A Major Disappointment - Single-Use Ash is a Flop

A Major Disappointment - Single-Use Ash is a Flop

Hello everyone, and thanks for taking the time to check out my review!

We've been using a Kukmara pancake griddle for a few years now, but it's finally given up the ghost and needs replacing. We decided to get a smaller 20cm skillet and a pancake griddle from the same brand, Tradition, after we bought a high-quality 'Marble' skillet 28cm in diameter about a year and a half ago.

Unfortunately, the Tradition 'Marble' pancake griddle wasn't available in the size we needed, so we decided to try out the Estet 22cm pancake griddle with the 'Granite' non-stick coating instead. This kitchen wonder was on sale in mid-November last year for 767 rubles.

I paid for the purchase using Yandex Market's Plus points and ended up paying just 1 ruble in cash for the pancake griddle. Let's just say I overpaid for a product of this quality, especially considering those who bought it at full price.

The order arrived in a cardboard box, and when I opened it to inspect the griddle, I was surprised by how lightweight it was compared to our heavy Tradition 'Marble' 20cm skillet.

The griddle was packed in a regular plastic bag, not wrapped in bubble wrap.

Inside the pan, there's a sticker on a small piece of double-sided tape covering almost the entire bottom of the pan. The sticker's a nice touch, but it's a bit of a pain to remove before using the pan.

The front of the sticker has a big picture of a pancake, and underneath it, there's a bunch of text that's more marketing fluff than actual information. It claims the pan's safe to use because it doesn't contain any harsh chemicals, but I'm not sure what that really means. I mean, I've used it for a week and so far, so good, but I'm not going to start using it as a hammer anytime soon.

The back of the sticker has no pictures, just text. It says the pan was made in March last year in the Tver region, and then it gets into some marketing speak about how the pan's thickness allows it to distribute heat evenly. Yeah, sure, maybe it does. But then it gets into some weird advice about how to handle the pan's non-stick coating, saying you should avoid scratching it with your ceramic cooktop. Um, isn't that the other way around? I mean, I've had some issues with the pan scratching my cooktop, but I'm not sure if that's the pan's fault or the cooktop's.

The one thing that's definitely a pro is the non-stick coating. It's applied well, but unfortunately, it's on a pretty mediocre base. I've had some issues with food sticking to the pan, especially when I'm cooking something like pancakes or eggs. But hey, at least the non-stick coating is doing its job, even if the rest of the pan isn't.

What really stood out to me about the bottom of this pan is that it's not fully coated with the non-stick material like you'd find on the Tradition 'Marble' pans. Instead, you've got wide areas of bare aluminum alternating with narrow strips of non-stick coating, which gives the bottom of the pan a bit of a target-like appearance.

Fast forward to the next day, and my wife decided to whip up some pancakes on our new pan. By the time I got home from work, she was finishing up on our old pan, while the new one sat cozily next to the trash can.

When I asked her what was going on, she explained that after she washed and dried the new pan, she applied some oil to it before its first use. She then placed it on the glass-ceramic surface of our electric stove and let it heat up for a bit. As it warmed up, the bottom of the pan started to warp and became concave.

After that, the pan started to wobble around on the stove like a ship on rough seas. It was pretty comical, to be honest.

I've heard it said that the first pancake is always a bit of a disaster, but in this case, it was the pan that was the real mess. We ended up making pancakes on our old trusty griddle, while my son had a blast folding up the new pan like a pancake and sending a video of it to his friends for a laugh. I've included a few still shots from that video in this review, just to give you an idea of how poorly this pan performed.

Let's just say that I'm extremely disappointed with the Blynnaia Estet 22 cm pan with the 'Granite' non-stick coating. If you're looking to waste your money, then this might be the pan for you. The only reason I can think of to buy this pan is if you're looking for a prop for a photo shoot – it's so thin and flimsy that you could probably even roll it up into a tube if you're feeling handy.

I have to say, the STEKA frying pan from IKEA, which was selling for around 89 rubles 12-13 years ago, seems normal and even pretty good compared to this one. It's a shame I couldn't give the Estet 22 cm non-stick frying pan with the 'Granite' coating a zero rating, it definitely deserves it, but the rules won't let me, so I've given it a high rating of one star, but honestly, you shouldn't even think about buying this pan, let alone pay full price for it.

I'd like to thank everyone for reading my review, I hope it was helpful, even though I'm not claiming to be 100% objective, it's just my subjective opinion.

As for the pros and cons, I'd say the only pro is the non-stick coating, but it's not enough to save this pan from its numerous cons. The cons include the pan's lightweight and flimsy construction, the sticker on the bottom that's annoying to remove, the marketing fluff on the sticker, the weird advice on how to handle the non-stick coating, the mediocre base, the non-stick coating not being fully applied, the pan warping and becoming concave after heating up, and the pan being generally a mess to use.