I Tried It: Our Place’s Cast Iron Always Pan Is The Real Deal
Admittedly, I’m timid around a cast iron. During college, I went through a very intense phase of devouring cooking content on YouTube, starting with blind taste-testings of various sorts and ending with professional chefs expertly demonstrating how to properly season and care for a traditional cast iron pan—a process that seemed like more trouble than it was worth to a novice 20-something who didn’t spend extensive time in the kitchen. But after more than two years at home with little to do except cook, I became more thoughtful in the kitchen—with my ingredients, my skills, and even my cookware.
So when Our Place, the brand that sent Instagram users and home cooks into a frenzy (inspiring an eerily similar-looking Aldi pan in the process) released a cast iron version of its cult-followed Always Pan in April, I knew I had to check it out.
Look and Feel
Our Place’s take on cast iron weans the kitchen staple away from its traditionally industrial-looking associations and more towards the playful side of design. I assumed the Cast Iron Always Pan would be pretty—my OG version in sage green is a cheerful addition in my cookware collection already—but it actually exceeded my expectations in terms of how stunning it is in real life (I chose blue salt but the pan is also available in all of the brand’s classic shades like sage green and lavender.) Our Place’s design is a matte enameled cast iron that’s been preseasoned—meaning it’s pretty much ready to cook without undergoing a typical oil seasoning beforehand or any special cleaning afterwards. The pan also seems slightly lighter weight than regular cast irons I’ve used in the past, and I appreciated the added accessories, which included a clear glass lid, wooden spoon, and heat-absorbing rubber holders that you can attach to the handles.
Cooking with the Cast Iron Always Pan
As an inaugural dish, I opted for an egg frittata to see how the pan would fare. Since it’s crucial to have even heat distribution when cooking dishes like this, I knew it would be a solid method to test the pan’s conduction power. Besides slightly oiling the pan before pouring my egg, tomato, onion, spinach, and potato mixture in, I basically let the pan do all the work and served the frittata without removing it from the cast iron. In a moment of truth, I cut a triangular slice of egg—and was delighted with how it turned out. Uneven heat distribution has ruined many a frittata in my day, but the Always Pan laid a solid foundation for beautifully cooked eggs that are not sticky. From there I moved onto different meats which seared fabulously on the pan and were easy to start on the stove and finish in the oven (Our Place says its pan is oven safe up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit without the lid and oven/broiler safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.)
