Finding the perfect frying pan has been my mission impossible for my entire adult life. First there was the non-non-stick £5 pan I used as a student – we don’t speak of her.
Then there was a series of set-of-three, each less long-lasting and more useless than the next. I thought my prayers had been answered when I found the M&S Collection Black Aluminium 26cm Large Non-Stick Sauté Pan – after all, it cost me £30, so I expected great things.
But a couple of days ago, the non-stick coating started to bubble up and peel off at the edges. Not particularly fond of eating metal-infused spag bol, I headed to Amazon to try my luck again.
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The Ninja Zerostick has changed my cooking game
(Image: Amazon)
Enter the Ninja Zerostick Sauté Pan. I bought it for £33.98 from Amazon. You can also get it for £36.84 at Ninja and £36 at Very.
I love cooking my meals in a sauté pan; it’s a frying pan with high sides so you prevent shoving your food over the edges. I also always cook in non-stick – I do not have the patience to season a cast-iron, nor do I wish to scrape food bits of regular sticky pans.
The Ninja Zerostick has it all: it’s exceptionally non-stick, so well-coated that water pools on its surface and oil forms satisfying droplets. At dinnertime, I put the pan to the ultimate test and made my version of Korean fried rice.
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My favourite quick meal can often get messy with a substandard pan, leaving bits burned and stuck to the bottom. The first step is frying bacon until crispy, which gets smokey and stuck on anything that isn’t non-stick.
Ninja sorted me out beautifully, and I didn’t even have to scrape anything to get the dregs out and into the bowl I’d set aside for later. In went the onion, which browned evenly, softened quickly, and didn’t stick even one bit.
With cabbage and water added, I placed the lid on to let my veg soften, ready for my main annoyance of frying pans: water escaping from the rim of the pan and sizzling annoyingly on the hot hob. But it didn’t happen because the Zerostick’s lid fits perfectly on the pan to provide a vacuum-tight seal.
Cabbage softened, and rice and bacon added, I left the meal to heat up properly and then promptly forgot about it as I was sucked into the drama of Seattle Grey Hospital. Panicking, I rushed back to the kitchen to find everything wonderfully caramelised but not even slightly burned despite me not stirring the meal once in 20 minutes.
The pan is even oven-safe
(Image: Amazon)
My final gripe with my previous pans has been water pooling in handles and rivets when I pop them in the dishwasher. Every morning, I’d pick up a pan to put it back in its spot to find a stream of cold water that had accumulated behind the screws or under the lid slowly running down my arm.
But the Zerostick’s handle is hollow all the way through, meaning the water had an easy escape route. There’s also no little annoying gap between the lid and its handle, meaning the lid came out of the dishwasher dry as bone.
I’m not the only person who’s completely obsessed with the Ninja Zerostick; it’s got an impressive 4.7 stars from 260 reviews on Amazon, and 4.9 stars from 90 reviews at Ninja.
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One person said “This is the best sauté pan I’ve ever had. It is light weight but sturdy; the handle remains cool on the hob & the non-stick is superb! It’s good also for hob to oven use. Cleans beautifully by hand – I haven’t put it in the dishwasher.”
Another wrote “This is the first Ninja item I have purchased and if this is an indication of the quality of their products I will be buying more from them! The feel of the pan inspires confidence – the handle, the weight, the texture, the lid are all great. The non-stick works a treat and after several uses it still looks brand new.
“It is perfect for our induction hob and heats evenly across the base of the pan, so you can have confidence that it cooks food thoroughly and evenly.” Of the negative reviews, one person said “The pan does the job but the handle becomes very hot during cooking. Beware.”
Alternatively, you could try the Professional Stainless Steel Saute Pan & Lid, which is £64 at ProCook, or the Scoville 26cm Saute Pan, which is £14.66 at Argos. Personally, I’ll be sticking to my Ninja pan – and I might be tempted into buying the Double Stack air fryer too.
You can buy the Ninja Zerostick Sauté Pan from Amazon, Ninja and Very. Get the Professional Stainless Steel Saute Pan & Lid from ProCook and the Scoville 26cm Saute Pan from Argos.