$12 Non-Stick Frying Pan - Is It Worth It? (Review of ALDI Crofton 24cm ceramic induction pan)
A ceramic non-stick frying pan which costs $11.99?!? Is it any good? Does it really work? In this review of the Crofton (ALDI house brand) 24cm pan, you'll watch me cook eggs, a hamburger patty and some banana fritters, all without butter or oil. The pan is induction cooktop compatible, and has a triple layer ceramic coating.
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:22 - unboxing
1:38 - cooking two over-easy / easy-over eggs
3:26 - cooking lean minced beef hamburger patty
5:03 - cooking banana fritters
NOTE:
This pan was sold in Australia as an ALDI Special Buy.
MUSIC (from YouTube audio library, in order of appearance):
1: "Winds Of Spring" by The 126ers
2: "Entire" by Quincas Moreira
3: "Honey and Milk" by The 126ers
SYNOPSIS:
Today I'm doing something a little bit different. While I was at Aldi the other day, I came across a $12 Crofton non-stick frying pan, and thought it would be fun to see just how well it performs. It's 24 centimeters (or about 9.5 inches) across, and looks pretty good!
There really isn't much included in the box, just the pan itself and a warranty card. The warranty will, of course, differ depending on your country, but in Australia, the pan is guaranteed for one year. Not bad for a $12 product.
Now the surface of the pan is ceramic, which means it's free of the chemicals used in coatings like Teflon. It's very shiny, with a stone-like finish, and has an interesting hexagonal pattern on the bottom.
The wooden handle is very ergonomic, has a nice finish, and doesn't seem to get warm to the touch when you're cooking.
The base is compatible with induction cooktops, so it must include some ferrous, or magnetic, metal like stainless steel. It has quite a sharp edge which may scratch glass cooktops. Because it's such a nice day, I cooked outside on a portable gas stove, so I didn't need to worry about that.
First, I cooked two eggs - without oil or butter, just straight into the pan. Now a very interesting thing started to happen after a minute or so - the egg white bubbled up, and I found that I could lift up the edge very easily, revealing a translucent film.
I like my eggs over-easy, so I separated them before flipping. In keeping with the instructions, I did, of course, use a plastic spatula to flip them and separate them. When it came time to serve up, I found that I needed to dislodge the eggs slightly - they were really only stuck in the middle, near the yolk - but then, after a bit of encouragement, they slid right out. The residue was easy to clean up; most of it came out by scraping gently with the spatula.
Then I cooked my hamburger patty, which is made out of lean minced beef. After a while, the bottom of the pan did get stained with some burnt meat juice, but the patty was still sliding around effortlessly.
Unlike the eggs, the meat just slid right out of the pan. It made a very nice meal, along with the eggs and some sprigs of parsley.
Now what about the mess left behind? Well, a spatula or paper towel wasn't going to cut it this time, so it was back into the washing up water with the soft cloth, and it cleaned up pretty easily.
After my dinner, I really needed some desert, so tried "banana fritters" (of the non-deep fried variety) - again, without butter or oil. After two minutes, some of the sugar in the fruit was starting to burn on the bottom of the pan, but the pieces could still be turned easily. Over time, of course, the burnt areas became increasingly caked-on.
After four minutes, the fritters were done, and, when scooped out, had left quite a big mess behind. I ended up serving the fritters with a scoop of ice-cream, a drizzle of honey, and a liberal sprinking of cinnamon sugar. Mmm, they were delicious!
How did the burnt-on residue clean up, using only a soft cloth and soapy water? Pretty well, and it only took two minutes.
So should you buy this $12 Aldi frying pan? Based on my tests, I would say yes. It's well made, the non-stick surface is effective, and if you just need a small pan to take camping or on holiday, it's a bargain.
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