It was a warm afternoon, so I threw the kids in the pool. I needed to start dinner, which happened to be chicken tacos. I ran inside to start browning the chicken. I hear screaming. I race outside to find Monster and Sunshine fighting in the pool. I settle that down. I remember that I forgot to make a phone call I had promised to make. I grab the phone. I go back inside, move the chicken around a little in the skillet. I go back out to watch the kids and make my call. I'm talking, cleaning up outside toys, trying to get the dog on the porch so the neighbor dog doesn't eat him, and trying to make sure the kids don't kill each other in the pool. I hear my annoying neighbor talking on his porch. Then I hear this strange noise. Kind of sounded like someone was vacuuming. Monster kept asking, "What's that noise?". I kept trying to shush him because I was on the phone. This noise went on for a good 5 minutes. All of sudden, I realized what that noise was....it was my chicken on the stove. The smoke alarm was going off. The house was filled with smoke. The chicken was just about on fire, literally. I shut the burner off, grab the pan and race outside with it. The pan was BLACK. Now, the ironic thing was, I happened to be on the phone with my friend, who just two weeks ago, burnt a hole through one of her pans. I've burnt many things in old cookware that wasn't able to be saved. So, I'm thinking my poor skillet is done for, not to mention we now have no dinner.
Fast forward to after running out to get Chipotle for dinner... I bring the pan back in. I decide to try to see if I can salvage it. I run it under hot water. Burned pieces just start washing off. I'm shocked. I continue and more and more pieces come off, leaving my beautiful stainless steel shining through! Most of the burned part came off with very little effort. After a little elbow grease, the pan was almost perfect. A little Bar Keepers Friend, and the skillet is a shiny stainless steel again! I can't tell you how happy I am with my cookware set. I now swear by the Tri-Ply Stainless Steel set from Calphalon. I've only had it a little over a year and it's already proving to be, by far, the best cookware set I've ever seen, let alone owned! If you're looking for new cookware, I highly recommend it!