Cookware Even Heating Rankings (Induction and Electric Coil, Radiant, and Halogen)

For natural gas/butane/propane rankings, please see Even Heating Rankings (Gas). For details about testing methodology, see here. The pans tested below were tested on an induction cooker. If you’re in the market for a portable/countertop induction cooker, I wrote an extensive guide here.

SEEMINGLY EVERY COMPANY CLAIMS THAT THEIR COOKWARE IS EVEN-HEATING, BUT IS THAT TRUE?

The job of stovetop cookware is a) to smooth out the uneven heat coming from the burner underneath so that the entire cooking surface of the cookware is the same temperature; and b) to keep your food in the Maillard reaction temperature zone–not too hot and not too cold. If you have too much of an imbalance in temperatures, you wind up with hot or cold spots that can undermine your dish by leaving some food overcooked and some food undercooked. You may even scorch carcinogens into your food or produce carcinogenic smoke, if some hotspots grow hotter than the oil’s smoke point while you are waiting for non-hotspots to catch up in temperature. (Hotspotting is particularly troublesome on nonstick pans because you can overheat the hotspots when trying to bring up the temperature of the colder spots, and overheating PTFE/Teflon will permanently damage it and cause offgas.) If you’ve ever cooked fish where part of a fillet got overcooked while the rest was undercooked or made rice and had some undercooked while the rest burned, then you’ve already experienced the joy of uneven heating.

HOW TO READ THE TABLE(S) BELOW:

The higher a pan is on the list, the better the thermal performance of that pan. Therefore the list is in order of best (on top) to worst (on bottom).

10 cm temperature delta means the temperature difference between the center of a pan and a 10 cm circle around the center, at the moment in time when the center of the pan reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176.7 degrees Celsius).¹ A lower 10 cm temperature delta score is better than a higher score. A perfect score of zero would mean that the entire 20 cm diameter circle was the same temperature. 20 cm = 7.9 inches.  The flat cooking surface of most 11-inch skillets is about 8.5 inches in diameter. All testing began at room temperature.

Some cookware did not spread heat well enough to make the tables below; that is, the center temperature could not reach 350F without other parts of the cookware reaching that temperature first. In such cases, please refer to Even Heating Rankings (Gas) to get a sense of where those lower-performing pieces rank.²

I have separated cookware types because bottom-disc-only cookware pieces often have large temperature discontinuities where the disc bottom ends and the thin sidewalls begin. Those discontinuities may contribute to uneven cooking and food sticking to sidewalls. In contrast, cladded designs have heat conductive metal (cast iron, carbon steel, aluminum, or copper) running up the sides to eliminate that sudden temperature discontinuity. And finally, nonstick like Teflon can wear off, and ceramic loses its nonstickiness over time, so nonstick gets its own category.

Heat-spreading ability is most important in skillets, as they endure the highest temperatures and thermal stresses of any cookware. Therefore I have focused on testing skillets first. The results are usually applicable to the rest of the product line.³

The higher a pan is on the list, the better the thermal performance of that pan. Therefore the list is in order of best (on top) to worst (on bottom).

Thermal Results (Electric): Clad

Avg Delta 10cm (F)	Brand	Model	Product	Review/Rating
92.3	De Buyer	Prima Matera	11 Inch Skillet	4.05
92.6	Demeyere	Proline	11 inch Demeyere Proline Skillet	4.7
93.7	All-Clad	D7	12 Inch Skillet	4.7
104.6	Zwilling J.A. Henckels	Sensation	11 inch Sensation Skillet	4.5
110.3	Vollrath	Tribute	12 Inch Tribute Skillet	3.9
114.3	All-Clad	Copper Core	12 inch 6112 Copper Core Skillet	4.1
128.5	All-Clad	D3 Stainless	12 inch 4112 Stainless Steel Skillet	Overview
132	Cuisinart	MultiClad Pro (MCP)	12 inch Cuisinart MultiClad Pro (MCP) Skillet	4.65
133.3	T-Fal	Multi-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless	12 Inch Skillet	4.0
143.5	Culina	Tri-Ply Stainless	12 Inch Fry Pan	3.75
146.1	Cooks Standard	Multi-Ply Stainless	12 inch NC-00239 Multi-Ply Skillet	4.05

Thermal Results (Electric): Nonstick (PTFE/Teflon, Ceramic)

Avg Delta 10cm (F)	Brand	Model	Product	Review/Rating
28.1	Woll	Diamond Plus Induction	11 Inch Skillet	4.45
46.5	Anolon	Nouvelle Copper	12 inch Skillet	4.6
71.3	KitchenAid	Hard Anodized	12 inch Skillet	4.35
86.9	Ozeri	Green Earth	12-inch Frying Pan	4.35
99.3	T-Fal	Professional Total Nonstick	12 inch E93808 Skillet	3.7
119	Zwilling J.A. Henckels	Spirit	12 Inch Skillet	4.0

Thermal Results (Electric): Disc-Bottom

Avg Delta 10cm (F)	Brand	Model	Product	Review/Rating
23.5	Paderno World Cuisine	Grand Gourmet	11 Inch Paella Pan (same as 11-inch skillet)	4.5
61.2	Update Inter-national	SuperSteel	SFP-11 SuperSteel 11-Inch Fry Pan	3.35
61.2	Vollrath	Optio	11-inch 3811 Stainless Steel Fry Pan	3.35

FOOTNOTES: