Below is my original review. SINCE that review, I had a friend come over with her 35 year old All-Clad pan and a laser heat thermometer. We played around with my stove (which I admitted was awful)... and it has such an incredible heat difference on the burner that I doubt any pan could truly surmount that problem. One side of the burner was 140 and the other 200... that's the difference between undercooking and overcooking chicken right there. I have since been using the pan more cautiously only because of my issues from before, rotating it as I cook. It's just not in our immediately future to replace the stovetop, but definitely on the top of the list. I have kept the pan and realize my review, though full of frustration, wasn't fair to the product. I am still giving it 4 stars - the overall pan feels extremely well made and sturdy, but the handle is gawd-awful uncomfortable, and I stand by my statement that if you need to learn a secret handshake to make it comfortable, it's not intuitive. And as a practical issue, the pan is really heavy, so inevitably if you were to lift it with one hand, you have to grasp the pan and lever the handle along the underside of your forearm to keep it horizontal - and the curved U shape really digs into your arm to keep it stable. It's not pleasant. ----------------------------------------------- Old review: I feel like I bought a completely different item than everyone else here. This thing is a very expensive piece of crap compared to the really old pan I sadly got rid of when I bought this thing. Let me preface this by saying I cook a batch of chicken thighs every week. I marinade them the same way - in some coconut aminos. I had an old Circulon pan that I had been using that had warped so there was a definite lump in the middle, however... moving chicken around, rotating them in and out of the middle, it worked. The biggest burner is not very big, uneven temps at best. Little did I realize that our old crappy pan was a much better option. I know we have a terrible stove, we bought this pan because it claimed heat distribution. We figured the center warp of the old pan was a sign we should replace it, and why not upgrade it with something people swore by? The recipe actually calls for a sear first, and then turn the burner way down to cook the chicken all the way through. I gave up on this the first 3 times I used this pan, just wanting evenly cooked chicken. So this time, no high heat to start (it's an All Clad after all and they claim you don't need that!) So this time, I kept my burner at medium low - on the low side of the medium setting. I use avocado oil. The first pic with the black in the center, the pan immediately started to char in the middle. All the pieces at the edge were still pinkish raw with a burnt edge where they touched the center! I then removed all the chicken and actually cleaned the pan because the entire surface was charred. The second picture is after only 2 minutes or so, as the center starts to burn again. I turned the heat down to where it is in the third pic. I was cooking with it closer to OFF than Medium, and the center of the pan continued to burn, the chicken char, and I can't get it to temp. Yet, you can see the chicken is starting to dry out and char. Third pic I realized I should show that I am really not using some super high temp, everything I can find on cooking with these says "haha inexperienced cooks will use high temps!" Please. What about people that follow all of your recommendations, and still.... Chicken thighs need to reach 185º (breasts only 165º) and I could not get these pieces above 160º despite the fact that they were burning. I made sure there was enough oil, I attempted to "not touch meat until a sear" which just charred an edge, and then ripped that edge off when I moved it, revealing raw underneath. Great. I took all the chicken out of the pan and used the microwave, and I'm now returning this thing. $250 worth of crap. Other stuff. The lid for this is also solid metal, not a big deal but it does mean you cannot see in. If you are used to having a glass lid that will be a change. These pans are really heavy. The handle is awkward, painful, and really not ergonomically shaped. One review I read of it said you have to figure out how to rest your hand in it correctly... honey, it's a handle. The thing you reach for to move something heavy. The pan is so freaking heavy that if you require a secret hand-shake configuration of your hand to hold it, I guarantee you it won't be whatever grip you have the most strength with, and it's going to be nearly impossible to hold it with food in it. The handle is sharply U shaped, and for most of us, lifting a 4+lb pan using a long thing handle requires us to press down with the butt of our thumb to lever/fulcrum the pan level. Try it right now - every heavy pan you have, you press down with your hand against your wrapped around fingers to hold it up. the 2 sharp edges of this U shape dig into your hand and it hurts. I have no other means of applying enough downward pressure to hold the pan up in any way that is comfortable. Plus, the pan will get hot, so the second smaller handle to help you stabilize it will be too hot to touch without a towel or something. I'm so disappointed. I continue to have a really crappy stove, so I need to find something that is going to be able to work with that, distribute heat, and cook a few pieces of chicken without this much hassle.
