For those who like this hybrid, and haven’t been able to find it since it was discontinued, I give you:
and
Aloha,
Kaleo
Kaleo, do you know how the handling is for this pan? it seems (to me) the more ‘ply’ there is, the heavier the pan gets. I’ve heard of the even heating of this pan, but the 9 ply is a bit intimidating
Hi, dfk:
I have actually sawn one in half to see what’s inside!
These have 9 layers mostly because they’re hybids–the pan body is clad, but there’s also a disk bonded to the bottom. What I discovered is that (a) there really isn’t a copper layer (it’s decorative); and the rest of the “insides” are mostly layers of different aluminum alloys. I concluded that, functionally, there are really only 5 layers. lining+aluminum+steel+aluminum+induction bottom. What differentiates this line is that the total thickness of aluminum is impressive, but the walls are thinner.
I’ll have to look to see if I recorded the weight. I did keep a cutaway showing all the layers. I don’t recall it bein exceptionally heavy.
Aloha,
Kaleo
Now that’s some serious dedication to cookware! I am curious, not that it its relevant to cookware, what did you use to saw the pan in half? Those saws they use to build houses? I wouldn’t think a handsaw would be up to the task.
But it makes sense that its not overly heavy (or even at all), if there are actually only 5 layers and 2 are lighter weight aluminum.
After you saw the pan in half, how did you determine which layers were which metal? just eyeballed it?
Hi, dfk:
The Chiarello was donated specifically to be destructively tested and dissected. I used a bandsaw with a metal cutting blade, but a plain 'ole hacksaw will also do. Then I polished the cut edge and looked. The SS and aluminum layers are easily distinguished, but seeing distinct alloy sublayers in the aluminum is very hard. If it was critical, I suppose I could acid-etch the cut and see if it brought out each aluminum layer.
Years ago on Chowhound, I proposed both a “Lending Library” of cookware and a permanent collection of cutaways, so consumers could assess manufacturer’s claims. The Chiarello was the only donation…
Aloha,
Kaleo
