I had selected a Christmas gift for my Italian wife but wanted a little something to go with it. She had been fussing about how her beloved pots and pans were wearing out, the griddle on the range was burning the bacon and omelets were sticking to her frying pan. I did a web search for "best Italian, non-stick frying pan" and one of the results led me to the Sardel website.
We have been going to Italy pretty regularly and love the art, the style, the people and of course the wine and food. The look of the Sardel cookware is very Italian and the story of the family business struck a chord in these times of COVID. I likes the non-stick pan but the full set started to pull me in. I don't know anything about cooking and have never heard of Sardel so it was difficult to trust that I should send them a chunk of money for something I had no knowledge of. I convinced myself that since I was saving a bundle by not being able to go to Italy this year why not risk a little bit of it.
Everyone's business has been affected by the pandemic and to be importing limited production products from Italy had a lot of challenges I am sure but it was not long before I began to wonder if these pots were ever going to show up. I began to have a weekly dialogue with Daniel just to make sure someone was still out there and we exchanged numerous e-mails.
Finally not too long after Christmas I got a shipping notice then a big box landed on our porch. I held my breath as I opened the first box and boom there was the big surprise. My wife had been trying to guess what was coming and had no idea.
I have to say that they are a big hit. First, these are really luxurious looking pots, very sturdy, bright and shiny. The handles are very stylish and feel great in your hand. Our overhead hanging rack makes them a decorative feature in our kitchen. They also look terrific sitting on the black iron grates of the gas range.
So much for look and feel. Everything they say about even heat distribution is correct. Cooking on gas takes more skill and care because you can get hot spots and there is where you get burned and sticking food. In the large fry-pan we lay thick sliced bacon totally across and you can watch as it evenly cooks them perfectly. You will wonder why you even have a non-stick pan but make some omelets and you hardly need any oil or butter and you will know. She says "Nothing will ever stick to this"! One thing she has also noticed is that she made a dish in the sauté pan where she seared it on the range then finished it in the oven with great results. Cleaning is easy and with a little Bartender's Friend you can make them look like they just came out of the box.
There are no instructions in the packaging but if you dig around on the Sardel website you can find everything you need, even some nice recipes.

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