Customer Reviews

Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 9-Inch, 2-Quart Chef's Skillet with Lid

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I use both the Calphalon Commercial Nonstick and Calphalon Commercial Hard Anodized in my kitchen. Of the high end cookware I've explored Calphalon Commercial is my favorite line. Both the hard anodized and non stick variety are very easy to clean. Even burnt on messes clean up relatively easily. These pans are nearly industructable too. You can even place the hard anodized line in the oven at reasonably high temperatures according to the manual. For most work I prefer the hard anodized line although for items such as crepes or frying the non stick variety might be better.
The pan advertised here "Calphalon Commercial Hard Anodized Collector's Edition 9-Inch, 2-Quart Chef's Skillet with lid" is my favorite pan. I use it all the time. The flat bottom wok description is excellent. I use this pan for so many cooking tasks. The pan is not nonstick and is safe for all types of cooking utensils. The pan is very easy to clean and tough messes can be soaked and then cleaned easily with a green pad. Since this is my favorite pan I must give it a five star rating. I'd buy another at this price but I may be dead from old age before this pan wears out.

You rarely find Calphalon at a deep discount so I decided to try this little pan out. I own most of the Professional Hard Anodized cookware. This pan is lightweight, easy to handle and maneuver over the stove. It heats evenly on my gas stove. It's best to use the lowest flame setting when using over gas because it also heats rapidly.

Generally, I like the size, weight and ease of use. The cover also fits other pans I have. Cleaning is a breeze but I recommend to anyone who doesn't have a lot of experience with Calphalon to read up on the cooking and cleaning suggestions that come with your pan. This pan is NOT non-stick but if you use as directed, this hard-anodized pan will not stick and will definitely be easier to clean.

While the Cool-V handle does stay cool during cooking, it seems to get in the way. The handle curves higher on the stove than I'm used to and I've accidently hit it a few times when adding food to the pan or working around the stove. The pan is also lighter than the Professional Hard Anodized I'm used to so it doesn't stay flat on the burner unless there's food in it.

I'm impressed with the pan's versatility. It's great for frying, making or reducing sauces, sauteeing, deglazing and stir-frying. The small size makes it ideal for 2-3 people.

Cooking has been my hobby now for more years than I care to admit. Unlike many folks, I do not think everything in the kitchen must match. So I don't have a matching set of cookware. I have tried about everything, and for various reasons, my cookware collection has evolved into a mixture of things I really like to use: Calphalon Hard Anodized, tin lined French copper, Le Creset, and the one essential of all, the cast iron skillet.

This particular pan I bought simply because it was so [inexpensive]. I could not visualize a 2 Qt. Chef's skillet. It turned out to be slightly larger than I feared, but somewhat smaller than I had hoped. I think it is best to describe this pan as an improved 8" omlette pan, ie. higher sloped sides with a lid.

My most used pans are: #1, my 12" cast iron skillet; #2, my 6 1/2 Qt. Calphalon Stock Pot with Pasta Basket; and coming in at #3, surprisingly, this little Calphalon Hard Anodized 2 qt. chef's skillet.

I do not use it for making any particular dish. Rather this has become a workhorse in preparing ingredients for other dishes, e.g., to sautee mushrooms (you need the slopped sides and a cover), to sautee vegeetable or seafood stuffings for entrees, to make up a pasta sauce for side dish portions. Think of any time you need to sautee or panee something for another dish and you will be using this little pan. Heck, I have even used this pan to make up sauces, gravies, cook custard, and many other non obvious tasks. It is just real comfortable to use. I do not use this for stir frying, however, a use suggested by others. It is too small. Besides, I have yet to find a better tool for stir frying than a seasoned steel Chinese wok. They are big, and completely non stick, but have an appeaarance only a mother could love.

I would have given this pan a 5 star rating, except for the fact that this is a support weapon, not the main gun. Sort of like no one would ever rate a four iron as the best club they have ever owned, but a good four iron is necessary to score well. But anyone whose cooking has progressed beyond spaghetti and Ragu, should have this pan.

There seems to be some confusion about how hard-anodized pans differ from non-stick pans, which I'd like to clear up.

I have used many Calphalon hard-anodized pans for things like cooking chicken and scrambling eggs, as other reviewers wrote, *without* problems. There are instructions included with the pans that explain how to do so.

The first, very important, thing is to make sure the pan is very clean. A Scotch-Brite pad and some elbow grease are needed. Bits of leftover food will cause serious sticking.

The second thing to remember is that the food must be at (or nearing) room temperature. Cold eggs and chicken directly from the fridge WILL stick to a heated pan.

Following these guidelines, hard-anodized pans ARE virtually non-stick. If you really want a non-stick pan, and use it for primarily eggs, omelettes, etc, it is better to buy a non-stick pan.

If, however, you want to buy only one pan for things that non-stick can't do (like browning and deglazing for meats) and you want to use that pan for scrambled eggs as well, it can be done. It just requires a bit more work.

So, buy hard-anodized if you're looking for versatility, buy non-stick if you're looking for non-stick. (Or, buy both!)

First off, let me say that in the last four months, I've bought probably 20 pieces of Calphalon's Commercial Hard Anodized cookware through Amazon.com. Except for the items in this recent order, I have been purely tickled with the products' performance. These items included products from both from the Toledo and Chinese manufacturing facilities.

Calphalon, sadly, discontinued this product line several months ago. Amazon is down to only five items out of dozens in their open stock listing. And I think they are getting down to the bottom of the barrel. In this shipment I received two items from this line that were junk. They should have been shown as scrap, seconds, or outlet merchandise. The first was the 7 qt. casserole which I reviewed separately.

This item, the 9 inch, 2 qt. Chef's Skillet was equally disappointing. The body of the pan was almost 30% thinner than my other frying pans from this line. (barely 2mm thick) The finish was also inferior: It was noticably lighter in shade than all my other Calphalon Commercial Anodized cookware - and on the bottom, it appeared to be showing almost bare aluminum across the surface. The Grey finish was almost see-through. Also, the surfaces of this pan were comparatively rough.

Again, with all due respect to the reviewer who insisted all items are of equal quality regardless of origin, this woefully inadequate example of Calphalon qualtiy was made in China.

I hate to say it, but I am beginning to think that stores of this line are depleted and only the dregs and defective items may be left.

Either that, or there may truly be a problem with the Calphalon items of Chinese manufacture.

In any event, this piece is also enroute back to Amazon.com for a refund.

This Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 2-Quart Chef's Pan with Lid is a "collector's item" from the newer line of Calphalon's Hard-Anodized cookware. Thus, it is the same alloy aluminum type pan as in the older "Professional" line, but its handle is "stay-cool" sculpted stainless steel, instead of an older chrome-covered iron handle, which could get very hot to the touch. The 9-Inch bottom of this chef's pan is slightly smaller than that of the 3-Quart Sauté pan, another useful pan that usually comes with a Calphalon starter set.

This pan is a bargain. Since Calphalon rarely offers such deep discounts, it seems worthwhile to add it to one's collection. Because it has the rounded chef's shape, I would use it for stir-frying, reducing sauces, and making demi-glace. I have two flat-bottomed woks (Joyce Chen and Calphalon), but they do not work that well on an electric range. This chef's pot works well for a small-to-medium stir fry on either gas or electric burners. When the stir fry is done, I use a Calphalon nylon scoop to remove the cooked food, then I reduce the sauce.

The hard anodized finish of this chef's pot makes it virtually non-stick. Using a pan spray is not a good idea because it can leave behind a sticky residue. Hand-washing is recommended, with use of Bon Ami or Dormond cleaner for any stubborn stains.

As I noted in my review of the Calphalon hard-anodized 12" Everyday Pan, much of the negative comments concerning the Calphalon anodized product stems from a lack of understanding that sticking or bonding of the food to the cooking surface is a desirable feature, enabling you to brown, carmelize and deglaze in a superior manner to a nonstick pan. In other words, this pan is not supposed to be nonstick, so don't fault it when food adheres to it!

Having said that, this 9" chef's skillet is only 6" at the base, making it somewhat smallish and not really suited to main dish preparation, at least in my kitchen. It is also far too small to be used as a wok, as others have suggested. It is also a poor choice for things like egg dishes or crepes, for which I prefer using my Circulon or Calphalon nonstick pans.

I use this pan for side dishes, vegetables and ingredient preparation for other dishes. It is great for carmelizing onions and similar tasks. Anoher reviewer noted that dimensionally, this pan is very close to sauciers from All-Clad and Cuisinart. Great point, and this pan fits the role of saucier to a "T." Heating is wonderfully even across the entire pan, with no hot spots to scorch your sauces. It is a superbly capable piece that will not disappoint the experienced cook.

Construction and finish are excellent. My pan was made in China. In a side by side comparison with a recent Toledo made 9" skillet, I note no difference in weight or any meaningful difference in finish. I'd take complaints about this pan's origins with the proverbial grain of salt.

If you love to cook, this pan is a steal at the Amazon price. Buy two!!!

Amazon's deals on Calphalon are often exceptional; I'm no more than an occasional cook but my first piece, a 2 1/2 quart Commercial Hard Anodized sauce pan, has served me well for a few years now. More recently I've added a couple of Commercial Non Stick items to the kitchen and I really like those; the non stick finish is extremely slippery and very durable. When I received the box containing this Chef's Skillet I immediately noted a difference, and not to the good - it weighed hardly anything, unlike the other nice heavy pieces. The aluminum used in this skillet is scarcely half the thickness of the earlier pans, and I saw that dishearteningly this skillet was manufactured in China rather than the good old US of A. This is still a decent, functional pan, OK for small stir-frys, reducing broths and sauces or sizzling up a couple of eggs and bacon. Durability is still fair, it looks like, though the thinner bottom metal is prone to burn a bit if you're not right on top of the temperature control. I don't know for sure that the thin, lesser construction is purely because of the Chinese manufacture, but my other three pans were made in USA and are much beefier.

This pan is built with the top quality of other Calphalon pans, but in a lighter weight version, which makes it easier to pick up, shake and flip as well as stir. Its size is right for one to two sized portions and the shape helps keep items in the pan when shaking and flipping the food as well as stirring. Becuase of its light weight it heats up quickly and responds quickly to heat variations, which is great for stir fry. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of its lighter weight, the handle is a bit too heavy for the size of the pan, which causes it not to set completely flat on the burner when empty, although the balance in the hand feels right. This problem is alleviated once the pan is filled. Other than that the pan cooks well for its purpose.

I used my pan last night for the first time, I made a stir fry. The pan handles very well, Heats up fast and is a great size. I can see now that I will be useing this pan alot. What a great addition to our Calphalon collection. I prefer the anodized over non stick except for eggs, as the surface is so tough. I have read reviews where people do not like to hand wash Calphalon, myself I let the pans cool and hand wash them as I cook, or right after dinner. The pans are a snap to clean.