Tom Kerridge has redesigned M&S' bestselling All in One pan, this time in stainless steel – it gets a straight five stars from me

Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge's cookware collection with M&S is seriously expansive, with 50 pieces in total spanning cast iron cookware and food prep gadgets. We've tried a range of the products already here at Ideal Home but the Stainless Steel All Purpose Saucepan (£60 at M&S) might just be my favourite yet.

This pan looks to be an upgrade on the existing (and popular to the point of repeatedly selling out) M&S All-in-One Pan (£30) which we awarded 4.5 stars in our review.

Rather than an aluminium build, Tom Kerridge's chef-approved version is crafted from stainless steel and features an 'extra-thick copper disc inside the base which heats evenly and fast' according to Tom himself. Here's how I found it.

In a nutshell

The Stainless Steel All Purpose Saucepan is undoubtedly a serious piece of kit. If you’re looking for something that’s non-stick and comes in a pretty pastel colour, like the original Always Pan (£99 at Our Place), this isn’t designed for you.

However, if you want to invest in performance cookware that’s built to stand the test of time, look no further. Its 5 litre capacity is probably a bit too big for my two person household, but for bigger families and batch cooking, it’s got you covered.

Who tested this pan?

Helen McCue

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances in a freelance capacity ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.

Helen used the M&S x Tom Kerridge Pans in her home for two weeks. She used them on a gas hob and in an electric fan oven.

First impressions and unboxing

The Stainless Steel All Purpose Saucepan arrived in a big box with lots of bubble wrap. It’s a large and weighty pan, so I can see that shipping it is probably a challenge, I’d just prefer not to have the bubble wrap.

This is a really good quality piece of cookware – I could tell just by the weight and feel of it. The matte handles contrast the shiny stainless steel nicely. The well fitting lid doesn’t have a steam hole in it, so I’ll be interested to see how easily steam escapes.

The capacity is 5 litres, which is very generous and will suit larger families. For comparison, similar all purpose pans are much smaller. I recently reviewed Lakeland’s Only Pan and it’s just 3.1 litres. Likewise, the Our Place Always Pan is just 2.5 litres.

Other than size, the big difference with the Tom Kerridge pan is that it’s stainless steel, so while you won’t benefit from a non-stick coating, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about in terms of forever chemicals leaching into your food. This is certainly a bonus if you’re extra cautious, and still looking to avoid, even the safer, ‘non-toxic’ coatings.

Cooking

To try out this pan, I opted to make a chicken jalfrezi. First I fried a paste of blended onion, garlic and ginger, before adding some chunkier chopped onion, then diced chicken thighs. I used a generous splash of oil, so nothing stuck. Instead, there was a bit of browning on the pan, but this came away easily later on, when I added some liquid.

I added a kilo of chicken, easily enough for five portions, but the large capacity of the pan meant there was still plenty of space. Even after I added peppers, tomatoes and some water, the pan was only about half full.

The curry simmered on the hob until the chicken was cooked through and the sauce was rich and thick. It bubbled evenly with no apparent hot spots. When it came to removing it from the hob, I did need to lift it with both handles, as it’s particularly heavy when loaded up with food. The handles were warm to the touch, but not hot enough to require an oven glove, which made life easier.

This pan was also a great choice for my veggie lentil bolognese. I fried onions, followed by mushrooms and the added diced peppers. Then I added tinned tomatoes, cooked lentils and seasonings.

I simmered the bolognese with the lid on. As I mentioned earlier, there’s no steam hole in the lid, nevertheless excess steam was able to vent out around the edges of the lid. When removing the lid, I quickly noticed that the lid handle gets hot and I had to use a tea towel to grab it.

I didn’t get chance to use this pan in the oven, but it is oven safe up to 240C. It would also work well for shallow frying, or even simply boiling big batches of veg or potatoes.

I used it to saute a selection of mixed greens including broccoli, sprouts and asparagus. First I heated the pan and added a splash of boiling water so that the vegetables would steam and cook through a bit. Then, as the water evaporated, I coated the greens in oil and kept stirring and cooking until they softened and developed some charring on the edges.

There wasn’t any sticking, but the pan heats up fast and I think I allowed it to get too hot, because by the end, there were some brown baked on oil stains. Luckily, the veg was cooked well and very tasty.

I also used it to fry a couple of sea bass fillets. And even though I added plenty of oil, they did stick quite badly to the pan, which was a shame and meant they looked a bit sad by the time I dished them up.

Image 1 of 2

There’s definitely a knack to frying in stainless steel pans, you have to get the temperature of the pan and the oil just right. You can go down a whole YouTube rabbit hole learning about how to use stainless steel frying pans. And I’ll hold my hands up and admit that I’m far too used to frying in non-stick pans, especially for delicate foods like fish. So while it is described as an all-purpose pan, I personally would stick to my regular non-stick pan for frying delicate foods - but that’s a me problem and not the pan.

What's it like to clean and store?

This stainless steel pan is dishwasher safe, but hand washing is advised for longevity. Not only that, but even in a full size dishwasher it would take up a good chunk of the rack, so I decided to hand wash it, which wasn’t too problematic.

After sauteeing greens there were some stubborn brown stains that required a good bit of elbow grease to remove. Similarly, after my slight fail with the sea bass, I left it soak for a couple of hours before attempting to scrub off the bits of fish skin that were stuck to the pan. It came up nice and clean, but there was some scrubbing involved.

When it comes to storage, this is an undeniably a big pan. It takes up a lot of space, but on the flip side, its multi purpose design means you may be able to get rid of a couple of other pans and replace with just this one.

How does it compare to similar pans on the market?

This pan offers a great opportunity to jump on board the current trend of all purpose pans, whilst avoiding the non-stick coatings that most of them come with.

What’s more, it’s half the price of the social media sensation, the Our Place Always Pan (£125). However, this Tom Kerridge version is heavy and something like the Lakeland Only Pan, which I awarded 4.5 stars to, is a much lighter alternative, for the same price.

Should you buy the M&S x Tom Kerridge pans?

With its ample capacity and excellent design, I think this pan is a must for larger families. The price point is very accessible too and offers great value given the build and features of the pan.