Demeyere Atlantis 9.5-inch Sauté Pan with Lid, $319.99
Made in Belgium and Distributed by Zwilling US
Overall Rating
Belgian high-end cookware manufacturer Demeyere is a brand unfamiliar to most Americans, even if it is well-known by professionals and cooking aficionados. Demeyere’s high-end cookware has not entered the public consciousness the same way that Le Creuset or All-Clad have, though I have seen Demeyere products used on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, recognizable by the logo on the handle. Corporate parent Zwilling is mentioned in the credits so it all lines up.
I came across Demeyere as I searched for new cookware to use with my induction range. Most of my old stainless steel cookware was surprisingly not compatible with induction, so I was pretty much starting over. The sauté pan is one of the most frequently used pieces so I put a lot of research into my choice, and decided on the 9.5-inch Demeyere Atlantis Sauté Pan with lid.
Not a fan of the huge sticker on the side. It took a lot of time and effort to get it all off.
The price was astronomically high at $319.99 retail. I could have purchased an entire set of induction-compatible Tramontia stainless steel cookware from Costco for $120 less than that, and by all accounts the Costco Tramontina stuff is pretty good. I considered it a lifetime purchase, something I would use almost every day and a good investment in this site and my new endeavor, so I waited until it went on sale for about $270 and bit the bullet.
Demeyere Atlantis (also called Atlantis 7) is reputed to be the best stainless steel cookware in the world as well as the very best cookware for induction, the latter being one of the things that swayed me to buy it. The 7-ply base is composed of a layer of copper, two layers of silver, two layers of aluminum and two layers of stainless steel. This provides incredible performance with induction, with exceptionally fast heat-up and outstanding heat retention and evenness edge-to-edge. The strong, sturdy and heavy 7-layer base is going to be pretty much impossible to warp, as well. Given that heat fall-off at the edge of the pan is something induction users sometimes complain about, I liked the idea of having such even heat distribution. Demeyere Atlantis is dishwasher safe, though putting such an expensive piece of cookware in the dishwasher seems sacrilegious, especially given how easily it cleans up.
The interior of the pan is treated with a proprietary process called Silvinox, which removes impurities from the stainless steel to make it fingerprint-resistant, shiny silvery-white and easier to clean. (Please note this is a treatment, not a coating.) The handles are welded rather than riveted, yielding a smooth interior that is a joy to cook in and without any rivets to clean around when it is dishwashing time.
I quickly found that my $320 sauté pan was absolutely worth the investment, and I smile every time I reach for it. You buy Demeyere Atlantis for the 7-ply base, the Silvinox interior finish and the welded handles, and in use they work together to make a product that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Cooking Ted Allen’s Salmon with Sweet Tomato Vinagrette is a perfect test for this pan as you both sear and sauté, and it was the first thing I attempted. Having the completely smooth surface with the heavy base is almost like cooking on a perfectly-heated griddle with sides when it is on silicon mat on my induction range.
Food moves around easily, and seems to resists sticking more on Atlantis than on other stainless cookware I own. I was able to get a perfect sear on the fish before putting it in the oven and then sautéing the tomato mixture. When it is all done, clean-up is easy and that Silvinox interior really looks great.
Would I buy more Demeyere Atlantis coookware? Absolutely, and I plan to do so going forward. My All-Clad D5 saucepan pales in comparison, and I will be replacing it with the Atlantis equivalent sometime in the future. I think I will be more satisfied with the value from the Atlantis at $249 compared to what I get for my money for $149 for the D5.
Performance
Value
Overall
My final rating is 5 tagines for performance, 3 tagines for value and 5 tagines overall. Though I think it is a good value despite the cost (especially for induction) it is hard to give anything so expensive more than 3 tagines for value.
Pros
- Incredible cooking performance
- Beautiful, rivet-less cooking surface
- Easy clean-up
- 30-year warranty
Cons
- Expensive. VERY expensive. (Sign up for emails on zwilling.com to get coupons.)
- Heavy
- If you do not have induction, Atlantis 7 could be overkill and you may want to consider other cookware lines from Demeyere