I bought a large fry pan with a glass lid. Not a quality pan, but I think it's worth what I paid for it, with one exception. Looking down into the pan, you can see that the inside bottom is convex. It is raised in the center and becomes lower towards the outer area. I used it just once.
I don't use a lot of grease. I added what was enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Due to the pan bottom being convex at center, all the grease ran to the outer edges.
I had plans to return the pan. I never got around to it. Now, it's too late. The pan would be fine for cooking anything that required lots of grease or liquid. It's no good for frying with small amounts of grease.
I googled the internet for suggestions on how to level the pan bottom. They all required things like hammers and 2x4s. I don't want to use these methods and risk ruining the non stick interior.
Have any of you encountered this problem, and if so, how did you handle it? The only thing I know for sure is that I would have to heat the pan to a temperature hotter than I would ever use it for frying. If I didn't do this, the pan would revert to the convex shape when I heated it up to a normal frying temperature. And I'm afraid this high temperature would harm the non stick surface.
Any ideas?
PS
I read reviews on this now discontinued pan and learned other people had my same complaint. It probably would have done no good to exchange the pan.
There is no grease on the pan bottom. That is a camera effect.
Thanks for the answers. I probably could have returned the pan late. Walmart is pretty good about that. To be honest, I didn't want to wait in that long returns line.
Walmart has discontinued carrying the pan, maybe because of the convex bottom. Rather than me getting a defective pan, I think it was designed that way. So, I don't think contacting the manufacturer would help.
I will keep the pan. I love fried cabbage flavored with fat back grease and a tiny amount of cayenne pepper, but I rarely make it more than once a year. This deep pan with its nice glass lid will be ideal for cooking the cabbage. Maybe now, I will cook it more often.
(Having eaten fried cabbage all my life, I never understood people liking it boiled or steamed. It seems so waterlogged. Suum cuique).
The pan is only going to work marginally well on a gas stove if it is placed strategically on the cast iron grate. It may be too late to bring it back to the store, but I would write to the manufacturer and see what they say.
There is absolute no way to return the pan still? Since it is defected? Do they have some sort of guarantee?
My mother fixed fried cabbage and we generally had bacon, grits and fried cornbread (when there was any leftover cornbread to fry) or fresh homemade biscuits. I am 82 and very healthy so I guess our way of eating wasn't all bad. Favorites are always redone around my house also.
