THE COMPANY

Cuisinart (pronounced “KWEEZ-in-art”) is a subsidiary of the Conair Corporation, which is perhaps better known for hair dryers. But don’t let that fool you; Cuisinart has been around since 1971.¹ The short story is that Carl Sontheimer started Cuisinart in 1971 after visiting France and seeing semi-automated food preparation machines. He reversed-engineered a machine and added a feeding tube. His creation, dubbed a “food processor,” was a success. Cuisinart subsequently expanded into choppers in 1986. Sontheimer sold the company in 1989 for $60 million, which was re-sold to Conair Corporation later that year. Under Conair’s management, Cuisinart expanded its offerings to encompass virtually everything kitchen-related, from bakeware to wafflemakers.

THE PRODUCT BEING REVIEWED

Today, we’re going to look at the Cuisinart Multiclad Pro (aka MCP or MultiClad Professional) series, and in particular at the Cuisinart MCP22-30HN MultiClad Pro Stainless 12-Inch Skillet with Helper, though this review is applicable to other pieces in the product line. There is an older, discontinued MCP line; the newer MCP products have the letter “N” in their product numbers. The only difference is that the newer “N” product line has slightly more comfortable handles. All of my references to Cuisinart MCP are to the new “N” product line, because there is no real reason to buy the older product line.

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THE COMPANY

German-American immigrant, mechanical engineer, and entrepreneur Heida Thurlow founded what would become Chantal (shan-TALL) Cookware Corporation in 1971 in Houston, Texas.

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THE COMPANY

The Vollrath company is a privately-held American foodservice (kitchenware and appliance) manufacturer headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The company traces its roots back to 1874, when Jacob Vollrath started a factory that made and sold various kitchenware products such as pots and pans. The company also made products as varied as furniture castings and railroad and agricultural parts. Some of Vollrath’s earliest popular products included ceramic/enamel-coated cast iron and sheet steel, but by the 1930s the company had begun to shift to stainless steel, and the company also mass-produced millions of military products like mess trays and drinking canteens during World War II. Today, Vollrath manufactures a broad array of commercial kitchenware and kitchen electrics.

THE PRODUCT BEING REVIEWED

Vollrath’s tri-ply stainless, “Vollrath Tribute,” is built like a slightly thicker version of All-Clad Stainless (aluminum sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel). The inner layer is 18/8 stainless, which is highly corrosion-resistant. The outer layer is magnetic stainless steel, presumably 18/0 (SAE 400 series) stainless.

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THE COMPANY

I’ve written extensively about All-Clad here.

THE PRODUCT

The subject of this review is the All-Clad Copper Core 12-inch skillet (frying pan), though it’s applicable to the rest of the product line as well.

All-Clad Copper Core – Copper Core is made in the USA out of a five-layer sandwich: stainless, aluminum, copper, aluminum, and stainless (in order, from inside to out). For decorative reasons, All-Clad shaves off some exterior steel in order to expose the copper in a thin band around the perimeter of the pot or pan. Thus the decorative band is thinner (stainless-aluminum-copper) and is missing the exterior aluminum and stainless layers. Copper Core has about the equivalent of 0.91 mm copper, making it slightly more heat conductive than All-Clad Stainless (1 mm of copper is worth about 2 to 2.4 mm of aluminum in terms of heat-spreading power, depending on the exact alloy grades in question). Copper Core is a slightly better performer than All-Clad Stainless. It also heats up and cools down faster than All-Clad Stainless and spreads heat more evenly.

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THE COMPANY

Sambonet Paderno Industrie S.p.A. is an Italian cookware manufacturer that is also known in the USA as “Paderno World Cuisine.” Paderno started as “Alluminio Paderno” in 1925, specializing in aluminum cookware. Paderno acquired Italian flatware maker Sambonet in 1997. Paderno acquired World Cuisine in 2007; thereafter, World Cuisine became “Paderno World Cuisine” and the USA distributor for Paderno. Paderno expanded into porcelain via acquisition of German company Rosenthal in 2009.

Note that there is a Canadian kitchenware company named Paderno as well; their products are not made in Italy and while they produce decent cookware, they do not have the famously thick disc bases that Paderno Grand Gourmet pieces have.

 

THE PRODUCT

One of the most famous Paderno product lines is Grand Gourmet, and today we’re reviewing the 11-Inch Paella Pan, though the 11-Inch Frying Pan is shaped and sized the same way. This review is applicable to the other pieces in the product line as well.

Since the World Cuisine acquisition, naming has gotten more complicated, so I’d like to take a moment here to go over the various series of Paderno:

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THE COMPANY

Cooks Standard has been a registered trademark of Neway International, Inc., since 2012. Neway International, Inc. imports what it brands Cooks Standard multi-ply clad cookware from a Chinese company that started in 2003.

THE PRODUCT

This review is for the Cooks Standard 12 inch Multi-Ply Clad stainless steel skillet, though this review is applicable to other pieces in the product line. Cooks Standard Multi-Ply is an All-Clad Stainless knockoff made in China. It’s not as thick as the real thing, and it spreads heat worse as a result. It might also be somewhat more prone to warping over time due to the thinner metal. The Cooks Standard logo is apparently laser-etched onto the lid and bottom of every pot and pan in the lineup, which looks tacky to many people and makes it awkward to give as a gift. It can’t be scrubbed off, though you could probably sandpaper it off with some effort (and make the pan look even worse as a result).

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