Cookware

Cooking evenness

Cooking evenness reflects the ability of frying pans to turn out evenly browned pancakes on a gas range.

Nonstick food release

Nonstick food release score reflects the nonstick qualities of a pan's interior by cooking four eggs consecutively. The pan is initially seasoned with vegetable oil prior to cooking the first egg. An Excellent score indicates that all four eggs slid off the pan without assistance; A Poor score indicates that scraping was needed to release any egg from the pan and some egg residue was left on the pan.

Nonstick durability

To assess nonstick durability, we intentionally abraded frying-pan surfaces with steel wool until the coating was worn through or up to 2,000 strokes. Scoring reflects the durability of the frying-pan's coating and it's nonstick quality after being abraded.

Handle temperature

Handle temperature relates to the temperature during heating.

Handle sturdiness

Handle sturdiness indicates how well the handle withstands a test designed to stress it and its attachments.

Handle comfort

For handle comfort tests, panelists assessed both the size and shape of the handle, as well as the distance between the handle and the pan.

Ease of cleaning

Ease of cleaning reflects how easy or difficult it was to clean sticky béchamel sauce.

Nonstick food release-new

Nonstick food release score reflects the nonstick qualities of a pan's interior by cooking four eggs consecutively. The pan is initially seasoned with vegetable oil prior to cooking the first egg. An Excellent score indicates that all four eggs slid off the pan without assistance; A Poor score indicates that scraping was needed to release any egg from the pan and some egg residue was left on the pan.