Scanpan Background

SCANPAN Cookware is manufactured in Denmark by SCANPAN Denmark AS and is today the largest European manufacturer of pressure cast aluminum cookware. The company was founded in 1956.

The modern, functional Scandinavian design combines with old world craftsmanship to present SCANPAN Ceramic Titanium NewTek CLASSIC, NewTek PROFESSIONAL, and STEEL Cookware.

SCANPAN CLASSIC NEW TEK has been available in the US since January 2002 and succeeds the original SCANPAN Titanium. SCANPAN CLASSIC NEW TEK features an updated, patented surface technology that is still using our patented ceramic-titanium foundation as its base but works with a new nonstick compound with a different chemical and molecular structure. The result is a "closed" nonstick surface that is now offering perfect food release all the time, no longer requires pre-oiling or seasoning before use and is dishwasher safe.

The surface of SCANPAN CLASSIC NEW TEK is based on a number of different patents. The original surface was first introduced in Europe in 1986 and in the US in 1987. SCANPAN 2001+ Cookware, as it was then called, caused an immediate stir in the cookware market since it was the first cookware, and still is the only cookware, that combines a professional cooking utensil with long-term nonstick convenience, backed by a genuine full lifetime warranty. Each time that consumer publications have tested cookware between 1987 and 2000, SCANPAN Cookware was consistently awarded "Best Nonstick Cookware" ratings and "Best Buy" recommendations.

The best way to understand SCANPAN's technology is to take a step back and look at traditional nonsticks. They are great in releasing food. That's about where most of them stop. And we all know how annoying it is to keep the breakfast sausage, bacon and eggs in that tiny circle in the middle of the pan to cook and fry - move them to the side, and the sizzle stops. Somehow the handles always seem to be just about falling off. And the pans themselves sometimes have warped and curled into undulating metal that won't sit still on that burner, losing contact with the heating element. Over time, the nonstick surface comes off, finds its way into the food, and it is time to buy a new nonstick pan. Again.

Then there are the more expensive, more heavy-duty pots and pans. They cook evenly, have no hot spots, and you can use metal utensils. But - the food sticks to these "traditional pros". Unless we use lots of butter or other seasoning.

That's where SCANPAN CLASSIC NEW TEK comes to the rescue. We start with the best tradition in professional cookware: Pressure-cast aluminum. Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat. The SCANPAN heavy-duty base is literally forged into shape under 200 tons of pressure. That's the only way to really eliminate hot spots and to create a perfectly even pan base. And we have researched the optimum thickness for the pan base to prevent any warping and, at the same time, create the perfect condition for the pan to heat up quickly and evenly. Our combination of raw material, pressure casting and thickness of the pan body, thus, results in perfectly even heat distribution, superior heat retention and a perfectly flat pan base for life. SCANPAN Cookware is especially engineered for halogen, ceramic and electric ranges but will, of course, work on gas and electric coil ranges, as well.

Now to SCANPAN's space-age surface: Both ceramic and titanium are incredibly hard materials. After having pressure-cast the raw pan body, the ceramic-titanium compound is super-heated to 36,000º F (thirty six thousand degrees!) at which point it liquefies. The ceramic-titanium enters a "plasma state". That liquid plasma is then fired into the pan surface at twice the speed of sound. Lots of heat and impact. The ceramic-titanium literally anchors itself in the aluminum surface and becomes one with the pan.

That's NASA technology. The SCANPAN surface technology is based on the principle of using ceramic tiles on the space shuttle, which prevent the shuttle from burning up during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. We have that concept patented for aluminum nonstick cookware. When looking at SCANPAN CLASSIC NEW TEK under a microscope, we see something like a lunar landscape. A myriad of mini-craters, all similar in size and shape. These craters were created when firing the ceramic-titanium compound into the cooking surface, and are then filled with our specially formulated NEW TEK non-stick compound. The compound is in the craters, not on them. The ceramic-titanium protects it from being scraped away. Even if you use a metal spatula. We have tried. Ran a metal spatula with a 2-lb-weight over the SCANPAN surface 300,000 times. A third of the spatula was literally ground away after the test (performed by an independent laboratory in Germany). The pan's non-stick surface and performance remained perfectly intact!

The MOHS scale measures hardness of gemstones. Diamonds come in with a perfect 10. SCANPAN CLASSIC is a 9.5. There is no tool in your kitchen that could damage or destroy the SCANPAN surface. If we can't destroy the surface, we can't get at the non-stick compound. If we can't get at the non-stick compound, it can't be scraped away. If we can't scrape it away, it will work for as long as you own the pan. It's in there for keeps! This is truly the last non-stick pan you will ever have to buy (pardon our using this rather overused phrase!). And we guarantee it with a full lifetime warranty.