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70 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Small but useful and a great value, February 12, 2002
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.
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