This saute pan is a very solid piece. It's heavy, but large enough to make almost anything. The sides are tall enough to fry chicken in or make chili, and the bottom wide enough to fry bacon. This pan can even be used in the oven for baking a casserole. Because it's not non-stick, you have to be more careful about things sticking, but if something DOES stick, it's no problem to break out the stainless steal scrubbing pad. I love my Cusinart cookware (I have a full set)!

This pan is great! Not only is it nice and heavy and of great quality, but it is HUGE! Whenever company comes over or I am going to cook enough to have leftovers, I always pull out this pan. It is so massive that it sometimes makes it difficult to cook with the burner directly behind it. It is also very beautiful to look at.

I have had problems with sticking a couple times, but I think that was mostly due to operator error. The item I have is not quite the same as pictured, even though this is the one I ordered, so I was a bit confused when I got it, but I thought "oh, what the heck!" The pan is stainless throughout (it appears to be non stick in the photograph) and has a stainless cover (I thought it looked like it had a clear cover on the photograph, but after taking a closer look I realized I was mistaken).

I would buy this pan again!

I ordered this pan with lid thinking it was a nonstick saute pan...as pictured. I recently visited the recipient of this gift and discovered that it was not teflon coated as pictured. Of course it was way too late to return this item as the recipient had destroyed the box...I was very disappointed in Amazon. I realize Cuisinart is quality merchandise, and so if a mistake was made it is not the end of the world....but I intentionally ordered this saute pan because of the nonstick surface.

Yes this is a stove top hog if there ever was one but it can be used for many jobs and it does them all well. A pleasure to look at as well.

Another great quality pan bought here on Amazon for a steal! This pan was retail of $140 and I purchased here on sale for $19.78!! I buy all of my cookwear here! This pan delivers in size and weight. Nice solid handles and strong coating inside. Perfect for making a sauteed dinner for 4-6 in one pan. Looks gorgeous-handles great!

I bought it when it was offered at a bargain price, and it's a well constructed implement, no problems there. But - I still use my old, trusty crusty rusty great big cast iron skillet for most of the things this size pan is good for, even acidic tomato-based sauces. I'd hesitate to buy the Cusinart at the current price.

Just got the pan, looks beautiful, and I know it will cook great. However, my hubby threw out the cleaning instructions. Can anyone give me a quick overview of how to care for this pan? Thanks!

This pan is perfect when making a big meal. The helper handle is a necessity! This is ideal the large recipies!

This is the most wonderful pan I own. Excellent quality, the food cooks evenly and there is plenty of room for browning all the meat at one time.
Highly recommended.

Amazon's price was less than half of what retail store "sales" price was.

This is the first stainless steel pan I own . I have to say this pan cooks evenly and browns nicely. I have used this pan to make a creamy sundried tomato sauce with pasta, homemade chicken fingers, also I used this pan to cook eggs. Now for the people who say that food is sticking to the pan is because it is NOT a nonstick pan. You have to cook on a lower temperature so food does not stick. This pan is also is easy to clean. If discolorarion forms onthe pan, vinager works wonderfully and it will bring back the shine. Onthe outside ,I use a stainless steel wax to keep it atractive. this pan also stays hot for awhile(longer than any aluminum non stick surfaces), as long as you keep the lid on it. I wil definitly buy more of cuisinarts stainless series because of the economic value. I really did not see much difference between the All Clad and cuisinart series, except the handle is a little nicer than the cuisinart and this pan is $200.00 LESS than the All Clad. Try it and you will be glad you did.

I just tried out this pan for the first time tonight and I love it. The food turned out so much better compared to my old non-stick saute pan and the clean up was super easy. Plus its a great looking pan. I only gave it 4 stars since its brand new and I have only used it twice so far. If I discover any problems with it I will add a new review. Great pan for the price, I am glad I ordered it.

I was especially pleased with the prompt arrival and condition of this Cuisinart 5 1/2 qt. saute pan. It is great for cooking large quantities and portions. It was recommended by Rachel Ray as a cooking utensil every good cook should have, and I AGREE! Food doesn't stick and washing is easy. An added plus, shipping was free.

This pan is great for family size meals.
The only thing it is missing is the non-stick coating. Since I use it to fry and brown, stuff sticks to the bottom. After a 15 minute soak, I can clean it back to its original status.

Get out a ruler and put it on your stovetop, spin it around. This thing is a full 12", which is really quite big (it crowds the other burners on my stovetop). It's a great pan, with the aluminum bottom, the heat gets distributed very evenly over the entire surface of the pan, so the size isn't really an issue there, just be aware of what you're buying.

It is a great everyday pan from stir fry to one pot cooking.

I love this pan!!! Perfect size. High sides. Quality stainless steel and a lid. What more can one ask for?? Great price too! Cuisinart is a great choice if you can't afford All-Clad. Perfect pan for oh so many things--gets a great sear on meats too! Excellent buy! Perfect everything pan!

Great pan. Surprisingly easy to clean, can't emphasize this enough. Browns better than my non-stick pans. Looks good (if you don't mind shiny things).

I just LOVE this pan!! I had been looking for a pan of this size for some time; when I found it, I was so excited. I never thought I'd be this excited for a silly pan, it's just wonderful. I love the fact that I can go from stove top to oven. I'm able to prepare large quanities with ease. When it comes to cooking, if you're as passionate about it as I am, it's very important to have the correct tools. I recommend this product for everyone!!

I bought this item to replace a Costco pan that had the bottom coming off. The Cuisinart pan is a little lighter than Costco's Kirkland signature brand, but boy does it work well! It cooks quickly and evenly, and clean up is a breeze. I wouldn't dream of paying hundreds of dollars for a 5 1/2 Quart Saute Pan when I can own one like this for fraction of the price. I was fortunate enough to pick it up on sale for under $40, but even at full retail, you won't be sorry. If this is the size and type of pan you are looking for, buy it! You won't find a better product at any cost.

I've accumulated 21 pieces of the Cuisinart Chef's Classic cookware over the past year and have found each to be beyond expectations. Amazon has done a remarkable job of "best pricing" over this time period, although I did not obtain everything from them.

I stumbled upon a wonderful web site named "Cooking for Engineers" which removes the subjective and focuses on the objective. Perhaps this may be of value to those researching cookware. The following link is to the "Equipment & Gear" section. The remainder of the site is of similar content and quality.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article.php?id=120

I'm sure that you won't go wrong purchasing any of the Cuisinart Chef's Classic line, and I'm further certain that you'll find the best pricing from Amazon if you're willing to be patient.

When I ordered this, I didn't really think about the size. Amazon shipped it in one of their own huge boxes, and the pan was in perfect condition. I used it for the first time the other night, and realized just how big it is. I have an older stove, and once I put the pan on a burner I discovered that I couldn't use any of the other 3 burners. If you have a small stove or one where the burners are close together, keep that in mind.

The pan worked beautifully and cleaning up was easy. I'm buying other pieces from this collection and throwing out my old Farberware non-stick cookware. As someone else said, a gladd lid would have been great but otherwise it's perfect.

I purchased (2) of these quality Cuisinart items! I was astounded!! Fantastic Price,I could not believe that I have the exact product as all the major household department stores, the only difference is that I saved a great amount of money & I only paid $27.99 at Amazon! Free Shipping too! Everything arrived great! no damages, absolutely beautiful, this is incredible...

I preferred this style because the Cuisinart Al-Clad weights so much, a 1 quart pan will weight about 2 1/2 pounds, that is a product in my opinion that is great for "Industrial" Culinary Arena Cookware, On the other hand the Cuisinart Chef's Classic is suitable for all around daily cooking & it is lighter weight than the Cuisinart All-Clad, & is a professional cookware, which is great & a convenience, personally I do not recommend the Al-Clad Cuisinart & all major "All-Clad" cookware to people that have chronic arthritus, or carpal tunnel syndrome, it has too much weight & can be hazardous, just by lifting it's heavyness in weight, which to my opinion is a disadvantage to some people.

I want to extend to Amazon & Amazon Staff my many Thanks For this great product & The Cuisinart Company also, you have contributed to the upcoming holidays by providing a delightful & joyous addition to my life-time cookware, again thanks & wishing everyone all the best & Happy Upcomiing Holidays!!

Having used older styled pans for such a long time, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the new saute' pan. I cook on a gas stove and I've found that my old pans would get "hot spots" on occassion. That has not been the case with the Cuisinart so far. I also like the slightly taller side walls as I feel I can stir without spilling over the lip as easily. Clean up was easy and though the first time it looked like the bottom had stained. A quick check of the cleaning directions, pointed us to use vinegar to eliminate the stains... bravo...

This pan is nice and wide and deep enough for things that are saucy. The only negative I would say is that I wish the lid was glass so I could see what's inside.

I was reluctant to consider this pan based on it's low price. I'm glad I took the chance! I already own a couple All Clad stainless pans, which I love, but when I priced their 5qt saute pans I balked. In my research I came across this pan, read the stats and figured I must be missing something. The All Clad stainless 5 qt. saute is like $200!! This pan with similar features was $40. I ordered it from Amazon thinking I could easily return it if it didn't pan out. Well I haven't returned it. It's quality cookware. It's heavy, cooks evenly, has 2 riveted handles and comes with a tight fitting stainless lid suitable for use on other pans. I am shocked at the value this pan offers.

I bought this product after being very disatisfied with several types of woks. I've had 3 types; electric, common non-stick type, and an iron one. Even the iron one does not come close to how well this pan sears. It is deep anough and you can make anything in it, from fried eggs... to stir-fry... to stew. I highly recommend it.
Just a hint; the shinier the stainless steel pan inside - the more non-stick it acts. There are pans out there that are somewhat better than Cuisinart, but I'm not sure you can even come close to the Cuisinart price tho.

How wonderful to finally be able to cook with a real pan! I've been making do with some very old cheapy nonstick pans (picture loose, wobbly plastic handles, scratched nonstick interior, etc.) for quite a while. When the big pan from that set died recently, I just had to do without! Now I've finally got a real pan to replace it - this 5 1/2 quart saute pan! Just made my first dish with it - seared a roast to go into the oven, then sauteed some onions and garlic, and deglazed with the sauce. Awesome! It was a great pleasure to work with, cooked evenly (I followed the instructions and turned the temp down a little, and sure enough it still heated up extremely well and cooked wonderfully), and cleaned up beautifully afterward. The pan is large, but was not as heavy as I had expected one that size to be, although still a little challenging to handle one-handed. Handle of pan and lid stayed nice and cool, I'm very impressed with this pan and will definitely be looking forward to building the rest of my Cuisinart Chef set!

My pan arrived the other day, and Amazon must've listened to all the complaints about the packaging, because my box was packed in a bigger outer box with airpads. Everything was in great shape. I love the pan so far, too. I've only used it a couple of times, but so far it's great and easy to clean up. It's taking a bit getting used to cooking at lower temps - seems slow to heat up. I'd recommend it, though!

This is the perfect saute pan. The quality is as good as others priced three and four times higher! The double handle feature makes it easy to maneuver the pan. I searched for 3 months looking for the best value for the money, and was thrilled to find this one offered by Amazon.com! It is roomy enough to cook an entire chicken cut up, or to make a family size batch of spaghetti sauce. Clean up is easy! It is also beautiful enough to display from any ceiling utensil hanger. I highly recommend this pan to anyone looking for a large saute pan! You won't be disappointed!

All my Chef's Classic cookware looks and cooks wonderfully well and is normally a breeze to clean up. This Monster pan is no exception. Weighing in at close to 10 lbs., it is the senior edition of the highly rated Cuisinart 3 1/2-Qt. Saute Pan. If you have a small range, the size of this (a full 12" accross) may crowd out some other burners, so beware.

I discovered thet the dome cover for the shallow Cuisinart 12" 'everything' pan also fits this pan and thus makes it a good candidate for a dutch oven.

Now for the bad news: Amazon did not see fit to ship this within a padded box. As a result, the pan arrived with a dent in the 'dripless' rim. I will likely not return it, but will give Amazon some 'direct' feedback.

(9/15 Update): Amazon made a very positive and 'generous' response to my complaint. Thank you Amazon! Also, both the 3 1/2 Qt. and 5 1/2 Qt. saute pans are on 'super' sale. Do yourselves a favor and buy both.

(9/23 Update): Because of the lower 'super' price (currently $27.99), I ordered two more as gifts. One shipped with the Cuisinart retail box packed in a nicely padded Amazon box and the other was shipped only in a Cuisinart retail box that had split open. Fortunately there were no dings or dents since this is a very sturdy, hefty item. I wonder if Amazon owns the warehouses its goods ship from? If it does, Amazon needs to try for consistency in its packing.

02/09/06: Here's an oddity: After several 'hefty' price hikes, Amazon is now hawking this 'monster' pan for $5 less than the 3 1/2 quart pan. Go figure!

I echo what another reviewer said: The only difference between this saute pan (at $39.99) and the much more expensive All-Clad (at over $200) is that the aluminum core does not go up the sides, and no one cooks on the sides of the pan. This pan has an advantage over the All Clad too because it is noticeably deeper which is very convenient since items you're sauteeing don't fly out of the pan as easily. It is truly a great value for the money. If you follow the instructions not to use high heat, but low or medium, and use an oil to cook, then nothing will stick. If you also follow the instructions to fill the pan with hot water after use, it is a breeze to clean. I like it so much I also bought the 3 1/2-quart size. I don't think you can go wrong with any of this line from Cuisinart.

I love to cook. And I love this pan. So I cook a lot in this pan. It handles everything and comes back for more. It's easy to clean, cooks evenly, and is just pretty. It fits on my cooktop - something I can't say about a couple of my larger pans.

Don't pass this one up. It can cook anything!

This pan is heavy yet awesome. I bought this pan, a 4 qt saucepan, a 3 qt saucepan, and the 12 inch everything pan. I bought all four on one order but all arrived in different boxes, in different conditions and from different shipping companies. The 5-1/2 qt saute pan was shipped via FedEx in the Cuisinart box with one end resealed with a piece of cardboard and lots of tape - the helper handle of the pan was the tiniest bit scratched. The saucepans were put in an amazon box and shipped via UPS perfectly. The Everything pan was shipped via a weirldy named shipping company that FedEx uses and was fine. 5 stars on the pans, but 1 1/2 stars for Amazon. This is the first time of the hundreds of items and times that I have used Amazon that I was not very happy with the way things were shipped.

Great pan with a great price. It's heavy, but has a small handle (as well as the long handle)to help carry it. My only complaint is that Amazon put a shipping label on the Cuisinart box and the box arrive damaged. It has a few minor scratches on the small handle, but still usable. I read a review where this happened to someone else. I thought it was fluke and decided to order it anyway. Well, it did happen to me, just a caveat when ordering this pan from Amazon. It may come to you damaged as well.

this pan has quickly become a favorite. everything that I have cooked in it has turned out great. no problems at all. It is quite large and heavy.

It should be noted that this pan is not constructed the same way as the All-Clad pans. This pan has a thick disk on the bottom composed of a piece of aluminum clad in stainless steel. as Paul Cerra noted, Cook's Illustrated has a good article on this issue in their may/june 2003 issue. In general, the fact that the sides are not clad has minimal impact on a pan's performance, however it does affect the price. The cladding issue is of even less concern for this pan because the sides are verical.

Overall, I think that the pan works wonderfully and the price is hard to beat.