Stainless Clad Fry Pan vs Professional Aluminum Nonstick Restaurant Fry Pan: which is safer?

Made In Stainless Clad Fry Pan is the clear pick. Tramontina Professional Aluminum Nonstick Restaurant Fry Pan carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Our pick

Made In Stainless Clad Fry Pan

Made In

Stainless Clad Fry Pan

PFAS grade

Excellent 100/100

Overall grade

Excellent 96/100

Verdict

Buy

Hazard flags

⚑ 1

Material

Stainless steel clad construction, no nonstick coating

Confidence

90%

PossibleClad separation or delamination over time

Tramontina Professional Aluminum Nonstick Restaurant Fry Pan

Tramontina

Professional Aluminum Nonstick Restaurant Fry Pan

PFAS grade

Bad 15/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

Aluminum with nonstick coating, composition unspecified

Confidence

35%

PossibleTeflon-type coating fume risk (inhalation if overheated)

ReportedNonstick coating degradation over time

LikelyUndisclosed chemical composition

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag Clad separation or delamination over time on the Made In and not on the Tramontina.
  • We flag PTFE fume risk (inhalation if overheated), Nonstick coating degradation over time and Undisclosed chemical composition on the Tramontina and not on the Made In.
  • The Made In is Stainless steel clad construction, no nonstick coating where the Tramontina is Aluminum with nonstick coating, composition unspecified, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 85 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Made In is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Tramontina grade, at 35% confidence against 90%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More cookware: see the full ranking