• Cooking evenness: This model was good at uniformly browning a pancake or crepe that covered the entire cooking surface of the frypan.
• Saute performance: This model was very good at sauteing potatoes and we expect it to perform the same for other foods.
• Handle temperature: This frypan's handles were excellent at keeping temperatures low enough to touch without a potholder when used on the stovetop. You'll definitely need a potholder for frypans scoring Fair or Poor. We also consider the size and shape of the handle when scoring.
• Handle sturdiness: This frypan scored very good for handle sturdiness, which gauges its resistance to bending or breaking under increasing force.
• Ease of cleaning: This frypan was very good in cleaning, which gauges the amount of scrubbing needed to remove baked-on foods from a frypan. Those scoring Excellent require minimal effort; those scoring Poor require lots of scrubbing.
  
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The All-Clad D5 Stainless Steel (exclusive William Sonoma) is part of the Cookware test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Frying Pans (Stainless Steel) models like the D5 Stainless Steel (exclusive William Sonoma) are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below.

Cooking evenness: A thermal imaging camera is used to evaluate the heating evenness of the frying pan.

Saute Performance: Indicates how well a frypan can evenly saute foods.

Handle temperature: Handle temperature relates to the average temperature of different areas of the handle during heating.