This pan is Instagram-famous—is it worth the hype?

Having a fully functional kitchen typically requires more than one piece of cookware. There’s the frying pan, the cast iron skillet, and maybe a Dutch oven if you’ve got the extra bucks. Regardless of your cooking demands, trying to put together an array of useful cookware can be a hassle—which is why people love multi-functional kitchen tools that claim to do it all.

Enter the Always Pan from direct-to-consumer brand Our Place, which is designed to replace eight pieces of cookware. We originally tested the limited-edition Always Pan Lunar New Year bundle, which includes an Always Pan, a wooden steamer basket and chopsticks.

Our Place also offers the Always pan as part of several bundle options, including a Dinner for 4 bundle that comes with an Always Pan and gorgeous, ethically-made dinnerware and glasses, which we love.

What is the Always Pan?

At first sight, the pan seems like a piece curated for Instagram aesthetics—every detail bears design in mind.

Painted in an array of popular color options, the cast aluminum pan with ceramic nonstick coating comes with a domed lid, an acacia wooden spatula with spoon rest, and a nesting metal steamer basket. It's a hybrid of sorts—it’s deeper than a frying pan but flatter than a wok.

To test its abilities, we put this pan through the kitchen tasks that we typically throw at my sauté pan, wok, frying pan, and Dutch oven.

From deep frying chicken wings and searing thick cuts of meat to roasting peanuts and stir frying a vegetable medley over high heat, we evaluated its performance in cooking speed, heat retention and distribution, and ease of use. We also steamed dumplings, blanched vegetables, scrambled eggs, and cooked pasta using the accessories provided.

Further, we looked at how easy it was to clean and store this pan.

What we like about the Always Pan

The coating is ceramic nonstick

This is a piece of nonstick cookware that’s PFOA-free, made with a ceramic coating that increases its popularity exponentially. Cooked food slides easily off the nonstick surface.

It's lightweight and conducts heat quickly

We started testing by roasting peanuts to see how the pan felt in our hands. We were amazed by how lightweight it felt; we could easily toss the peanuts you would with a wok. Another advantage is that woks normally don’t work well on the flat induction or electric cooktop because of their cone-shaped bottom, but this pan is compatible with all cooktops.

Then we moved on to searing pork chops. Because of its aluminum core that conducts heat quickly, we had no trouble heating the pan within three minutes to get a crispy sear, while in comparison, our stainless steel pans take more than five minutes to heat.

The pan is a perfect cooking vessel for deep frying, as it’s deep and wide enough to fry four large pieces of chicken at once, without crowding the space. The chicken came out crispy and delicious.

It comes with useful accessories

The accessories are useful. The metal basket is deep enough to hold a small bowl to make steamed egg custard, or chawanmushi, blanched vegetables, or pasta. It works well for those purposes because there are handles on both sides that can be used to remove the basket instead of pouring all the contents of the pan into a strainer.

The wooden nestling spatula is a nice addition to the pan, as metal utensils are not recommended. There's a hole in the handle of the spatula that fits perfectly over a button on the pan, keeping the spatula securely in place when not in use.

The Always pan is dishwasher-safe

All parts of the pan are dishwasher-safe, but the nonstick ceramic coating also makes it easy to rinse quickly under soapy water. In terms of storage, every accessory can be packed into the pan, which doesn’t take up more space than an ordinary sauté pan.

What we don’t like

The paint can chip or discolor

Although we're obsessed with the velvety color, the exterior paint can chip, especially over a gas stovetop where the metal grates come in contact with the bottom of the pan. This became more of an issue when we used the pan for stir frying, as we frequently tilted the pan back and forth over the stovetop. This doesn’t affect the overall performance of the pan, but it was annoying to see the lightly scratched bottom after my first use.

The Always Pan doesn't retain heat as well as other cookware

Though the pan quickly got hot enough to give meat a nice sear, it didn’t retain the heat well. As we deep fried batches of chicken wings, we recorded a rapid drop in temperature as we adjusted the heat between each batch. If we used a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet for the same task, we wouldn’t have to wait as long to reheat the oil. While waiting for the pan to heat up, we also noticed the additional handle got overwhelmingly hot, which shouldn’t happen.

The steamer basket doesn't function as a true steamer

When it comes to accessories, our main qualm is that the metal nesting basket can’t function as a proper steamer. Typically, steamer baskets have at least 2-inch long legs so they can hold the contents above the waterline when steaming in woks and pots. This basket stands less than one inch tall in the pan, which makes steaming difficult as water easily reaches the bottom of the steamer. However, this basket can be helpful for blanching vegetables and cooking pasta.

The Always pan isn't oven safe

While it works for endless stovetop tasks, the Always Pan is not oven-safe. It can nail most kitchen tasks, but unfortunately it can’t stand the high heat of an oven. It’s a bit disappointing considering that the pan, when sold individually, can be pricey. If you want a Dutch-oven-like piece that can handle the heat, look to it's companion, the Perfect Pot.

Should you buy the Always Pan?

If you’re looking for a simple, nonstick pan that can make omelettes and stir fry, as well as cook steamed foods and one-pot pasta, then the Always Pan might be for you. Not only do we like how versatile the pan is over the stovetop, but we also appreciate the versatility and convenience of the accessories. If your kitchen routine involves simple, quick meals, then the standard Always Pan will do the trick.

If you live in a small apartment or share space with others, this is a storage-friendly solution to your cooking routine, as everything packs up in one piece. However, this is not the piece of cookware to replace all your pots and pans as it has a significant limitation—it can only cover stovetop cooking.

Still on the fence? We’ve tested popular cooking essentials from stainless steel skillets and stir fry pans, to trendy cookware sets, so you can find the best pots and pans to suit your needs.

Get the Always Pan from Our Place for $145