Kitchara Hard Anodized Fry Pan: Hands-On Review

We use stainless steel for most of our meals but it’s not always the best option for every kind of food. For delicate food with a tendency to stick, like eggs and fish, we prefer nonstick. That’s why having a good nonstick skillet in addition to your set is a great way to have a full toolkit at your disposal. A new cookware brand, Kitchara, recently launched their stainless steel cookware set and is now also offering a 12″ Nonstick Hard-Anodized Skillet with a vented Lid which we’d buy in tandem with the set.

Hard-anodized aluminum is an excellent type of nonstick material, but it is more expensive than frying pans with a traditional nonstick coating. Kitchara’s price (at under $100) is in line with other premium pans. Hard-anodized aluminum frying pans are known for their longevity and versatility, and Kitchara’s pan is designed to last longer and get the job done.

We had a chance to try out this new skillet, so read on to see what we think of it.

First Impressions

I’ve been using my All-Clad hard-anodized skillet for some time now (you can read my review of that pan here). I’ve LOVED it, but recently I’ve been having a hard time with the U-shaped handle. Because I loved that pan so much, I’ve put up with the discomfort that sometimes comes from handling it. But it took getting my new Kitchara skillet to realize that a lot of that love came from having such a great nonstick pan for the first time. Keeping that in mind, my first impressions of Kitchara were that I was impressed by its construction — and I’m extremely interested in having a handle that doesn’t cause discomfort when I hold it.

(I don’t want to spend too much time comparing it to what I have already [I’ll do that in a separate post!] but I do want to let you know where I’m coming from.)

The Kitchara frying pan has a comfortable handle and helper handle and includes a glass lid with a venting hole. It’s heavy (like all hard anodized skillets) and has riveting, a bottom designed to work on induction cooktops, and oven-safe (without the glass lid).

Cooking & Cleaning

So, while it looks great, we didn’t get this thing for decoration, so I immediately put it to task with some recipes. I like my nonstick pan for specific foods like hash browns (still have not mastered making them in stainless), fish, and a few other sticky recipes. I tried this after testing the Kitchara Stainless 10 pc Set, so I also set out to redeem myself after my burnt stovetop lasagna fiasco.

My teenager used it to whip up some eggs and my husband used it for some grilled cheeses. We found it to be great for everything. It heats up quickly and evenly, doesn’t stick, and is super easy to clean up.

In general, hard-anodized aluminum can stand up to heavy use better than traditional nonstick. I stick to wood and silicone in my All-Clad and I’ll do the same with this Kitchara pan, but for testing sake, I abused it a little to see how it would do. Using metal posed no problem to this tough nonstick interior. Similarly, I hand wash all my cookware but ran this one through the dishwasher once in the name of a thorough review: no problems there, either.

Pros

I have no problem highly recommending the Kitchara hard anodized nonstick skillet. It’s affordable, well-constructed, and does everything a good nonstick should do. I’m happy to promote this one to my go-to over my beloved All-Clad.

Even though not everyone is going to be comparing this one to the All-Clad hard-anodized skillet, I still think it’s worth noting that this is similarly priced and made of the same kinds of material, yet it has a much more comfortable handle.

To sum up, here are the key benefits I see regarding the Kitchara frying pan:

• Price: Though more expensive than regular nonstick (as are all hard-anodized pans), Kitchara’s is priced accordingly for this type of pan. In fact, based on my use, it feels like a premium-quality pan, so I’d even say it’s a great value
• Design: It’s easy to see that this pan is thoughtfully designed, from the handle design to the riveting and bottom
• Company: I’m all about small cookware companies right now, and Kitchara is making a real effort to be customer-focused and to provide great service. Their initial lineup is small, which has its own merits — namely, they’re starting out with a solid offering of high-quality products that they have devoted all their time and energy to.

Cons

At this point, I don’t have any negatives to tell you about. Time will tell if this pan holds up, but I don’t see any indications that this pan won’t stand the test of time. Nonstick, even hard-anodized aluminum, isn’t going to last a lifetime, but I do think this one will stay in rotation in my kitchen for many years to come.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this information is helpful to you if you are in the decision-making stage. I recommend Kitchara’s nonstick skillet AND their new stainless set. This is a company to watch and get on board with immediately! Shop for Kitchara now on Amazon or directly at kitcharacookware.com.

Check out the video below for a closer look!