An all-in-one pan deserves a place in any busy kitchen, but is it worth splurging on one, or can more affordable looking ones do the job at a fraction of the price?
It is this premise that has led to my placing the Best Selling Always Pan of Our Place, which I think The best non-stick cookware Head-to-head in the market with IKEA’s strikingly similar Klipfisk saute pan.
Both of these pans have a deep, wide shape that makes them versatile for the home cook – you can deep fry, steam, sauté, boil and more in this design pan. But in our tests there was a clear winner in terms of performance – which adds up given the £86 price difference between the two.
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IKEA
Cuttlefish Pan
Deeper than the Always pan (and much cheaper), this IKEA pan is made from cast aluminum and comes as part of the brand’s wider KLIPPFISK cookware range.
This ceramic pan is perhaps best known for its pastel color range, but it’s handily oven safe and compatible with a range of accessories including poachers and steamers.
basic
Also, it’s easy to see the gulf in quality between the KIPPFLISK and the Always Pen.
KLIPPFISK is thin and light, lacking the sturdiness of always having the pan in your hand and on the hob. IKEA’s version is also quite deep, which will suit some for batch cooking, and has a see-through lid, which is always good for keeping an eye on things.
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But if you like the idea of popping one of these pans into the oven to finish something under the grill, only one of them fits that bill: the Always Pan 2.0. IKEA’s option is not at all suitable for oven use. Here’s a full breakdown of the specs.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Cliff fish |
Always leaf |
|
size (diameter) |
28 cm |
26.7 cm |
|
capacity |
4.25L |
2.4L |
|
weight |
1.01 kg |
1.36 kg |
If you’re buying an all-in-one pen to keep out on your worktop, design will also be important here. I think Our Place’s version is much easier on the eye, with the bonus of seven possible color options. KLIPPFISK is gray-turquoise as standard and the wood accents may not be for everyone.
Winner: Our location always pans 2.0
Cooking tests
The first test on my agenda was a fried egg, which is a good way to see how evenly and quickly heat is distributed across the bottom of a pan.
With a palm on the base of each it felt like the IKEA pan was slower to heat than our place. I went ahead and cracked the eggs into each one and noticed that invariably the pan made the kind of ‘sizzle’ sound you’d expect, while the KLIPPFISK took a minute to catch the same heat.
(Image credit: Future)
Also not a great sign for me was the white color running through the base of the pan in the KLIPPFISK, which always confirmed my suspicions about its temperature compared to the pan. The uniformity of the pan egg always tells me that the heat transfer is very good.
Next, I tried the bacon. One advantage of the KLIPPFISK shape for bacon is that any grease splatters are more contained in the deep shape. It’s also a little spacey.
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By the end of the cooking time, I noticed that the rashers in the IKEA pan were a little dry (as you can see in the photo), which could be a sign that the distribution throughout the pan is not optimal.
But other than that, the results were pretty much the same – I think the pans were slightly overheated at this point.
The final run out for these pans was heating up leftovers for lunch. I hope this gives me more insight into the heat equation. Once again, the Our Place pan took less time to reach the heat level I needed compared to the IKEA one, but the KLIPPFISK caught up after much longer.
(Image credit: Future)
Looking at each performance overall, the KLIPPFISK took longer to get there, but once it heated up it was fine for non-stick cooking tasks, although it wasn’t always as impressive as the pan. Our local version was better in terms of faster start-up time and gave better results overall. For me, there is a clear winner.
Winner: Our location always pans 2.0
the winner
Lately non-stick pans have come a long way and people are opting for non-toxic stainless steel cookware over the main. Our expert reviewer recently tried out two stunning examples, Stainless steel set from Le Creuset And Edition of Made In.
But for quick cooking jobs or if you don’t want to go through the learning curve of getting used to stainless steel, a good non-stick pan is a great tool to have in your arsenal. If that sounds like you, I think a versatile all-in-one pen with a deep shape like this is your best bet.
Our Place’s Always Pan 2.0 is ceramic and non-toxic and although expensive, I think it earns its RRP with the results of this test. If you want better quality, you need to pay a little more. This is also a solid all-rounder but its Titanium equivalent It remains my all time favorite if you really want the best of the best.
IKEA’S KLIPPFISK is a nice budget version of the same type of pan, but it doesn’t have the same quality feel or produce the same results. But if you desperately need a stopgap piece of cookware it’s hard to argue the £39 price tag.
After the conclusion of my tests, you can expect: when it comes to these two pens, you definitely get what you pay for.
