for the love of nums
I am a girl who just fundamentally avoids bandwagons like the plague. In middle school, I once saw a girl wearing K-Swiss sneakers and thought “You know what, those are SHARP. Gotta get me some o’ THOSE.” So I got a pair…and then quickly realized that so had every other 7th grader at Kleb Intermediate. I never wore them again. I suspect it is this same personality quirk that made me hold out so long on getting my paws on THE non-toxic AND nonstick skillet of the century, the Always Pan by Our Place.
When I first saw the Always Pan on the ‘gram, I admit, I was intrigued. Between its clean lines, its eye-catching colors and its almost-too-good-to-be-true promises of non-toxic non-stickery, my interest was peaked. I’ve gotten rid of pretty much all my nonstick skillets over the years, slowly switching over to exclusively cast iron – save for one. Since cast iron is heavy and difficult to master for some, I’ve begrudgingly hung on to one nonstick skillet for the boys to use, as they’re really starting to get into cooking. Particularly my 9-year-old, Ford, who loves nothing more than a hot egg sandwich, which he insists on making himself. The problem: even with that nonstick skillet, the aftermath of that hot egg sandwich is a hot mess.
You know how it goes – egg proteins bond to metal like a mother, and kids haven’t typically achieved mastery of pre-heating skillets to avoid protein bondage at super-glue levels by the tender age of 9, so even after soaking and scrubbing, mama still has to come along behind him and put in some elbow grease to truly get that skillet clean. Then there’s egg bits all stuck in the dish-scrubber brush, which is horrifying. It’s just not a good scene. That’s where the Always Pan comes in.
I was seeing it popping up everywhere – in ads, in foodies’ stories and feeds, even in my friends’ kitchens. This made me, the bandwagon-avoider, resist. Until I was at my friend Kaylee’s house, whose opinion on all things food I trust wholeheartedly, and who is such a minimalist that she thinks lonnnnnnnng and hard before adding another piece of potential counter-clutter into her kitchen arsenal. So when she had the Always Pan AND sang its non-toxic praises, going on and on about its multi-functionality – works as a skillet, saucier, frying pan, saute pan, saucepan, steamer (comes with a little steamer basket too) AND spoon rest (because it literally has a little built-in spoon rest ON THE PAN), all in a superbly nonstick, pretty little package – that sealed the deal.
I ordered an Always Pan for John (who is always complaining about food sticking to the skillet) for Christmas, and I even got another one for myself, along with some of their plates, drinking glasses and their Spruce Steamer basket, because I love making alllllll the dumplings! Then I waited patiently for everything to arrive so I could judge this pan’s awesomeness for myself.
When the day came, the first person I let use our new Always Pan? Ford. This would be the ultimate test of its nonstick capabilities, stretching its potential to the absolute limit. I explained the merits of the design to him, and he then decided he wanted to reallllllly put it to the test by preparing his usual egg sandwich…without any butter to grease the skillet, thus truly giving the Always Pan a chance to show us what she could do.
I admit, I was apprehensive. This felt like the makings of an absolute disaster. I mean, I have nightmares about what happens when egg proteins hit fatless skillets, so to voluntarily put myself through such anguish, and with a brand new pan to boot, seemed unwise. But I had to let go and trust the process. We set the Always Pan in place, lit the burner and said a little prayer.
I held my breath as Ford poured the eggs into the skillet. Sizzles. Promising start, I thought. The real test would be that first scrape of the spatula. TO STICK OR NOT TO STICK??
Well y’all, I am positively BEAMING to report that THE ALWAYS PAN IS EVERYTHING IT’S PROMISED TO BE AND MORE!! I watched proudly as Fordalicious scrambled his eggs with the greatest of ease, not one iota of egg amiss. In fact, the pan was so clean by the end of the process that all it needed was a quick wipe of a towel and it was good to go. No soaking, no scrubbing, no elbow grease at all. Ford was highly pleased with himself.
I. Am. Sold. It’s an 8-in-1 kitchen workhorse, it’s DEVOID of Teflon, PFAS, PFOAS, PTFEs, lead, cadmium, toxic metals or in any way potentially harmful materials, and I can confirm that it is 1000% NONSTICK. So much so that a quick wipe is really all you need to clean it. Plus, like I said, it comes with a cute wooden spatula and has a nifty little nubbin on the handle that acts as a spoon rest (WHO CAME UP WITH THIS BRILLIANCE????).
And to take good care of this bad boy and my protect my newfound nonstick nirvana? I just have to make sure we’re sticking to mostly wooden or silicone cooking utensils to protect its coating.
Honestly, I cannot recommend the Always Pan highly enough. Go getchu one, y’all!
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