What is Reddit's opinion of Demeyere Proline 5 Star 9.4 Inch Fry Pan?

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I went with this: https://www.amazon.com/Demeyere-Proline-Star-9-4-Inch/dp/B000GT88Z4/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1508515396&sr=1-1&keywords=demeyere+atlantis we just got married so i had a few giftcards to Crate and Barrel and got it for $99. Its fantastic to cook with! I'm going to slowly build my collection of pans up. I need a new stock pot.

I bought my first real pan months ago--a 10" Demeyere stainless steel skillet after doing a bit of research.

> The general rule of thumb is the more ply (layers), the better in terms of thermal conductivity and/or heat retention

That is not the case. For instance you can increase the heat retention of a pan by adding a material that has higher heat retention than the pan does currently (which does indeed mean more layers), but you would get higher heat retention by simply using that material on its own (just one layer).

> the drawback is weight

Depends what material you add, abs whether you decrease the original material. Replacing 3mm of stainless steel with 1mm of aluminium sandwiched between two 1mm layers of stainless steel, will reduce the weight, not increase it.

> what type of pans benefit most/least from ply count.

You need to get away from “ply count” as a measure of quality, and think more in terms of the properties of the pan and what you want to do with it.

> for a sauce pan, I suppose you want something that's only 1 material or at most 3-ply since you probably want better immediate thermal control?

With a saucepan, I like the heat to be distributed up the sides without burning in the corners, so I avoid pans with a separate base and thin side walls. I like my pans easy to clean and yes, with a saucepan I do like reasonably responsive temperature control. I don’t usually need particularly even heat as I tend to stir things in a saucepan, or be cooking in a liquid which will distribute the heat pretty well for me anyway. Also, I like an induction cooktop.

Stainless steel with an aluminium core gives me what I want and there are options available that will last a lifetime and are therefore, in my opinion, worth the cost.

For a milk pan though, I do accept a separate base material, because non-stick doesn’t last and thus I’m going to be replacing it reasonably often, so a 3-ply pan is likely too expensive. Also as it’s non-stick I won’t be using high heat, so burning in the corners isn’t so likely to be an issue.

So I’ll take an aluminium pan with a steel base.

> about for a saute pan? Stock pot?

For both of these I personally like stainless steel with an aluminium core.

The 5-ply (and more) that I have seen, have never convinced me that the significant additional cost is worth the properties they exhibit, and depending what and how you cook, they aren’t necessarily benefits. But maybe one day that will be different.

> Also, I'm curious if something seemingly as simple as a stock pot is even worth going for an All-Clad or a Demeyere version assuming one wants it to last for life.

I don’t see why not. I’m not sure what you mean by “as simple as a stock pot” though? What would be a more complicated pan?

> I'm not sure how a cheap off-brand stainless steel one could offer any noticeable improvements

Well for one thing, it’s cheaper. That is a pro rather than a con for most people.

> (is varying quality of SS a thing?)

Yes. There are differing grades of stainless steel. Pans can also be made from different thicknesses of exactly the same materials. Some 3-ply pans will use different grades of stainless steel on the inside and outside - one for how it looks and one for how it performs.

> except for possibly rivetless handles for easier cleaning

A riveted handle is generally a positive, as it is stronger than a screwed on handle and I indicative of a higher quality product.

I have personally never had trouble cleaning a pan just because it had a riveted handle.

> Though I don't really have a budget and was initially thinking of getting All-Clad D3 for every SS cookware as the best bang for your buck where you won't really need any more upgrades in your lifetime.

Sounds reasonable to me.