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On the subject of celebrity cookware lines, I’m generally a solid “meh.” Whether it’s Queer Eye’s Tan France coming up with a few new colorways for Caraway’s existing pieces, Selena Gomez doing the same for Our Place, or Drew Barrymore putting her name on housewares for Walmart, there’s rarely anything revolutionary about any of it. In my experience, even celebrity chefs’ pots and pans can be disappointing; the enamel on my Martha Stewart dutch oven chipped within a month.
Still, I admit I felt a twinge of excitement when I learned that Emmy-award-winning actor, author, and bona fide Italian-American Food Person Stanley Tucci was taking his turn with a line of kitchen gear developed with GreenPan.
For starters, we’re talking about Stanley Tucci, a man whose appeal is both confusing and undeniable (I don’t know if I want him to be my husband or my dad, I just know I want him to feed me and talk to me about the world). And while I don’t want a matching set of any cookware—especially not ceramic-coated cookware—GreenPan does consistently make some of Epi’s favorite nonstick skillets. So I perused the digital preview I received over the summer with an open mind, as well as a healthy dose of professional product-reviewer skepticism.
At first glance, the Tucci by GreenPan collection was pretty much what I expected: A variety of high-end ceramic-coated pots and pans seemingly on par with the brand's Reserve line but with a few well-considered bonus features.
The pasta pot, for example, is big enough to boil a whopping two pounds of pasta and comes with a nesting colander for easy straining. However, it only comes as part of an 11- or 15-piece set, and, more importantly, it’s a superfluous use of nonstick material. Do I really need my stockpot to be nonstick? No, no I do not. (Sorry, Stanley, please don’t hate me.)
That said, one piece in particular caught my eye. It’s called the Essential Stanley Pan and it’s a 6.5-quart, 13-inch sauté pan with high, sloped sides; a vast, flat bottom; and a clear glass lid.
“It’s my favorite because you can put so much shit in there,” Tucci told Architectural Digest in a recent interview about the cookware.
He beat me to the punch with that quote, because as a person who’s prone to overcrowding the pan—any pan—the size is what drew me to this one. (Though I’d be lying if I said the sophisticated color options and gold-toned cast stainless steel handles didn’t woo me too.)
For comparison’s sake, Caraway’s straight-sided sauté pan feels fairly large and it’s two quarts smaller than the Stanley Pan. Other brands, including All-Clad, do make comparably-sized sauté pans, but I haven’t found one that’s quite this big that also has a long handle, a clear glass lid, and a nonstick cooking surface.
The Stanley Pan is perfect for tossing an entire pound of pasta in red sauce, or in eggs and butter and cheese when I make my kids a dish they think is cacio e pepe but is really a mashup of that recipe and a kind of meatless carbonara. My Stanley Pan is also deep enough for braising multiple pork or lamb chops and it transitions seamlessly from the stovetop to the oven, where it can handle temperatures of up to 600ºF. The tight-fitting tempered-glass lid is oven safe up to 425ºF.
Of course, all of this comes at a price. As of the line’s launch on September 15th, the white and teal Essential Stanley Pans retail for $200, while the stainless steel version is $230. These aren’t heirloom pieces either, because even with careful handwashing and non-metal utensils, all ceramic-coated cookware will begin to lose its non-stick coating with repeated use.
For me, the trade-offs are worth it, because as long as they’re in tip-top shape, high-quality ceramic nonstick pans, the Stanley Pan included, are a dream to cook on. My only problem is that I haven’t been able to make room for this one on my modest pot rack, so it mostly lives on top of my induction range, where it looks right at home. And everyone who’s walked into my kitchen lately has gasped and asked, “What’s that pan?!” They get even more excited when I tell them it’s from Stanley Tucci’s new cookware line.
