly, and is a good value for the money. However, I have one significant issue with it. It doesn't have a pouring lip. That means if you try to pour a liquid out of it, it will likely dribble down the outside of the pan. Many other sauce pans and even some other All-Clad pans do have a pouring lip. This is a significant and unfortunate omission.

I cannot recommend the LTD Line of All-Clad at all.

On initial use, the interior tarnished and turned blue. We were warming chicken soup at medium-low temperature on a gas range. The pan was subsequently washed accidently (without detergent) in the dishwasher which turned the exterior finish to powder. The interior is still slightly blue/yellow. Emailed All-Clad for help.

All-Clad responded quickly and apologized for my unfortunate experience with their pan. They said:

"Unfortunately, the harsh chemicals in dish detergents bleach the anodized exterior of our LTD pans. For this reason we recommend handwashing for these pans. We do not know of any way to restore the surface once it has been bleached. We apologize that we cannot help you in this matter."

Fortunately, I can do something about it. I can share my experience. I am a residential and commercial kitchen designer and cook for nearly forty years. I recommend you look for a better quality product than All-Clad LTD products which are made in China. You can buy better quality for less money. For example Scan and Anolon give wonderful service and look just as nice hanging on the Pot Rack.

Very respectfully,

Arthur Harold Cooper
CEO
A. H. Cooper Designs | Genesis Studios

I really like this little pan a lot. Food does not stick to it, and it is easy to clean.

Will no allow a sauce burn, handles heat as you want it to. Cleans up in a snap!

I bought this for $15 at BB&B to accompany the stainless version I'd had for years (which I also picked up for a good price when a local kitchen store went out of business). Overall, I like it as well as the stainless version - it may even heat a little more evenly. I know some of the promotional pieces sold at BB&B are said to be made in China and have an inferior build, but this pan seems every bit as good as the other All-Clad I've bought over the last few years. The two 7.5" stainless and LTD frying pans I bought along with this pan, however, have a noticeably poorer finish and I almost never use them. This pan, however, is a champ, and along with its stainless brother is my go-to pan for small jobs. The only issue I have with it is the lack of a pouring lip. If they'd put that on it, it would basically be perfect.