Less is more — even when it comes to outfitting your kitchen.
That’s the philosophy of Proclamation Goods, a new cookware company built on the belief that you really only need two pans in your cooking arsenal: a 12-inch skillet and a 7-quart pot.
The company was founded by CEO Chris Burrage, former general manager of Casper mattresses, and Chief Product Officer Tony Leo, former head of design at Pottery Barn.
With that kind of pedigree, you’d expect the pans to be of high quality. And they are, as I found when I was given a free set to test drive.
Made in the United States, the set of two pans, which comes with one lid that can fit either, retails for about $379.
The first thing you notice when you pick them up is their heft. These are heavy-duty pans with a streamlined design. The pot is made of gleaming stainless steel, and the skillet comes in either stainless steel or carbon steel. I was kindly sent one of each, and I will say you will surely get an arm workout wielding the carbon steel one, which is much weightier like cast-iron.
There are no coatings on these pans so while they are billed as low-stick, they are definitely not non-stick. I cooked a salmon fillet in the carbon steel, skin-side down. When it came time to flip it over, though, the skin stuck to the pan in several spots. So it’s not as nonstick as a ceramic-coated Circulon pan or a Teflon pan, the coating of which, though, can start to break down after awhile. But the founders say that like other cast-iron pans, this one, which comes pre-seasoned, will develop a more slippery surface the more you use it over time. For your first few attempts, though, be sure to use a decent amount of oil so foods release more easily.
I fared better when I sauteed some chopped chard in the skillet, experiencing no sticking issues. I appreciated the depth of the skillet, which made it easy to stir-fry a generous amount of veggies without worry of them flying out of the pan.
The 7-quart pot is quite versatile. I used it to boil a pound of pasta easily. It can also be used as a dutch oven with the skillet cleverly acting as the lid. The short curved handle on the skillet also can be hooked onto the pot’s short curved handle to form a hinge. So, for instance, if you take the pot out of the oven to give the contents a stir midway through cooking, you can just lift the skillet onto the hinge without having to worry about placing it or another lid down somewhere.
At first I thought the straight handles of both pots might make it cumbersome to maneuver in and out of the oven. But actually, the straight handles are shorter than other skillets I have, so getting the pot out of the oven required no extra effort at all.
The two pots with the lid on top can be stacked up and stored efficiently in your cupboard, too, without taking up a ton of space. Proclamation Goods also will be releasing a smaller-sized version of the pan duo at 9-inches in diameter in the future.
For folks who cook a lot, it would be hard to get by with just two pans, though. For me, I know I would need to add at least one small saucepan — for making gravy, caramel, hard-boiled eggs or even heating up a can of soup. And with my Chinese heritage, you know I’d need a large, deep wok, too.
If you’re just starting to stock your kitchen, Proclamation pans are definitely useful in size and versatility. And you’re wanting to upgrade your collection of cheap, flimsy pans, these are definitely well-made workhorses that will last a long time.
For $20 off the Proclamation pans, use coupon code: foodgal.
CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a free set of Proclamation pans (valued at about $300). Entries, open only to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Dec. 7. Winner will be announced on this blog on Dec. 9.
How to win?
Just tell me what your favorite pan is — and why. Best answer wins.
Here’s my own response to that question: “OK, I don’t know if technically they are considered ‘pans’ per se, but my favorite ones are my cookie sheets. That’s because baking cookies is my favorite thing to do in the kitchen. In fact, there are many times when I am up to my ears in deadlines, when all I want to do is free myself from all the stress by baking a batch of cookies. Stirring together the dough, dropping it by spoonfuls onto the baking sheets, then waiting for them to bake as the kitchen fills with the fragrance of butter and sugar, is pure nirvana. There’s the anticipation of the sweet reward, still warm from the oven, to enjoy at the end, too. Is it any wonder that I reach for these pans whenever I can?”