What's the Deal with The Always Pan?

I've been targeted on Instagram for months now with this Always Pan advertisement. I've clicked on it many times and have added at least 5 or 6 pans to my virtual check out, but have always managed to rip myself away. Alas, my virtuous streak came to an end a few weeks ago, when I convinced myself that it was the perfect birthday gift for my mother. Upon reaching the checkout, a little pop-up box informed me that if I buy one pan, I will be eligible to get $80 off another. What a deal! (Not really because the pan still came to like $150) The pan whisperers won this time, and I quickly clicked through the checkout with a 2nd Always Pan in tow.

*Let me just say first things first, the shipping was really fast. I had it in my hands in 2 days flat. I don't know how their shipping is elsewhere, but if you need a pan quick and live in the Greater Toronto Area, then you can rely on this.

Aesthetic

This pan is very minimalist but pretty at the same if that makes sense. From the matte finish on the exterior, to the shape and feel of the handle. The colour options are also unique, but I must say that for some reason they're not as vibrant in real life as when they are pictured on a screen. For someone who really enjoys bright colours and creamy pastels, I was a little let down with the darker teal blue tone. Even my picture looks brighter than what it looks like in real life. Strange.

Overall, my rating for the Aesthetic of the Always Pan is a solid 8 out of 10. It's nice to look at, and the physical feel against my finger tips is pleasing. But with the colour not being as vibrant as I had expected, I'm knocking off some points. Perhaps for someone who doesn't care about the colour of their cookware, it wouldn't have mattered, but for someone like me who was drawn to this item specifically for it's colour, it's lack of brightness had me feeling a little let down.

Functionality

I've cooked with this pan close to 15 times now, and have used all the features. I feel like I am equipped enough at this point to give a solid and fair review of my personal experience.

The Good

• The pan heats up fast, and because of it's weight, the heat and frying medium are also equally distributed. Other pans of mine are slightly weighted towards the handle so I find that my food will fry faster or burn more on one side of the pan. This is not the case with the Always pan.
• Steaming in this pan is a breeze. With the perfect fit steamer insert, and a tight fitting lid with perfect little vents, steaming veggies or anything for that matter has been a breeze. I've also used the steaming basket as a strainer for boiling pasta, gnocchi and perogies. Instead of having to pour out the whole contents of the pan into a sink over an external strainer, I just pull them out in their little basket.
• The depth of the pan is ideal for more options when it comes to cooking. You could make soups, sauces, and all sorts of bubbling things and not worry about spillage.
• The big handle is sturdy and I like the shape being rectangular as opposed to smooth. It allows for a firmer grip, especially while transporting hot things across a kitchen.
• A lid that creates a tight seal with optimal venting, while also being heavy enough is an ideal combination to avoid that sputtering overflow of a boiling pot. With a barely noticeable arrow indent on the top of the lid, you also know exactly where to place the lid when you have the spatula chilling on it's perch.

The "Meh"

• Although the long handle is nice, the small handle on the other end of the pan is still not perfect. Its shape is ideal for lifting the pan, however it does get very hot while cooking. There are ample warnings on the product to let you know that the handle gets as hot as the burner, but of course the first thing I did was try to pick it up with my hand because all my other pots and pans have all of their handles coated or covered in some sort of material that doesn't conduct heat. You'd think this would've been a user experience point they might've addressed. Moving forward I didn't do that again, but I still found it counter intuitive as I had to stop myself and go get an oven mit each time I wanted to move my pan off the stove.
• This pan is not light. I wouldn't say it's super heavy either, but it's definitely not the lightest pan I have had. Now when you add a bubbling pot of pasta, or a full pan of risotto to the weight, its darn hefty. For someone who has arthritis, small hands, or is just clumsy, it might be a little harder to carry this, wash it, and then have to possibly stash it somewhere. (My pan's "spot" has been designated as this corner in a low cupboard, behind the bowls. It's a little bit of a hassle to pull it out of there because it's heavier.)
• The spatula is nicely designed, and I do like that there is a spot for it to hang out on the handle of the pan. I have 2 issues with it though. One is the feel of the spatula. Is it just me or does the wood it's made from seem sort of...flimsy...or rather soft. I almost feel like I can dent it with my finger nail. So then naturally I panic if I leave it in water for too long in the sink. Will it start to decay? Secondly, the actual functionality of the spoon resting on the handle is nice in theory, but in reality I'm so used to putting the spoon on the side, that's what I end up doing anyway. And last time my husband put away the dishes and I didn't know where he put my fancy spoon, so I ended up having to use a regular wooden spoon which couldn't rest on the handle anyway, so that feature went out the window.

The Not so Great

• The non stick coating on the inside of the pan really is non stick! All food slides off like you wouldn't believe, and it's easy to wash. But it comes with a price. A friend messaged me shortly after I jubilantly posted a picture of my new pan on insta saying that I shouldn't store the pan with the strainer inside, because it scratches off the non stick coating. The pan also came with a special scrubbing sponge that I'm assuming is super gentle so it doesn't scrub off the delicate coating. OK, so how am I supposed to store this with limited space? For a pan that boasts multi-function and therefore saving space (because it's the only pan you need), I now have a pan, a strainer shaped just like my pan that I can't store inside it, and a lid that is dome shaped and doesn't fit in most shelves. To remedy my issue I made a padded square out of a few layers of paper towel, and used it as a buffer between the strainer and the pan, so I still store them together, but it sort of threw me off. I mean, for the price point I had hoped I wouldn't have to baby a delicate pan and fear non stick coating flaking off after a few months of wear and tear. We'll see.

My review of the Alway's Pan functionality would be a 7/10. It wins when it comes to the cooking speed, the heat dispersal, and the steaming/strainer functions. The non-stick coating is also nice while frying, but not exclusive to the Always Pan by any means. I dock points for weight & the small handle being hot as hell, but mostly for the storage issue of the strainer potentially scratching up the inside of the pan.

Overall rating for the Always Pan: 7.5/10

What are your experiences with the Always Pan?