5-Ply Stainless Steel Frying Pan, 12"

Stainless is the pan a working line defaults to, because it does the two jobs that matter most every night: a hard sear, and the pan sauce built on what the sear leaves behind. Nothing coats the surface, so the browned bits stick, and a splash of wine or stock lifts them into the sauce.

Misen builds this one from five layers, stainless outside and aluminum through the core, at about three millimetres thick. The weight is the point: it holds its heat when cold food goes in, so the first steak sears like the last. It goes in the dishwasher, it takes metal tools, and the 12-inch gives you room to brown without crowding.