I've finally found my perfect pan - it's non-toxic, 300% stronger than stainless steel, and inspired by the lotus flower

Our Place, most famous for its Always Pan, just upped the stakes for searing and sautees. This fully clad, triple-ply, stainless steel-aluminium-titanium Pro Pan is what dreams are made of. Or at least mine, anyway.

Pans are like children. Nobody wants to admit that they have a favourite — and maybe they don't — but you do get on better with different ones at different times. Until now, I've been childless (and panless) bouncing through the best stainless steel pans and the best non-stick frying pans trying to mind my perfect pan. It's taken a while, but I'm finally there.

The Our Place Titanium Always Pan Pro is, in one word, incredible. It has lots of beautiful design features, but my favourite is inspired by nature. Our Place have copied the shape of a lotus on the pan's lining, making it 300% stronger than stainless steel and naturally hydrophobic — it's naturally non-stick and non-toxic too. There's an awful lot to love.

Specifications

Unboxing

Our Place always does a wonderful job of packaging — and this is no exception. The Titanium Pan Pro comes in a long cardboard box, with the lid nestled separately from the pan's main body. It arrives looking, smart, polished and professional, which is all you can ask for, really.

You might already know this, forgive me if you do, but Our Place also owns HexClad, which means that they're well-placed to offer up some incredible cookware. As expected, the Titanium Always Pan Pro comes with all of their signature features: a little recipe book, a beech wood spatula that sits on the handle of the pan, a large domed lid, and a beautiful design. I couldn't wait to get cooking on this.

Who would it suit?

The Our Place Titanium Always Pan Pro has a really broad appeal, from busy cooks and eco-friendly shoppers right through to people who have small kitchens. It's a seriously versatile investment. 

I suggest this to lots of busy homes and families because the pan is large. You could cook a meal in here, thanks to the depth, whilst also benefitting from the speedy heat up, even heat transfer and easy non-toxic, non-stick lining. In our test kitchen, this is the pan that I pull out when I just want a dependable pan to get the job done.

Our Place also puts sustainability high up on their priority list, which often gets overlooked.  It's designed to last for a lifetime (and comes with that guarantee). In a less pressing sense, Our Place donates meals and gives 10% of the profits to the Rare Impact Fund, so you know that they're doing good on your behalf.

I also like this for people who don't have much space. This is light, so easy to lift into different cupboards around your home and it's versatile to cover the functions of a few different pans — this is deep enough for casseroles and stews and still shallow enough for pancakes and fried onions. 

What is it like to use?

Technically, this is a non-stick pan. I'd like to take a moment to talk about how and why it's a healthy non-stick because I think all the different PFOA and PFAS can get confusing. Our Place has combined a hexagonal structure (for non-stick) with titanium (for strength) which has resulted in a non-stick that's free from all the nasty PFAS and PFOA chemicals that other brands use. It also makes it stronger, so you can use metal utensils on your non-stick, which is unheard of. This clever design cultivates in what Our Place call 'NoCo', which promises to deliver stainless steel results in a convenient way. So, that's what I wanted to test out.

I started simply, with some frying pan tests, and worked up to some slow cooking simmering and sautéing too. The Titanium Always Pan Pro needs to be heated for 90 seconds before cooking and you will still need to use a tiny bit of oil to activate the non-stick. Once you've secured both of these, it's amazing.

The Titanium Always Pan Pro is essentially, first and foremost, a casserole saucepan. However, there are some aspects of frying pans that have been incorporated into the design, so I wanted to give this a test for some of those too. The first test was on fried onions.

I diced one brown onion, although you can fit about three in, and added a knob of butter to the pan. It heated up really quickly, and melted the butter so that it sizzled and bubbled within thirty seconds. I added the onions and got a big hiss of heat from the pan, an indicator that things were really heating up. Then, for the next five minutes, I used the spatula to keep the onions moving around the pan. I also tried holding the handle of the pan and shifting the onions around, which does work well, but it gets heavy after some time. When five minutes was up, my onions had turned almost clear. They had some beautiful browning and golden colours on them, which is a result.

I used the onion as a base for what became my Dahl. I chopped ginger and lime, and added coconut milk and spices, as well as some dried lentils. Immediately, my garlic puree got stuck in the structures of the pan, which wasn't ideal. Once I had added my liquids, this lifted out, but it's worth noting if you want to toast some spices or nuts, for example.

The deep edges of the pan were really useful for keeping the hob clean here and the lid made a wonderful dome for when I wanted to keep all the moisture in the pan. One thing I really noticed was just how sensitive this is to changes in heat. Almost instantly, when I turned up the heat, the coconut milk would bubble, but I could bring it back down again just as quickly. Even leaving the Dahl to reduce the heat for half an hour didn’t create any sticking or burns. 

I also made a three bean stew, to test how this could slow cook. It was faultless, really. The hand didn’t get hot, even after being on the hob for a long time. The stew didn’t stick or burn, and the lid did a wonderful job of channelling and managing the steam.

Cleaning

The natural non-stick made this a breeze to wash. All remnants of my stews slid off under the tap. I would always recommend using warm, soapy water and a gentle washing-up liquid, like Ecover. Our Place says that the pan can go in the dishwasher, but if you want to preserve it over the course of the lifetime warranty, it’s better to wash it by hand.

How does it compare?

If you’ve been eyeing up Our Place, you’ll have thought about the original, Always Pan. This cheaper, more famous model is good for lots of the same reasons that the Titanium Always Pro is. It’s deep, versatile, well-built, and a nice weight. However, some of the finishing touches on the Titanium Pro give it the edge, not least the non-stick itself. 

Should you buy it?

There's a lot to love about the Titanium Always Pan Pro: the fact that you can use metal utensils on it, that it's safe for ovens and a range of hobs, and that it's incredibly versatile. If you need a do-it-all investment, this is perfect.

How we test

At woman&home, I like to test our stainless steel pans, induction-friendly pans, non-stick pans, and all other types of pans in the same way. I look at their versatility, durability, value, and performance alongside other factors, such as the size, shape, and composition. I don't leave a single stone unturned, so that you know everything you need to know about a pan by the end of a review.

To test the Our Place Titanium Pan Pro, I fried onions, made dahl, and a bean stew. Then, unofficially, over the last few months, I've been using it in the test kitchen any time that we've needed a pan. Each time, I've thought about which homes would suit this, why I like it, and why I don't. I've also compared it to all the other pans that I've tested on the market to come to a conclusion on whether this is the perfect pan.

If you'd like to know more, you can visit our page where we give the full details of how we test stainless steel pans.