The Our Place always pan has been a bestseller since its launch a few years ago – and with good reason. It’s a workhorse of a kitchen companion that can do just about anything, from sautéeing, frying and searing to steaming, boiling and braising. It’s also oven-safe, so baking and roasting are no problem, either. As well as all this, the space-saving pan’s aesthetically pleasing design and colourways have seen the always pan remain a hit, especially among those living in flats with smaller kitchens.
Some of the best pan sets have since been released by brands (including Ninja and Aldi, to name a few) in a bid to rival the viral success of the Our Place pan. Earlier this year, M&S launched its own multifunctional pan, the ‘all-in-one saucepan’, which quickly earned an ‘excellent’ rating from customers online and sold out in both colourways (charcoal and natural).
The all-in-one saucepan is billed as “perfect for deep frying, steaming, searing, sauteing and braising”, all for a relatively affordable £30. It’s a bargain compared with the £125 price tag on a standard-sized Our Place saucepan, which, of course, has made the M&S pan highly appealing. But how does it perform in practice? After six months of testing, I found out.
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Our Place always pan 2.0
Colourways: Five
Material: Post-consumer recycled aluminium
Non-stick coating: Silicon dioxide (ceramic non-stick)
Oven-safe: Yes, up to 230C
Dishwasher-safe: No
Why we love it
- Looks stylish
- Goes from stove to oven seamlessly
- Good size for smaller kitchens
Take note
- Smaller capacity, compared with the M&S pan
- Hand wash only
- Expensive
It will come as no surprise that the most striking thing about the Our Place pan is its design. It is sleek, with a matte finish on the domed lid and body of the pan that makes it thoroughly modern. A lot of thought has also gone into the functionality of the pan. A small raised notch on the base of the handle allows its dedicated beechwood spatula to rest comfortably, eliminating the mess made by utensils on dishes or surfaces while your food cooks. And the metal handle and knob on the lid make the entire unit oven-safe up to 230C.
The ability to bake and roast food in the Our Place pan is the biggest and most significant difference between it and M&S’s £30 all-in-one pan, which has smooth plastic handles and a plastic knob on the lid that makes it safe to pick up and handle even when the pan is hot, but means it is not oven-safe. Our Place’s always pan is therefore a more hard-working and versatile option as it can be taken straight from stove to oven – something I discovered when I cooked a braised cabbage dish that required searing the cabbage on the hob before putting the lid on and transferring the whole thing into a 180C oven to finish cooking.
The two pans also differ in size. The standard Our Place pan measures 26.7cm in diameter and 7cm in depth, with an additional 7cm in height with the lid on. The M&S all-in-one pan is larger and deeper, measuring 28cm in diameter and 22cm in depth. The M&S pan is very deep, meaning it can hold a much larger volume of food for bigger meals, and it has a 4.2l capacity, nearly double the always pan’s 2.4l capacity.
According to Our Place, the pan uses Thermakind, a proprietary ceramic non-stick coating that the brand says is made “without potentially toxic materials like PFA, lead and cadmium”. To test how truly non-stick it is, I fried an egg with half a teaspoon of olive oil. I was impressed by how effortlessly the egg glided around the pan without any resistance, while still resulting in a slightly crispier edge, compared to the egg fried in the M&S pan. This means the non-stick capabilities of the always pan don’t hinder its ability to sear, and I was able to brown meat and vegetables well.
However, the non-stick coating comes with rules that may feel restrictive. Our Place recommends only using the pan on low to medium heat, which means searing a steak is out of the question. It also says to make sure there’s something in the pan before heating it. I found that the always pan does come up to temperature quicker than the M&S pan, which is handy. But be sure to grip the handle towards the end rather than the middle or closer to the base, as the stainless steel can get very hot.
The steamer function in both pans is the same, and both steamer baskets work in the same way, with metal handles that you should use tongs or heat-proof gloves to pick up. It can be tricky to get the amount of water under the basket just right, as too much water will flood into the basket and you’ll just be boiling the food rather than steaming it. This isn’t such a problem with the always pan, compared to the M&S pan, as the former has a handy spout that pours out excess water easily. The M&S pan’s size makes it quite unwieldy, especially with boiling water in it. I steamed three dumplings (which took seven minutes to cook) in both pans, and both produced juicy dumplings that were cooked all the way through.
When it comes to clean-up, the always pan is not dishwasher safe and must be washed by hand. However, both the pan and the spatula are very easy to clean with dish soap and warm water, making this chore a doddle.
Buy now £125, Amazon.co.uk
M&S all-in-one saucepan
Colourways: Two
Material: Aluminium
Non-stick coating: Aluminium
Oven-safe: No
Dishwasher-safe: Yes
Why we love it
- Large capacity
- Dishwasher-safe
- Great value for money
Take note
- Can't be used in the oven
- Doesn't heat up as quickly as the Our Place pan
- Lid could fit better
- Larger size could make it awkward to wash by hand
It may not come with its very own spatula or the ability to bake or roast in the oven, but M&S’s all-in-one saucepan is still a powerhouse of a pan. Its large size and impressive depth also make it perfect for cooking for big families or groups of friends, or meal-prepping for the week ahead.
The £30 price tag is also highly appealing, making it one of the more affordable options I’ve seen for this style of pan, even compared to Dunelm, Lakeland and Ikea. However, if space is a premium in a small kitchen, the Our Place always pan is a better bet (if you’re happy to splurge).
One issue I found with this all-in-one pan is that, despite its seemingly thinner walls, compared with the always pan, it doesn’t heat up quite as quickly. Once it does come up to temperature, though, the heat distribution is good and everything cooks evenly, thanks to the pan’s wide, flat base.
Frying an egg in this pan is easy enough, as its non-stick coating helps get the job done. The egg slides around easily, without resistance, but I found it didn’t crisp up around the edges, despite being cooked at the same temperature and for the same amount of time as the always pan.
However, sautéeing fish and stir-frying vegetables was a success, thanks to the even heat distribution. Unlike Our Place’s always pan, I wasn’t restricted to using low to medium heat when using this pan, so quick frying was a possibility, and boiling water for pasta was less time-consuming.
The non-heat-conducting handles meant the pan was easy to pick up and move around the kitchen when needed. The handles have a soft, ergonomic grip, and the smaller handle on the opposite side of the pan makes for easy lifting, even when the pan is heavy with pasta or stew. The flat aluminium lid fits a bit too loosely for my liking, as it lets steam escape more easily. Steaming dumplings, for example, required a close eye to ensure the water levels didn’t drop too low. The loose fit also meant the lid rattled when the pan’s contents were at a rolling boil, which may be annoying for some.
This pan is also suitable for deep frying, thanks to its impressive depth. I deep-fried croquettes with ease and found that there wasn’t too much oil spitting or splashing out of the pan. However, I wouldn’t recommend doing this in large batches, especially with bigger items such as chicken drumsticks, as the risk of oil splashing out increases.
Unlike the always pan, M&S’s option is dishwasher-safe, a boon for those of us who hate washing up. But even if you don’t have a dishwasher, the pan is easy to clean with a sponge and dish soap. Although if you have a smaller sink, the size of this pan could make it awkward to wash by hand.
Buy now £30, Marksandspencer.com
Our Place always pan 2.0 vs M&S all-in-one saucepan – which is the best?
Multifunctionality is the ultimate draw for both the Our Place always pan and the M&S all-in-one saucepan, but they come at vastly different price points. While the price of the always pan is quite a lot steeper, it came out on top overall during testing. Being able to take the pan from stovetop to oven is really handy, especially for home cooks who like to experiment with more elaborate recipes that require multiple cooking techniques. The always pan also has the benefit of being quite compact, while still having capacity for a generous amount of food. Its size, combined with all its different functions, makes it a godsend in smaller kitchens. However, the M&S’s saucepan still offers plenty of versatility and would be more useful in a bigger household, particularly among parents cooking for several children who only have time to bung the pan in the dishwasher rather than handwashing it in the sink. Not to mention the fact that it’s almost £100 cheaper than Our Place’s pan.
How I tested
I spent four months testing the Our Place and M&S pans, cooking a variety of meals – from simple to complex dishes. I first tested the most basic functionalities of the pans, including the non-stick and steamer features, to see how they performed. The simplest test for non-stick performance was, of course, the humble fried egg, while frozen dumplings were used to test the steamer basket function. I also cooked a variety of meals, from one-pan pasta dishes to searing burgers, sauteeing vegetables, braising cabbage, and more. I noted how quickly the pans came up to temperature, how good they were at browning meats and vegetables, as well as overall cooking speeds, design functionality and quality.
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