Inside Helana’s Kitchen: Cuisinart Nonstick Stainless-Steel Skillet (8-inch)

I’m kind of obsessed with coupons, coupon shows, saving money, the Dollar Tree, and anything else that’s particularly thrifty.

Perhaps it’s because I cook and write on a “livable” (but meager) graduate student budget, or perhaps it’s because I have this deep-seated desire to beat the system.  I once stayed up until 2:00 a.m. watching re-runs of Extreme Couponing and taking hundreds of mental notes on how to save nickels and dimes everywhere.  

[Apparently, the key is to familiarize yourself with grocery store catalogues, their deal schedules, and so many other zany techniques.]

But, let’s be serious.  

Who, really, has the time for extreme couponing?

I’d love to be able to fill baseball card-style binders with every kind of coupon (I love to organize), but it’s just too much work. You have to possess the mindset and time to dedicate to the process of couponing. So, you can imagine my surprise when I started collecting coupons, or “stamps,” in October.  Yes, collecting.  The Albertson’s by my house was running a special on Cuisinart cookware in which you received two red stamps for every $10 you spent.  The store even gave out booklets for you to collect your stamps in and, come December, you could redeem them for any of the shiny stainless steel Cuisinart products glistening at the front of the store.  I was thrilled, and this was me:

At first, I threw my stamps away.  

I thought, “I barely shop here, how could I possibly accumulate enough stamps for anything?”

But, I was wrong.

Since moving to the Garden District, Albertson’s has become my go-to grocery store, and I find myself there more often than not picking out insanely smart cheese deals (buy one, get one free), insanely good meat deals (buy 1 get 2 or 3 pounds free on select days!), and insanely affordable wine from their impressive selection (buy 3 bottles for $10 on select bottles). I was pretty much hooked.  

Every time I went in, they gave me stamps.  And every time I got home, I took great pleasure in sticking them into my booklet and counting them up.  

Over several months, I had accumulated over 80 stamps (several of which had been given to me by friends), and was really bummed when I didn’t quite make it to the 100 mark for the 10-inch skillet I really wanted.  The booklet was beginning to look raggedy and worn from all the handling, and I kind of hate that I didn’t take a picture of it for you. Regardless, it was fabulous.  

With my 80 stamps, I redeemed them for this 8-inch Cuisinart Nonstick Stainless Steel Skillet which normally retails for $60.

It felt amazing to walk into the store and pick out something for free with my groceries.  

When I got home, I read the packaging for the shiny skillet (which I hardly ever do for any pot or pan) and was surprised by some of the literature.  The man-handling, cleaning, and warming of this product is a little more specific than your average Teflon pan, and I thought it was worth sharing with you readers.  Plus, I’ve used the skillet every time I can in the last week, and I have been beyond pleased with its heat distribution, ease of cleaning, and overall use (but more on that later).

First, here’s a video of the skillet in action for my “How to Series: Scrambling Eggs” on basic egg cooking tips and tricks.

Pay attention to how easily the eggs come off the pan when scrambling.  

With pans that have grown old but still retain their early Teflon finish, eggs tend to get stuck up in the Teflon bubbles and don’t come off as easily.  But with this one, they move around with a silkiness and ease that feels like I’m cooking in a restaurant.

Here are some detailed reasons why you might consider adopting this skillet for your kitchen at home.  Or, at least, here are a few things to keep in mind when buying a Teflon-coated product.

Cuisinart Non-Stick Stainless Steel Skillet (8-inches)  

This skillet is part of the Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Series.  You can find the same pots, pans, and skillets (like this one) on Amazon for a fraction of the cost.  See here for Amazon’s half-off price on this particular pan.

Pictured: the skillet model #, size, and product line on the bottom of the pan.  I’ve used this information to look up the rest of the pans in the Chef’s Classics line, and it’s a great point of reference when cross-comparing prices.

So, let’s get started.

Pros:

– High-quality Teflon finish:

One of the first things I noticed about my new pan was the silky surface coating the inside.  Although I’m not a scientist and don’t dare get into the science behind this technology (polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)), I do know the basics à la Alton Brown.  According to Brown, you can eyeball the quality of a skillet’s coating based on the size of the Teflon’s bubbly surface.  

See this close up picture here? It’s almost impossible to isolate where one piece of the Teflon starts and another begins.  This microscopic layering of the surface = excellent nonstick quality.

– Just the Right Size:

At 8-inches, this skillet is large enough to cook a 2- or 3-person size omelet and small enough to sauté an onion.

– Easy to Clean:

Like all high quality Teflon products, a little soap water and sponge is all you need to do the trick.  Unlike cleaning my copper-bottomed skillet without a nonstick surface, I don’t have to worry about soaking the pot to get the gunk off.  One quick rinse with water after use and a few scrubs when cleaning are all it really takes to get this girl clean.

– Heat Distribution:

One of the first tips the packaging material mentions is the ease of heat distribution with this skillet.  When cooking, the pan retains heat with more proficiency than most nonstick pans, and a high-heat cooking requirement can be accomplished with (about) the same amount of time over medium heat.  The pan works best with low and medium heat settings.

– Stoves:

The pan works great on either electric or gas stoves.  No worries about stove range compatibility or if it will warp on your gas stove or work poorly on your electric.

– Healthfulness: 

Because of the nonstick surface, many chefs find that they need less or no oil and butter when cooking.  In fact, a few passes with nonstick spray can do the trick for most cooking jobs (omelets and onions like I’ve mentioned above).

– It’s Just Plain Pretty: 

That’s exactly it.  I keep most of my pots and pans stowed away because of age and their matchedness (they don’t match), but this one is so pretty, I keep it displayed over the stove.

Cons:

– High Heat:

Cannot use pan over the high-heat setting of your stove.  Apparently, these pans heat so well that you run the risk of warping or just destroying the integrity of the pan by exposing it to too much heat.

[I’ve put this under cons because some people (like me) might forget this restriction and blast the heat on high when they’re in a hurry to get cooking.]

– Discoloration Concerns:

Like the high heat problem, if you’re cooking with a gas stove and let the flames fly up the sides of the skillet (say, you’re using a particularly small pan and/or your flames have a wide distribution), you run the risk of discoloring and ruining the stainless steel finish permanently.  You’ll need to keep an eye on your flames when you raise and lower heat, making sure that you don’t expose the stainless steel sides to potentially harmful flames.

– Price:

Not cheap.  If you bought this skillet retail, you’re looking at $60.  Fortunately, online markets like Amazon have the Chef’s Classic series In stock for relatively cheap price.