PRIMA MATERA Round Copper Stainless Steel Fry Pan 11-Inch

This review is for a different pan that was, at the time, only offered on amazon.fr, but is now available on amazon.com: Prima Matera Frying Pan Size: 0.5" H x 12.5" W x 12.5" DPlease see update 2014-05-22 for important info on size.Finally got one of these. The copper is 2mm thick, compared with 2.5mm copper of Mauviel M'Heritage, but the Mauviel pans aren't induction compatible. While waiting to try this on an induction cooking surface that we plan to get soon, we've been using it on radiant electric (also called ceramic, halogen, and probably other things). It performs just as well as the Mauviel pans, which is quite a feat (but they cost as much or more, so you'd hope they're that good). There are no hot spots in spite of the thinner copper. I can't wait to try it on induction, where it will probably work even better, since the heat will be generated directly by the stainless steel base of the pan. I hope and expect that the response to changes in power will be even faster than Mauviel on a gas burner.Aside from the outstanding performance, the pan is very attractive, and the beautiful polished stainless handle stays cooler than the cast iron handles on the Mauviel pans thanks to a design that conducts less heat.My current opinion is that if you decide to spend the money, you won't be disappointed. They're the best pans we've ever used. My only complaint is that the largest diameter currently available is 11 inches (28cm). And the prices are only going up.Update 2014-04-27:Had a chance to try it on Vollrath 59500P Mirage Pro Countertop Induction Range, 14-Inch, and it was flawless. Unfortunately, the diameter of the Vollrath's heating element was only about 6 inches, while the diameter of the bottom of this pan is almost 11 inches. So only the center was fully heated. The pan spread the heat as well as could be expected, but I ended up returning the Vollrath - it's spec said the heating diameter was 10 inches, and it wasn't even close. Really frustrating! But the DeBuyer pan was excellent.Update 2014-05-22:The pan that I discuss in this review is, in fact, a larger deBuyer Prima Matera frypan: the 32cm (12.6") diameter model 6224.32, not the pan shown here, which is model 6224.28. I bought my pan on amazon.fr, because it's not available on amazon.com. It's exactly the same pan except for the diameter. The diameter of the base of the 32cm pan is about 10.5". When I wrote this review, I had forgotten that it was not the pan that I actually bought. If anything, the smaller diameter pan should perform better than the larger pan, since the base will heat more evenly, especially on induction cooktops whose element is smaller than the base of the large pan.

The quality of this pan is amazing. The copper is really solid and the build quality is amazing at this price point. However, the pan is a little too heavy and it’s hard to flip things on it if necessary. The handle is also a little awkward to hold and I’m not a huge fan of the handle. Some other brands handle like all clad works so much better. But the heat distribution on this is incredible. Only thing you need is it takes longer to preheat than my other pans but if the temperature is correct, this pan performs amazingly