Cuisinart10-Inch Open Skillet, Chef's Classic Stainless Steel Cookware Collection, 722-24

Needed an oversize pan for Christmas eve dinner. Italians celebrate with the feast of 7 fishes. Family has 10 fish eaters. Menu included 10 lobster tails, 1-1/2lb gulf shrimp, jumbo scallops, mussels, little neck clams... I know that's only 5. Sauced with lots of garlic, white wine and fresh herbs.Pan fit all the ingredients, cooked perfect with no hot spots, well balanced handle that stays cool, with a helper handle for the heft...it looks gorgeous and cleans up well. If you have need of a really big pan you should buy this Cuisinart pan. (Since that meal I cooked up a Moroccan chicken, and yesterday for the NFL playoffs a 4-1/2lb pork roast green chili dish, browning the pork on my Coleman stove and finished cooking in my grille) Big Pan for a big meal... Love it.

I have a 300 calphalon tri-ply stainless set, and I love it. Its high quality, cooks nice, cleans nice, and looks nice. I recently got this 14 inch Cuisinart skillet and wow! This thing is awesome.PriceI dont know if calphalon even has a 14" pan, but I know that their 5qt chefs pan is 149.99. The cuisinart's 5qt chefs pan runs for 49.99 on amazon. So thats a good price difference example. Combine this with the ability to cheaply build your own pot/pan set (instead of making my mistake and getting a complete set), and youve got a good value.Build QualityI'll compare this 14" to my 10" calphalon. The one thing i immediately notice is that the calpalon pan bottom is smooth and seamless. Meaning you can't tell that there is an aluminum layer sandwiched between the two stainless layers. This makes it beautiful, and leaves no places hard to clean, however it must be hard to manufacture and probably helps explain the price difference. Beyond this, I can't see much a difference. They both have nice heavy solid handles that are riveted on. They both have a nice finish. I can't comment on weight comparison because the cuisinart is 14" and naturally heavier then my 10" calphalon.SizeNothing to compare it to. I have pretty much every kitchen thing id ever need, but I didn't have a 14" skillet. Ive seen this online several times and actually never thought anything of it. Then my roommate needed a newand ended up getting this pan (not knowing how big it would be). As soon as I saw it I couldn't believe it. It will dwarf practically any pan you have. Maybe not useful for all culinary adventures, but when cooking for a group or family, this thing is perfect. Plus being oven safe, you could easily cook up things like stuffed pepper filling, then load this pan up with probably close to 20 stuffed peppers depending on size.CleaningAny and all stainless pans will not clean as quickly as your non-sticks, but they also won't leech out tephlonny yum yums or non-stick coating flakes into your meal. Burning anything, but especially oil can create "permanent" brown stains on your pan. Several of my pans have had nice evidence of prior kitchen distasters for some time, and I thought this was the price you pay for using stainless (and not paying attention in the kitchen). Then I found Bar keepers friend. they make a stainless steel cleaning powder (on amazon, but i got it at target). All of my pans look brand new (minus scratches). But any brown oil spots, heat discoloration etc, GONE! This is a must for anyone with stainless cookware, that wants to enjoy how nice they look too.OverallLove this pan, and plan on buying one for my mom, and probably another one or two from this cuisinart line of cookware to add to my own.

I recently got rid of every item in my kitchen with a non-stick/teflon coating due to the health risks associated with them. I have now switched over to stainless steel or cast iron only. With regards to skillets, all I had was a cheapo Walmart 8" stainless steel skillet that I got in a set of pots and pans. Those had solid reviews just like this Cuisinart does...but there's no comparison in quality. The Cuisinart wins by a mile.This is a solid and well made skillet. It feels heavy and sturdy - there are no loose joints or anything that could make it feel like it wasn't top quality.I've been using it for about two months now and the results have been great. If you aren't familiar with cooking on stainless steel, you need to know the tips and tricks to preventing sticking. Sometimes it's going to happen and you just have to work a little harder to clean it up. I'm no pro but here's what I try and do:-Use lower heat than you're used to. For me it's not necessary to use the same level of heat I used with my teflon pans.-Try not to put ice cold items into a hot pan - you should allow whatever you're cooking to come closer to room temperature before putting it in the skillet.-When cooking with oil, there seems to be a good result when letting the pan heat up some before adding the oil. This creates an "oil slick" type of effect where the heat on the pan prevents it from binding to the oil.-Speaking of which, be sure to use some sort of lubrication - oil/fat - when cooking. There are some scenarios where it doesn't seem to help at all but it's generally a good idea.-Don't burn your food!Also worth noting is that I went a little crazy and bought the 14" version because I figured bigger pan, low price, bigger is better...then I realized I have 8" burners on my electric stove...I was worried it would not work well but it hasn't been a problem at all. The aluminum in the base of the skillet conducts and spreads heat very well. While the outer portions are not as hot, since they aren't on direct heat, they get plenty hot to cook things - it's more than just a warming zone. For example, when I make pancakes in the morning, I cook the pancakes in the middle of the pan (can do 4-5 medium sized pancakes) and I put the sausage around the edges. By the time I've made a few batches of pancakes, the sausages are cooked. If I'm not careful to rotate them they will still burn.