I’ve got to admit, I’ve been guilty of buying cheap pans in the past, and have subsequently ended up getting frustrated that the “non-stick” coating wears off pretty quickly. We use frying pans a lot in our house, for all sorts of things from eggs to halloumi, pancakes to stir fries. And when the inevitable happens and I step away from the hob for just that little bit too long, I end up with pans that need a day’s soaking before there’s a hope in hell of scrubbing off the burnt bits.
I was recently sent a Delimano frying pan to review on Bites, and I’m now convinced that ceramic is the way forward. An Italian ceramic cookware company, Delimano sell their products directly through their website, as well as via Amazon and other retailers.
The ceramic non-stick coating of all of their pans is patented as CERAMICA® – what they do is to melt a layer of ceramic dust over the pan, making it thin, smooth, durable and non-stick. They claim that this process makes it almost impossible for food to stick – a claim I was looking forward to testing out!
The large frying pan that I was sent retails for £39.99, which is far more than I’ve ever spent on a single pan in the past. I was also sent the matching Pyrex glass lid (£26.99), the handle doubling up as a spoon handle to keep your utensils close by and out of the way when cooking.
It’s certainly a smart-looking pan, not too heavy and in an attractive silvery-grey colour. Suitable for use on electric, gas, ceramic and halogen hobs, Delimano claim that the pan can be used at a lower temperature and still cook food faster and with less oil than standard frying pans.
The one thing that I’m not too keen on is the ergonomics of the pan – maybe I have smaller hands than most, but I find the handle a little uncomfortable to hold.
I get a little over-excited about kitchen gadgets (you should see how many weird and wonderful things I have crammed into my kitchen cupboards at home…) – and this pan is no exception. “But it’s just a frying pan!”, I hear you say. Well…yes, it is, but it has a nifty little heat sensor built into the handle, which glows red when the pan is heated and ready to go. Far easier than hovering your hand over the pan to try and judge whether or not it’s warm enough – you can see it in action in the picture below.
So far, among other things, we’ve used the pan to cook fried eggs (we used far too much oil the first time, the second time we got the hang of it…), and grilled cheese sandwiches. Well, obviously not grilled as they were done in a frying pan – but we spread the outsides of our sourdough with butter, filled with grated cheese and mustard, put them together and put them in the dry pan with the lid on, before turning and cooking the other side. Delicious.
What’s also great is that the “easy to clean” claims really are true – it’s not just a marketing gimmick. I put the claims to the test by cooking up some halloumi to use in a summery couscous salad. I always dry cook my halloumi rather than adding fat to the pan, which is probably why in the past I’ve had so many issues when trying to clean the pan afterwards…! With this ceramic coated Delimano pan, however, it’s a lot easier. The top picture shows the halloumi cooking, the second shows the residue left when it was removed from the pan, and the third shows how clean it was just after running a piece of dry kitchen towel over the surface of the pan after cooking, collecting the residue at one side.
At £39.99 for the pan and £26.99 for the lid, Delimano aren’t really appealing to the budget shopper. However, as much of an expense it may seem, I’d definitely rather save the pennies and buy one of their pans – complete with a 5 year warranty – than buy a cheap one that I know I’m going to have to bin sooner rather than later. Bar the discomfort of the handle, this pan gets a definite thumbs up in my book.
Please note: these products were received free of charge, but in no way impacted on our opinion. We were not obliged to write a positive review, and the company did not see this review before it was put up on the site.