Product Description

With its sculpturesque form and patented bonded construction, the new All Clad 13-inch Stainless French Skillet blurs the line between art and science. A precisely-contoured heel and slightly deeper sidewall facilitate turning and flipping. Bonded layers of 18/10 stainless steel and aluminum provide ideal balance, handling weight, and supremely-even heat diffusion. Perfect for sauteing, frying, and general versatility, the All Clad French Skillet is the true culinary artist's latest inspiration.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7373 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Size: 13 Inch Stainless
• Brand: All-Clad
• Model: 5113
• Released on: 2007-09-20
• Dimensions: 2.25" h x 13.00" w x 13.00" l, 4.75 pounds

Features

• All-Clad Stainless 3-ply 13-inch French skillet
• 18/10-stainless-steel interior, magnetic-stainless exterior, encapsulated aluminum core
• Stay-cool, cast-stainless-steel handle is comfortable and riveted for strength
• Suitable for induction burners; oven-safe to 500 degrees F
• Dishwasher-safe, but hand-washing recommended; lifetime warranty

Amazon.com Review
All-Clad's Stainless collection is the most popular of the renowned company's cookware lines. Exhibiting an impressive heft, each piece is meticulously crafted of three permanently bonded layers: 18/10 stainless steel on the interior, magnetic stainless steel on the exterior, and an encapsulated aluminum core for thorough, even heating. Hand-polished to a mirror shine, the stainless steel offers natural nonstick properties and striking good looks. The magnetic property means that in addition to suiting gas and electric burners, the cookware can be used on induction stovetops, increasingly popular for their energy efficiency. All of All-Clad's bonded cookware is made in the USA and is covered by a lifetime warranty.

Any chef can put a classic French skillet to good use, practically on a daily basis. Available in three sizes, 9, 11, and 13 inches, the Stainless skillet is designed with high sides that facilitate flipping pancakes, tossing stir-fried vegetables, or stirring stews. The solid, cast-stainless-steel handle is riveted on for strength, stays cool on the stovetop, and features a hole for hanging. Because the pan heats up quickly and hold its temperature well, only low to medium heat is recommended for cooking. While the All-Clad Stainless collection is durable enough for dishwasher cleaning, washing by hand is easy and will help preserve the bright finish. --Ann Bieri

Customer Reviews

All Clad 13" French Skillet Pan: If you get it, it works best when using gas ranges
My All Clad LTD 13" French skillet pan will now get more use now that I converted from an electric range to a (natural) gas range. I tried using the 13" French skillet on my 8" electric element and was disappointed with the uneven heating: the outer portion of the bottom did not get hot enough to cook the food (in my case, omelets). That was not a problem with my All Clad 12" fry pans (Copper Core and LTD). Now that I have a natural gas range, the French skillet's entire bottom heats evenly and my omelets turn out great. The handle length works for this largest of All Clad's French skillets. I decided to buy this pan over the All Clad 14" fry pan while both pan bottoms are the same diameter, the French skillet's pan top has a smaller diameter than the 14" fry pan due to the steeper slope. If I need to cover the French skillet when cooking, I can use the lid from my All Clad 6 quart sauté pan (which fits)! There is no All Clad lid I know that I can cover the 14" fry pan, not even if you buy it separately. And the 13" French skillet feels lighter than the 14" fry pan (LTD or stainless). If All Clad made the French skillet in Copper Core, I may get it depending on the weight. Copper is heavy.

PROS:
Weights less than the All Clad 14" stainless or LTD fry pan but with the same bottom cooking area.
Can be covered if you have the lid for the stainless or LTD 6 quart sauté pans

CONS: Does not heat evenly when used on an electric (coil) range.

One last note. If you have a gas range (mine is a Wolf) I really noticed just how quickly the Copper Core pans heats up when compared with the stainless and LTD lines. When I was using an electric range, I appreciated how quickly the Copper Cores heat up. My suggestion is to hold each pan and determine whether you can comfortably handle the weight of each pan and whether the pan's handles are comfortable to you. I like the longer length handles on the All Clad Copper Core pans. All Clad uses a different length and style handle for their LTD and stainless series than the Copper Core series. That standard length handle does not work for the larger sauté (6 Qt), sauce (4 quart), and fry (14") pans: it's just too short. It's all right for their other pans.

Good Pan but could have been better
I've been using this pan a lot since I bought it a few months back. I bought this pan as an alternative to my old All-clad 12-inch pan which is just too wide for my small stove top. Dimensionally, this 11-inch pan is just right.

While I thought the older 12-inch pan was an overall excellent product, this new pan falls a little short of 5 stars. Here's why: the thickness of the pan is thinner than the older pan (though some people will find this a plus if they thought the older pan was too heavy.) The thinness however may have contributed to All-Clad's decision to use a non-flared edge which makes the pan more difficult to clean. The edge is just too sharp. And for a saute pan with short side walls, you will need to clean the edge often. Also, since the edge is not flared out, pouring is more messy.

On the good side, the handle angle is more acute than older pan. This makes sauteing a little easier than the almost horizontal handle of the older pan. I also like the steeper walls which gives the bottom a large surface area. It also heats up evenly. And best of all it's cheaper than older pan!

Overall, I like this pan but they could made it better. However, knowing All-Clad, if they did, they would have priced it comparable to the older pans. Clearly and unfortunately, marketing entered in the design decisions.

To Stick or Not to Stick?
Another reviewer of this excellent skillet suggested the use of a non-stick pan for those 'sticky' foods. Can't fault that because who wants to do battle in the sink afterwards? However, I found a different approach can work wonders with this pan. For instance - those love-to-stick morning eggs. My solution: Heat pan on low for a few minutes with a little olive oil or whatever you use. Turn off heat, toss in eggs, cover pan and sip on that coffee you just brewed.
Oops, what cover you say? Hmm....that's a problem since it is not offered with this skillet. Thus the four-star rating. So improvise or find something you can purchase (and let me know what you find!).
Well, back to the eggs. They're done in a few minutes (how many minutes? Who knows - get a see through cover if you must). And guess what? Since this pan heats so evenly and you've compassionately chosen free-range eggs, they slide out of the pan as if they couldn't wait for breakfast - yours.
One other note. The handle, cool to the touch and rakish in appearance is what you would have to characterize as non-ergonomic. But that's the French for you - beauty and form overshadow a minor annoyance.