Taking one for the team (Hexclad skillet)!

[Jenise]

Staring at my two non-stick skillets, including an All-Clad that's pretty sliced up now after three years (at the most), I finally did the unspeakable: I went online and ordered a new Hexclad, something I've never seen in person or laid hands on, or even known anyone who has one, strictly based on videos I've seen on Facebook. $155 for a 12" skillet.

You are free to call me an idiot. I probably am.

https://hexclad.com/

I'll be very interested to hear your assessment.

[Robin Garr]

I've seen those ads and been pretty tempted, although a while back I got a Misen 12-inch nonstick for about one-third of what you paid and have been utterly satisfied for more than a year. With careful handling, it doesn't even have a nick, and stuff just slides around on it.

Still, I'd love to hear your report too.

This has nothing to do with nicks, but don't use oil spray on it if you want to keep it slick. I learned that years ago.

Please do tell. I’m on my second All Clad and it is trashed after 1.5 years. Husband is very hard on this utensil. My mother has a ceramic nonstick and the best feature is its bare metal rim which otherwise would become frayed when utensils, even nonstick are rapped against the edge. This too is starting to show breakdown after 9 months.
I keep 8 and 12” de Buyer carbon steel pans in the NYC condo which after long, careful seasoning are perfectly nonstick, easy to clean and maintain. I am very happy with these. Husband doesn’t have the patience to maintain them properly in Wisconsin so they stay in NY where I am the primary cook.

I have a ceramic pan that I tend like it was a baby. So far, so good.

My cast iron is getting pitted. Burning oil onto it does not seem to be sufficient.

I have a couple Calphalon "One" pans that are OK after many years.

I love the few All-Clad pieces that I have.

I have a stainless Cuisinart pot that is just impossible to clean.

I have a few old teflon pots that work beautifully.

[Jenise]

Please do tell. I’m on my second All Clad and it is trashed after 1.5 years. Husband is very hard on this utensil. My mother has a ceramic nonstick and the best feature is its bare metal rim which otherwise would become frayed when utensils, even nonstick are rapped against the edge. This too is starting to show breakdown after 9 months.
I keep 8 and 12” de Buyer carbon steel pans in the NYC condo which after long, careful seasoning are perfectly nonstick, easy to clean and maintain. I am very happy with these. Husband doesn’t have the patience to maintain them properly in Wisconsin so they stay in NY where I am the primary cook.

I feel your pain. From the Hexclad website:

Works on all induction, gas, ceramic and electric cooktops
The only true hybrid (stainless steel + non-stick) cookware featuring a patented laser-etched hexagon design and tri-ply construction.
The aluminum middle layer delivers consistent, even heating while the patented hexagon top layer design creates a series of peaks and valleys.
Valleys are nonstick for easy cleanup and allow cooking with little butter or oil.
Stainless steel peaks give you restaurant-quality results while protecting the pan from peeling and flaking.
HexClad is PFOA-free, dishwasher safe, oven safe up to 500 degrees, induction-ready, scratch-resistant and features stay-cool handles.
Backed by a Lifetime Warranty

What's impressive, too, are the demonstration videos. Which show steel utensils, even a cleaver, in the pan. Btw, I have two old Magnalite pans (all that remains of a set I bought when Bob and I married) that are seasoned like your de Buyers. I have a hard time keeping them seasoned because He Who Does Most Of The Dishes is inclined to go in with the soap and a scrubby, despite my screams.

I don't need another skillet, nonstick or not, but ATK rates the OXO non-stick skillet at $50 as their best choice, FWIW.

[Jenise]

They love OXO products on that show, not sure I trust them to be totally objective. But that said, their pan has some of the issues Christine and I have complained about. I want a pan that's good now and virtually unblemished two years from now. The Hexclad could be that pan, the OXO most likely not. Hexclad actually demonstrates slicing a quesadilla with a pizza cutter right in the pan.

They love OXO products on that show, not sure I trust them to be totally objective. But that said, their pan has some of the issues Christine and I have complained about. I want a pan that's good now and still performing well two years from now. The The Hexclad could be that pan, the OXO most likely not. Hexclad actually demonstrates slicing a quesadilla with a pizza cutter right in the pan.

ATK does like OXO; I also like some of their products, but you're probably right about the skillet. But keep us informed on how well your Hexclad works over the next couple of years.

[Jenise]

ATK does like OXO; I also like some of their products, but you're probably right about the skillet. But keep us informed on how well your Hexclad works over the next couple of years.

Let me put it another way: Hexclad actually advertises that the pans are safe for steel cooking tools. OXO, I'm sure, doesn't.

ATK does like OXO; I also like some of their products, but you're probably right about the skillet. But keep us informed on how well your Hexclad works over the next couple of years.

Let me put it another way: Hexclad actually advertises that the pans are safe for steel cooking tools. OXO, I'm sure, doesn't.

I'm also sure OXO doesn't, but you'll find out if Hexclad works as advertised. Nothing like real-world testing. I am curious.

[Jenise]

Me too. The lifetime warranty is sure compelling.

The lifetime warranty is sure compelling.

Any 2-pt ivory san serif fine print on white paper? Well, that's the life of that skillet.

[Jenise]

I'll get back to you in a few years on that.

Very seriously considering the 8" as this is the size my husband uses daily for breakfast. I will be able to tell it's durability within 6 mo as he is fearless with metal utensils including knives in that pan.

[Jenise]

Christina, mine's here and has been used twice. It is seriously the most beautifully made pan I've ever laid eyes on--positively breathtaking. It's like where you've driven a Chevy all your life and then you sit in a Rolls--you don't realize what you were missing out on until you personally experience it. The workmanship details are truly impressive.

I made a silly mistake--the 10" nonstick is the most-used pan in my kitchen. But I ordered the 12" Hexclad thinking that my 10" pans were 12" pans. OOPS. I probably should have exchanged it but I was too beguiled not to immediately use it--planned that very night for blackened Chilean sea bass. I am not sorry to have to send my other large nonstick pans to the donation pile. Too, I have no doubt Bob will order the smaller pan. Question is, can I wait until August for it? (My birthday.)

I am at just over four years on a Le Creuset 12" ($150 Can. so same ballpark as a lot of the pans mentioned above) and it is still doing just fine. I am very careful with it and only use plastic utensils on it.

[Jenise]

Bill, if I had restricted myself to only plastic utensils I no doubt would still be happy with my All Clad. But I am just not that person--I hate plastic utensils. They don't grip or flip as well as metal so though I own the right stuff I'm pretty bad about making myself use them. My All-Clad is pretty chopped up--you can tell I'm right-handed.

Ouch! You brute!

I erred - the one I have now is an All Clad.

[Robin Garr]

No love for wood utensils? That's all I'll use in our nonstick.

No love for wood utensils? That's all I'll use in our nonstick.

Good alternative. Seem to have misplaced my spurtle though.....

No love for wood utensils? That's all I'll use in our nonstick.

Good alternative. Seem to have misplaced my spurtle though.....

I use a Betty Crocker silicon spatula. Only a buck. And I like it so much, I have three of them.

[Jenise]

No love for wood utensils? That's all I'll use in our nonstick.

Plenty, and what I stir with. But spatulas and tongs? No.