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Kirkland Signature 5.5 qt saute pan

I just bought this pan at a thrift store for $11 to replace a more cheaply made pan where the non-stick surface is wearing off. Was this a good deal? Does anyone know what the retail/new price might have been? I couldn't really find anything. It's very well built and very heavy. The bottom looks to be multi-layered.

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shavefan

I’m not a fan
Hmmmmm... The handle shape looks very familiar, I want to say Cuisinart. But "Made In Italy" has me thinking Tramontina?
 
The name brand according to the "brand" on the bottom of the pan is Kirkland Signature. That's a Costco brand. Do they rebrand other's name products?
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
The name brand according to the "brand" on the bottom of the pan is Kirkland Signature. That's a Costco brand. Do they rebrand other's name products?


I'm sure they do for most of their products. I seriously doubt Costco has their own kitchenware foundry in Italy.

Edit: BTW, that looks like a "disc" bottom which are considered excellent and found in some very hi end (and expensive) cookware like Demeyere Atlantis
 
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I did some research, but can't vouch for any of it. But to answer your question, it appears that prices haven't changed much since the line was created in 1995. You're probably more interested in what a comparable pan would cost today, if you could find one like this. I'm guessing this is non stick because of the color--they made both non stick and very shiny stainless, but not aluminum which is what that interior looks like if not non-stick. In that case, we're looking at a 5 quart non-stick, disc bottom saute pan. You probably won't find that today, so I'd probably compare it to the Rachael Ray 5 Qt nonstick hard anodized saute pan with lid at about $55 purchased separately, and made by the same manufacturer. The sides don't matter much in a saute pan, but the thickness of the disc bottom vs the thickness of a full pan do matter. Since I don't know the measurements, I just picked Rachael's pan. While I doubt the build quality would match your pan, the new pan does have certain advantageous features.
  • Costco first introduced Kirkland Signature as its house brand in 1995.
  • The cookware is manufactured by Meyer Corporation, which also manufactures for Farberware, Circulon, SilverStone, Anolon, Rachael Ray, and many, many others.
  • Meyer opened in 1981 and invented & patented the Circulon method of non stick cookware in 1982. The competitor, anolon, did not patent their method.
  • I don't know when Meyer switched production on Kirkland cookware from Italy to Thailand, but it appears to be around 2006-2008.
  • Their early cookware included stainless steel with an aluminum disc bottom and another stainless layer below it. This is what you appear to have. These also came in non-stick version.
  • Kirkland appears to have switched most of their cookware from disc bottom to a 3-ply design somewhere around 2003. This has a stainless interior and exterior, with aluminum sandwiched in between. They did not switch all pieces of the set at the same time.
  • Around this time (2003), a copper layer appears around the exposed edge of the aluminum disc which I've seen documented as being little more than cosmetic. I'm guessing this is a copper alloy that's dish washer safe, because exposed aluminum would not be. This is seen in the entire line, but would serve the protective purpose for those pieces that were still aluminum disc bottom while the sets were still mixed. I've seen this in other cookware dating to the late 1990s.
  • Kirkland appears to have added the 5-ply design by 2015, which incorporates a copper layer.
Remember that this is all just guesswork from an hour's work.

What most intrigues me about this old pan is the NSF certification. Current Kirkland cookware is certified to 550F, and non stick to 500F. I'm not sure the coatings are really safe at these temps, but it could depend on the type of coating. So a nonstick pan wouldn't be safe at higher temperatures under any circumstances. What's intriguing is the safe temperate for their old regular pans.

BTW, while the disc bottom covers nearly all of the bottom, you still need to be careful not to scorch stuff in the corners of any disc botton saute or fry pan. It's easy enough to avoid that with such a large saute pan.

Nice find!
 
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Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
I did some research, but can't vouch for any of it. But to answer your question, it appears that prices haven't changed much since the line was created in 1995. You're probably more interested in what a comparable pan would cost today, if you could find one like this. I'm guessing this is non stick because of the color--they made both non stick and very shiny stainless, but not aluminum which is what that interior looks like if not non-stick. In that case, we're looking at a 5 quart non-stick, disc bottom saute pan. You probably won't find that today, so I'd probably compare it to the Rachael Ray 5 Qt nonstick hard anodized saute pan with lid at about $55 purchased separately, and made by the same manufacturer. The sides don't matter much in a saute pan, but the thickness of the disc bottom vs the thickness of a full pan do matter. Since I don't know the measurements, I just picked Rachael's pan. While I doubt the build quality would match your pan, the new pan does have certain advantageous features.
  • Costco first introduced Kirkland Signature as its house brand in 1995.
  • The cookware is manufactured by Meyer Corporation, which also manufactures for Farberware, Circulon, SilverStone, Anolon, Rachael Ray, and many, many others.
  • Meyer opened in 1981 and invented & patented the Circulon method of non stick cookware in 1982. The competitor, anolon, did not patent their method.
  • I don't know when Meyer switched production on Kirkland cookware from Italy to Thailand, but it appears to be around 2006-2008.
  • Their early cookware included stainless steel with an aluminum disc bottom and another stainless layer below it. This is what you appear to have. These also came in non-stick version.
  • Kirkland appears to have switched most of their cookware from disc bottom to a 3-ply design somewhere around 2003. This has a stainless interior and exterior, with aluminum sandwiched in between. They did not switch all pieces of the set at the same time.
  • Around this time (2003), a copper layer appears around the exposed edge of the aluminum disc which I've seen documented as being little more than cosmetic. I'm guessing this is a copper alloy that's dish washer safe, because exposed aluminum would not be. This is seen in the entire line, but would serve the protective purpose for those pieces that were still aluminum disc bottom while the sets were still mixed. I've seen this in other cookware dating to the late 1990s.
  • Kirkland appears to have added the 5-ply design by 2015, which incorporates a copper layer.
Remember that this is all just guesswork from an hour's work.

What most intrigues me about this old pan is the NSF certification. Current Kirkland cookware is certified to 550F, and non stick to 500F. I'm not sure the coatings are really safe at these temps, but it could depend on the type of coating. So a nonstick pan wouldn't be safe at higher temperatures under any circumstances. What's intriguing is the safe temperate for their old regular pans.

BTW, while the disc bottom covers nearly all of the bottom, you still need to be careful not to scorch stuff in the corners of any disc botton saute or fry pan. It's easy enough to avoid that with such a large saute pan.

Nice find!
amazing research!
 
You say the pan is very heavy. Is it also thick throughout? It occurs to me that the pan could be tri-ply (a sandwich of stainless, aluminum, stainless) and the bottom could be steel meant for induction cooking. I haven't seen a model like this, but perhaps. The only thing that's certain is stainless steel is never thick in cookware.

BTW, I see different temperature listed for their new cookware. Some are 500F, some 550F. I can't make out which is for what.
 
@SiBurning - impressive research! The pan weighs 7 lbs. The bottom is about 9/16" thick as best as I'm able to measure. I don't have a calipers to measure the side thickness but it is a very sturdy thickness and in no way gives the impression that it is a cheap pressed pan. I haven't done a thorough cleaning yet but I put a little ketchup on a section of the dark sandwiched band of the bottom as shown in the picture and let it sit for a while. After giving it some rubbing it's coming up looking like copper.
 
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My guess is tri-ply with aluminum disc bottom. That would be one very nice pan. No worries scorching anything in the corners with tri-ply.

Enjoy!
 
Thanks for the research and the input. I wanted a 12" pan to replace my old one and when I saw this one it looked and felt like a quality pan. I was pretty sure it was worth the $11 but I thought I'd try and check it out anyway. I hate it when I buy something at a thrift store and then find out I could have bought the same thing or something similar new for a few dollars more.
 
Is there a lid? If not, a thrift store will have something you can use.

My guess, with lid, is it sold for $35. You did fine. Barkeepers friend will make it shine like new.

Enjoy!
 

TheShaun

Bejeweled
The name brand according to the "brand" on the bottom of the pan is Kirkland Signature. That's a Costco brand. Do they rebrand other's name products?
Yes they do and I stand by the Kirkland Signature label. Great products and value. Especially the wine!
 
My friend has this entire set. I think it’s from 2002 or 2003. It sold at Costco for $199 for the entire set. They revamped this set and it wasn’t as good of quality and they made the sauté that you have smaller so to find the 5.5 qt sauté is an excellent find. I do believe the bottom is encapsulated 5 ply and sides are tri ply
 
I really like the size and the high edges of the pan. It gives me a lot of room to stir and turn things over without fear of making a mess. I would always get frustrated with smaller pans and having to be so careful with them to prevent things from spilling over the edges.
 
I got the entire set from COSTCO (México) last year, paid $150 on sale for it and SWMBO got rid of all the other stuff she had for cooking...those are amazing and we use them with an induction grill
 
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