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Nowadays, the market is full of different brands of cookware. We try to search for products that are of the highest possible quality for affordable prices, but sometimes this can be quite challenging.
In the stainless steel world, some brands like All-clad stand out for decades. However, not everybody is ready to pay 200$ for the pan. Moreover, part of the price always comes to the name of a famous brand.
Fortunately, in the last years, some innovative young brands hit the market, and they needed to fight for their piece of cake by offering high quality for affordable prices.
A great example, of these, are Misen and Sardel brands, which entered the market with their greatly designed 5ply stainless steel cookware covered with a lifetime guarantee.
Additionally, unlike some of these big brands, they came with an offer of a cookware testing trial period of a month or more. Moreover, after the testing period, you can turn all of the utensils back to the company without explanation and get a money refund.
Comparison methodology and key differences
Now, the question is which one of these new brands, is offering the best quality for the price and which one will be best to try.
So in this post, I wanted to compare Misen and Sardel stainless steel pans in different categories including durability, weight and design, differences in impressions when preparing different dishes, heat distribution performance measured by IC thermometer, and more. This way, you can get a better view of what you can expect from these brands and what not.
Finally, it will be important to say that I use these brands for more than half a year. In the case of the Misen, I started by buying their carbon steel pan a year and a half ago. Moreover, I it quite impressed me so I also ordered stainless steel pan which I now use for more than 6 months on weekly basis. And for Sardel, I took their 12-inch skillet almost a year ago and use it interchangeably with Misen.
Finally, before jumping to the experiments I took, and the impressions I have to share we can jump to the main conclusions on the comparison between Misen and Sardel pans.
| Misen | Sardel |
|---|---|
| 5-ply stainless steel |
| Lifetime guarantee* |
| No warping signs after more than half year of intensive use |
| Great handle grip no slipping** |
| No offering solid lid(Only silicone one) | Offering Stainless steel lid for pan |
| 1.68kg(3.7 lb) | 1.42kg(3.13lb) |
| 85$ without discount(December 2022) | 115$ without discount**(December 2022)*** |
*Sardel lifetime warranty is valid exclusively for the original purchaser of the product with proof of purchase, Additionally both Companies offer long trial periods, and cover the costs of return shipping for customers in the US(not in other countries)-To see more take a look to Druability chapter
**My impression of the handle grip can give indications of what you can expect but should be taken with reserve since we all differ in hand size, strength, and height which can affect how we perceive the handle grip
***Discounts are quite often, so it is best to check the websites before considering the current price.
Testing Conclusions and recommendation
Both pans have shown great quality and are long-lasting. I have used them intensively for more than half a year on a weekly bases and they come out without signs of warping. Moreover, I have observed quite similar performance after preparing the same dishes in both of them and doing numerous tests that I will present in the rest of the post.
In regard to that, the choice of the pan comes down to a lower price of the Misen skillet and a less limited lifetime guarantee with a longer trial period of use(see Durability chapter). The price of the Misen 12-inch stainless steel skillet stands 85$ at the moment(December 2022) compared to the Sardel (115$).
However, both companies offer significant discounts for their cookware during the year, so it happens frequently that Sardel’s price drops significantly. Moreover, Sardel 12inch pans have shown slight advantages like lighter design, and the possibility to buy stainless steel lids for the pan directly from the company(Misen offers only silicon lids for it pans and not stainless steel ones), so when product discounts are available it Sardel would be my choice.
Testing strategy
In the following chapters, I will highlight the main experimental methodologies and conclusions that I found, but you can see this even more in detail in Misen and Sardel individual review articles
1. Pan construction and design
By measuring the precise weight of both pans, by weight, I observed a difference of around 15 %. I believe that the same difference in pan weight can be found when comparing pans of other sizes between the two brands (8 and 10inch)
The subjective feeling of weight when holding both pans left the impression that the Sardel skillet has observably lower weight.
Both pans have high-quality 5-ply construction, which was confirmed by no observable wear and tear after intensive use for a long time. See the Durability chapter.
The radius of the bottom surface of the Misen pan was 25cm or 9.85 inches compared to slightly lower 24.5cm/9.64 inches in Sardel. However, I haven’t observed a big difference in the amount of food that I could prepare in both pans, as I would maybe expect(See more about the amounts of food you can anticipate in these pans in the Cooking performance chapter)
As an example, I was comfortable preparing 6-7 sunny eggs in Sardel, and the same impression was for Misen. Even the Misen had a larger bottom surface for some parts of cm I haven’t felt that I haven’t been comfortable with more than 6-7 eggs in it.
I was quite comfortable with the handle grip when it come to both pans, even though they have been observably different. For the Misen pan, I expected from the first look that the handle grip can be a little slippery, but It hasn’t been the case in real cooking.
Finally, as I mentioned before, even my impressions about hand can give you some insides of what to expect it doesn’t mean you won’t personally find one type of grip more comfortable than another.
2. Cooking performance
I found both pans great in applying them for different fry techniques such as searing the meat and tofu, sauteing veggies or shallow fry scrambled or sunny-side-up eggs.
I tested both pans with some of the dishes that I prepare for a long time, by using the same procedure and ingredients (You can take a look at some of these recipes in my video about the Misen carbon steel pan). However, when preparing these dishes in both skillets( (by using literary same amount and source of ingredients) I haven’t found observable differences.
The walls, of the Misen, are a bit steeper compared to Sardel. Because of this, I expected that this pan will have an observably lower steam-releasing capacity, which is important in frying since you don’t want steam to recompensate. However, I haven’t observed the difference between the two pans when it comes to this factor.
Finally, in both cases of Misen and Sardel, 12-inch skillets flipping the food in the air (e.g. flip the pancakes) was not the easiest thing to do because of their size. (I would rather go for 10-inch Misen or Sardel pans in this case which are even lighter).
On the other hand, tossing the food by moving the skillets left and right on the stovetop, was quite a comfortable movement with both skillets. However, I felt that Sardel is a bit lighter and more comfortable choice for moving around.
3. Heating performance
I have measured several parameters when it comes to Heating performance including heat retention, heat “responsiveness”, handle heating up and heat spreading performance.
In my reviews about both cookware pieces, you will find the exact methodology of experiments I have performed(with additional explanatory pictures. However, in short, most of the measurements have been done by an Infrared thermometer.
Looking overall I have found that all of the mentioned parameters were around the same for both Misena and Sardel 12-inch skillets.
Firstly I have compared the heat “responsiveness” of both skillets. I characterize this parameter as the ability to quickly follow the temperature of the cooktop after you change the heating setup. This way you have good control of your cooking temperature at each moment.
I measured this by putting the pans on the preheated stovetop and observing how fast they could change the temperature. In both cases, the skillets reached temperatures around 180-200C(good temperature range for strat frying) in less than a minute.
Secondly, I have compared the heat retention. In the case of both pans, the heat retention was quite low as expected from full-clad stainless steel, which is light. After heating pans to 180C/356F and putting them aside from stovetop to wooden board, they would drop in temperature to 100C/212F in less than one minute
In I third step I measured the handle heating up at point 5 cm from the point where it joins the body.
When heating both pans to 200C/392F I have found that the handle hasn’t heated up for more than 35C/95F
Finally, compared the heat-spreading performance among the two skillets. I tested both pans by putting them on a stovetop with a smaller diameter than the bottom of the pans. Moreover, I was measuring(by IC thermometer) the temperature drop between the areas in direct contact with the stovetop and parts that are not.
As presented in the schema below I have found that temperature drops only about 15% in both pans if I compare the pan’s bottom middle and the bottom corners.
Misen pan on the top picture and Sardels on down one
*The red line presents the edge of the stove below the pan
However, if you wanted to find more info in individual reviews about Misen and Sardel stainless steel skillets
4. Durability and Warranty
I have been using Sardel for almost a year while Misen tested me for more than six months. Both pans have shown great quality since after the mentioned period and intensive weekly use I haven’t observed warping.
Misen pan on the top picture and Sardels on down one
This has proven the durability and great quality of the skillets. Finally, the confidence of Misen and Sardel companies in their stainless steel cookware was followed by the lifetime guarantee that they have provided for these skillets.
In the case of the Sardel, they offer an exclusive lifetime guarantee which means that only the original purchaser could claim the guarantee rights. However, the Misens guarantee is not specified in these terms.
If you plan to sell or give your pan to somebody in one moment it will be useful to consider this “exclusivity” of guarantee. If not, it won’t make a big difference if you like it was in my case.
In addition, what is amazing is that both Sardel and Misen offer a trial period for the test case of their cookware.
During this period you can utilize purchased cookware as much as you’d like. Moreover, If you decide that it’s not for you, regardless of the reason, you can it back to the company and they refund you the money. Moreover, both Misen and Sardel cover the costs of return shipping for US customers, during the trial period.
Misen offers 60 day trial time while 30 days is offered by Sardel. In any case, I believe that a few weeks of use are more than enough to conclude if the pan fits you well or not.
Finally, I didn’t have a direct experience with product replacements or other reclamations, so I could not say how good it works from my personal experience.
However, I could say I had a quite quick response to my questions whenever I contacted the Sardels or Misens customer service. Moreover, In case of the Sardel I was organizing the shipping from the US to Europe by a third-party company, and I have really efficient communication with Sardel’s support in order to realize the shipping procedure(See more in the next chapter).
5. Worldwide shipping
It will be important to notice that many cookware companies based in the US have free shipping mainly US, Canada, and sometimes the UK. The same is true for Misen and Sardel.
Misen offers free shipping to the US(excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Additionally, Sardel provides free shipping to the US and to Canada(Free shipping to Canada is over 200$ of purchasing amount).
So If you are based in the US this is great.
However, this limits potential customers from countries around the globe to get these products easily.
In the last few years, I have been based in different countries of Europe(France, Serbia, Estonia..) I was facing the same problem. However, some time ago, I discovered a service called My Us.
Maybe some of you are familiar with it(our you even use it frequently), but for me, it was a big breakthrough.
The service allows you to ship from the US to more than 220 countries around the world for very affordable prices(Much better than FedEx or UPS based on my experience). Finally, this service simplifies the process of fulfilling any papers required for customs which was the part that was quite time-consuming for me in the past.
Finally, as they state, for 99% of the packages the shipping cost is calculated only by the weight, and you see the fees straight on the My us Shipping calculator available on their website. Moreover, only for the items with dimensions (length + width + height) greater than 72 inches (183 cm) the size is taken into account for defining the price.
Here is one useful video about the Review of the Company shipping process:
To find out more take a look at their website. I believe that at least for some of you, it will be useful as it was for me
