Product Description

Cuisinart is leading the way in eco-friendly branded cookware with our new Green Gourmet line. Exclusive Cuisinart Ceramica nonstick technology is ceramic based instead of petroleum based, helping to conserve existing oil supplies. The coating is applied at a temperature one half that of conventional nonsticks, helping to reduce total energy use. And it's PTFE- and PFOA -free for healthier cooking. Ceramica coating and hard anodized construction provide high thermal efficiency, which saves energy. Riveted stainless handles stay cool on the stovetop and provide a comfortable grip. Today more and more home cooks are going green...and so is Cuisinart cookware! For healthier and nonstick cooking the 12 inch Skillet will meet all your needs.

Product Details

• Brand: Cuisinart

Customer Reviews

Best Ever
I am an avid home chef and a fervent hater of nonstick cookware. I went through so many sets of nonstick in my early married years, everything from the $30 "whole kitchen in a box" set I got as wedding gift to a "top of the line" set that my mother-in-law gave me years later. I babied the stuff, but it still wound up scratched and peeling and in the trash. And, I never liked the cooking performance of any of it. So, many years ago I threw it all out and bought an 18/10 stainless set- which I love and praise to anyone who will listen, and have never had to replace a single piece of. BUT, even I will admit that it's tough to get a decent fried egg from a stainless pan, so I kept an 8" nonstick skillet around just for that purpose. It was needing to be replaced so I decided to go with hard anodized. Hesitantly, I was going to get another brand with the teflon type finish. Then I saw this, and liked the idea of the the ceramic type finish. I can't tell you how much I love this pan. It fries beautifully. Sears salmon and steaks. Cleans with a wipe and a rinse. I have had this for a couple of months, used it MANY times, and am getting ready to buy the 12" for bigger jobs. Even my 8 year old can make beautiful(no tears)fried eggs with it. Oh, and did you know that you can thaw meats faster in it. Hard anodized is an amazing conducter of heat, so it pulls the cold out of the food. Just set it on the counter (covered) and wait about 20 minute (depends on thickness of the meat) turn it over once and voila you have thawed meat.

Works Great at first, Then it STICKS like crazy
Please note that when you read all the positive reviews that they are from brand new pans. This review is after using the pan for just less than 2 months. I was so excited to buy this pan! After reading so much about non stick pans and how unhealthful they are I was really psyched to come across this one and purchased the 12" after frustrating results with the upkeep and care necessary to keep an iron skillet relatively stick free. This pan was great and I almost bought a whole bunch of them after about a week. Eggs, pancakes, sandwiches, sauces, etc. Nothing stuck. Then it slowly started to stick. I was careful with the cleaning, we use olive oil and butter to fry, but now, merely two months after purchasing it, it sticks like crazy. NOTHING doesn't stick to this pan. It's even hard to clean. I am sure that technology will come up with a 'new improved' non toxic non stick surface, but this, sadly isn't it. It's like buying a brand new model car when you should have waited for them to get the kinks out. They have to be getting mail from people like me all the time. This pan stinks.

The Good, the Bad, and the Other Good
The Good...
It's a solidly built, eco-friendly cooking pan made by a reliable company.

The Bad...
I typically use it to make pancakes or fry veggies and beans in oil. Within my first couple uses and cleanings, I noticed that the sides weren't smooth like the base. At that time I thought that maybe the pan was manufactured that way, or that it might be a defect in the surface. I did my best to clean it with a sponge and soap, but it didn't seem to make a difference. I continued to use it occasionally. It really bothered me though, since it wasn't like any other non-stick pan I've used. Inspecting it closely, I noticed what appeared to be a residue of oil. It wasn't greasy but very viscous and hardened on. I'd never burned anything onto the pan, and it had performed pretty well. I guess I'd give it a B for it's non-stick surface.

The Other Good...
Anyway today, I finally went against tradition and used a scouring pad on the surface. It took me over an hour of sanding off the residue with the dry scour pad, and blotting off the dust with a moist paper towel. It was a mild acrylic pad, but had enough scratchiness to take off the residue, which came off as an orangy powder. It resembled dried oil, and for the life of me, that's all I can determine that it was. However, I finally returned it to a virtually untouched state.

I was nervous about scraping into the pan as I did with the scouring pad, having been careful to only use wooden utensils in the past. However, even after putting some serious elbow grease into it, the scouring didn't seem to scratch the non-stick surface. I probably won't try it, but it does seem that it would be resistant to scratching from metal utensils. It at least takes a good scouring and comes out looking fresh and clean.

Summary:
Overall, I think it didn't perform quite as well as low-end T-Fal pans that I used 15 years ago, but food didn't stick to the pan too terribly either. The oil apparently stuck to the sides of the cooking surface in a bad way, however. I cleaned my pan promptly and never burned anything on it, a residue of dry hardened oil built up in just a few uses. On the other hand, I was able to scrape it off with a mild scouring pad. It was much like taking rust off a surface with a fine grit sandpaper. Trust me, you don't want to expend the time and elbow grease to do this though. Since it's a more eco-friendly, safer non-stick pan, I'm willing to deal with it. I'm going to be more aware of how hot I heat the pan, as I suspect that high temperatures and oil quickly caused the build-up of oil residue.