If fears about dodgy, flakey coatings on your old non-stick pans have driven you to look at an upgrade, The Lakeland Only Pan will tick your boxes. Its ceramic coating is non-stick and best of all, free of all the chemical nasties that are worth avoiding.
This good looking pan is built from cast aluminium and comes in three colours (sage green, slate grey and pale grey). It even comes with a silicone and wood spatula that nestles cleverly into the top of the lid, so your surfaces will stay clean. And the stainless steel steamer basket means it can be used for steaming as well as simmering sauces, frying, boiling and even stir frying. In fact, according to the box it’s the only pan you’ll ever need.
I gave it a go in my kitchen at home on a gas hob. I used it for almost two weeks, cooking a variety of foods and recipes to see if it really is as versatile as they claim. And given that it’s not dishwasher safe, I wanted to see whether getting clean was a chore. Here’s how I got on.
In a nutshell
This Lakeland 8-in-1 Only Pan is one of many multi-purpose style pans that have been launched by UK retailers in the wake of the social media sensation that is the Our Place Always Pan (which we’ve reviewed).
I’d argue that the Only Pan is one of the better looking versions. It comes in a muted sage green, slate grey, and the pale grey version reviewed here. And its lightweight cast aluminium construction means it’s both sturdy, and easy to lift.
The Only Pan comes with a steamer basket, allowing the pan to be used for steaming, plus it doubles as a handy colander. You’ll also get a silicone and wood spatula. The pan does require hand washing, but arguably that’s a small price to pay for the knowledge that the non-stick ceramic coating doesn’t contain PFOA, PTFE, or PFAS chemicals.
In testing, it proved to be easy to cook in, with its effective non-stick coating. It was also easy to clean, although the exterior did become marked with a few stubborn brown stains.
Product specs
- Materials: cast aluminium with PFAS free ceramic non-stick coating, stainless steel steamer basket, silicone and wood spatula
- Metal utensil safe? no
- Dishwasher safe? no
- Pan Diameter: 26cm
- Warranty: 10 year guarantee
- RRP: £59.99
Who tested this pan?
After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.
Helen used the Lakeland 8-in-1 Only Pan at home on a gas hob, but it’s suitable for all hob types. She used the pan to make a variety of meals to make sure she tried out multiple different cooking methods for this review.
Unboxing and first impressions
There are no big surprises when unboxing, it’s mostly packaged in cardboard, though there are a few more plastic bags than I’d like. There’s no manual in the box, not that you need one, but there are some guidelines on the back of the box that are worth paying attention to. The first one is that you should give everything a good wash in warm soapy water before use, which is arguably the common sense thing to do with any new cookware.
I was also interested to read that it’s only oven safe up to 150C, which does, in my opinion, limit its usefulness for oven cooking. Other noteworthy recommendations include not using metal utensils and washing by hand.
There’s a surprising recommendation that to preserve the non-stick coating, it should be used with low to medium heat settings. But that doesn’t seem like a realistic expectation, especially for techniques including stir-fry, pan-fry, and boiling. I am slightly puzzled by this statement and I do think most people intend and expect to use it for high temperature cooking.
On the whole, I think it’s a good looking piece of cookware. The pan itself feels very lightweight and the main handle has a comfortable rubbery grip. The small helper handle on the opposite side of the pan doesn’t have the same rubbery coating, so I suspect that this will get hot when in use.
There are two pouring lips, one on either side of the pan, which makes pouring equally convenient for right and left handed cooks. But means that the lid doesn’t form a snug seal to keep in steam. The included silicone blade spatula can sit on the built-in spoon rest in the top of the lid. This design means the handle for the lid is on the chunky side, but I think that’s fine for most people.
Cooking in the Lakeland 8-in-1 Only Pan:
Simmer and Saute
The first thing I made in this pan was a Thai green curry, sauteing the green curry paste before adding the veg and coconut milk, then simmering until the veg had softened.
The pan was plenty big enough for a Thai curry for two. I even used the steamer basket as a colander for defrosting prawns, before adding to the curry. It’s the ideal type of pan for cooking this recipe.
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I also used it to make a prawn and pea risotto. Again, I sauteed leek and onion, before adding the rice, followed by white wine. As I slowly added the stock and continually stirred the mixture, I had to be careful as my risotto was enough for six portions which was pushing the capacity of the pan.
The pan heated evenly and there was no sticking, overall the risotto cooked really well. I just had to stir gently to avoid spilling any rice over the sides. To lift this heavy pan of risotto I needed to use both handles and while the main handle was cool to touch, the smaller helper handle was too hot to touch, so I needed an oven glove for that one.
Pan fry
This pan doesn’t make splashy claims about how you can cook everything without any oil. In fact the Lakeland website advises adding a tiny bit of oil before pan frying. That’s fine by me, personally I think ‘fried’ eggs that are cooked without oil are never quite the same.
It didn’t need much oil for frying eggs though, and they cooked as expected, sliding easily around the non-stick surface of the pan, with plenty of space. The silicone spatula was perfect for removing them when cooked.
I probably added a bit too much oil when frying sea bass, but then, oil is essential for the perfect crispy skin. The fish cooked very well, I thought the skin took a little longer to crisp up than it does in my usual pan, but that’s likely to be because I was still figuring out the best hob heat settings for the results I wanted in this pan.
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Ordinarily, I’d opt for a pan with much shallower sides when making pancakes, but since Lakeland claims this is the only pan you’ll ever need, I had a go at making savoury spinach pancakes, to see how it fared.
I didn’t attempt to flip the pancakes, opting instead to use the spatula to turn them. Admittedly, the higher sides of the pan made it trickier than usual to get the spatula under the pancakes. But the non-stick surface was effective and the pancakes cooked evenly, so overall, no complaints.
Stir fry
It’s not the same shape as a wok and I would never suggest that a multi purpose pan is a suitable replacement for one of the best woks, but since it’s deeper than your average frying pan, it works fine for the odd bit of stir frying.
I made a chilli paneer recipe that requires onions and peppers to be stir fried with paneer, before a sticky chilli sauce is added right at the end of cooking. It’s a recipe I make a lot and it turned out pretty much the same as it does when I make it in my wok. The vegetables didn’t brown at the edges quite as quickly as they usually do, but it only took a couple of extra minutes to get the result I expected.
On another occasion, after raiding the fridge for a quick lunch, I stir fried some vegetables with sesame oil and soy sauce. Once cooked, I pushed them to one side and fried a couple of eggs in the pan. This worked really well for a speedy and tasty one pan lunch.
One thing worth noting when stir frying, is that the surface of the pan is so sleek and slippery, that I found if I stirred too enthusiastically, the veg would slide right out of the pan. So my stirring had to be a bit slower and gentler than it is when I cook in my usual wok.
Steaming
The steamer basket isn’t huge but it proved plenty big enough to accommodate a whole broccoli head cut into florets. I added about 1cm of boiling water to the bottom of the pan and popped the basket of broccoli on top.
With the lid on, I steamed it on a medium high heat for five minutes. Some steam escapes out of the two pouring lips at the sides of the pan, but not as much as I anticipated. And after five minutes, the broccoli was steamed to perfection.
The handles of the steamer basket get hot, so you either need to remove the vegetables with tongs or use an oven mit to remove the basket. Otherwise, it works well for steaming two to four portions of vegetables at a time.
Boiling
I’d usually use a deep saucepan for boiling potatoes, hence doing it in a shallow pan didn’t come naturally to me. That said, it came to the boil really fast and the potatoes cooked well. My only issue was that my potato masher is metal, so I couldn’t mash them in the pan.
I had to tip them into a bowl to mash, which created a bit of extra washing up, but wasn’t the end of the world.
What’s it like to clean?
I’ve reviewed many pans over the years, and it’s not uncommon for manufacturers to advertise pans as dishwasher safe, only to state in the small print, that they recommend hand washing for longevity. On that basis, I applaud Lakeland for openly stating that this pan is best washed by hand.
With its effective non-stick coating, it didn’t matter what I cooked, the pan came clean in a jiffy with an easy wash in warm soapy water. Likewise, the spatula cleaned easily too. The only thing I would say is that the outer base developed a few areas of brown discolouration that were a bit more stubborn.
What’s it like to store?
It has a similar footprint to your average frying pan, so it’s not exactly compact in your kitchen cupboard. That said, the point is that it’s trying to be a versatile multi pan, so it potentially reduces the amount of pans you need. Plus, it looks pretty, so there’s always the option to leave it out on a shelf or even just on the hob.
How does it compare to its rivals?
At £59.99 the Lakeland Only Pan is considerably cheaper than the somewhat iconic Our Place Always Pan. The Always Pan will set you back £125 for the comparable 26.7cm diameter version. There are similarities between the two, both come with a spatula and steamer basket, and both use non-toxic coatings. However, the Always Pan is oven safe up to 230C which is a distinct advantage.
If you’re looking for a real budget friendly option, we recently reviewed the M&S All In One pan. It’s a similar pan that’s designed to be multi purpose and it’ll set you back just £30. I’d argue that the M&S pan is lacking in the looks department compared to the Lakeland version. Plus, it’s not oven safe, but it does come in two colours and includes the obligatory steamer basket.
Should you buy the Lakeland 8-in-1 Only Pan?
Personally, I think this is a good looking pan that comes in three great colours at a good mid-range price point. Is it, as the box states, the only pan you’ll ever need? No, of course not. It wouldn’t be the best choice for boiling up a single serving of rice or sweetcorn, for example. But it’s great for sauces, curries, pan-frying and works as a pretty decent steamer.
If you’re a die hard washing up avoider, you might prefer a dishwasher safe pan. That said, it cleans easily. But it won’t work for those recipes that start on the hob and get finished in a hot oven or under the grill. On the whole though, it’s a good non-stick pan without the harmful non-stick coatings and it’s useful for several different cooking techniques.
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