Last Updated on May 14, 2024
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EDITOR’S NOTE: We purchased this pan as soon as it showed up in our local stores. Read our complete review and full workup of the pan here.
Back in January of 2022, Aldi introduced the Crofton Awesome Pan. It was an affordable dupe of an expensive name-brand Always Pan. Always Pans are made by Our Place, a company founded in 2019 that makes kitchen products. The co-founder, Shiza Shahid, served as a mentor to Nobel laureate and assassination survivor Malala Yousafzai. Our Place sells a variety of products, but its best-known product is the Always Pan, which features an aluminum body and ceramic nonstick cooking surface. It claims to replace your “fry pan, sauté pan, steamer, skillet, saucier, saucepan, non-stick pan, spatula, and spoon rest.” We bought one when it came out at Aldi, and it’s one of our go-to pans for making everything from eggs to taco meat.
Now, Aldi is selling a mini version of its Awesome Pan, which is a knockoff of the name-brand Mini Always Pan. The Aldi Mini Awesome Pan is only 8 inches in diameter compared to the regular Aldi Awesome Pan’s 10.25-inch diameter. The name-brand Mini Always Pan costs $120 when it’s not on sale (it was on sale for $95 at the time we wrote this post), while the Aldi Crofton Mini Awesome Pan cost only $16.99, so if you’re a fan of Always Pans, the Aldi versions are well worth checking out.
What We Know:
The Crofton Mini Awesome Pan in blue.
The Crofton Mini Awesome Pan (Product Code: 711591) is an Aldi Find, so it’s in stores for a short time only. Each store will get one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone. Aldi does not offer online ordering for this pan if it’s sold out at your local store.
These pans are scheduled to arrive in Aldi stores on May 8th, 2024.
The Crofton Mini Awesome Pan cost $16.99 at the time of publication. As mentioned earlier, that’s a lot less than the $120 the name-brand mini pan sells for. You also won’t find name-brand Mini Always Pans or similar pans for less on Amazon.
Here’s more information on the Crofton Mini Awesome Pan, according to Aldi:
- Choose from black, pink, or blue
- Measures 8 inches in diameter
- Cast aluminum provides uniform heat distribution
- Features Fusion Ti coating for easy release
- Compatible with all cooktops including induction
- Oven safe up to 300°F
The Aldi pan doesn’t do quite as much as the name-brand Mini Always Pan. The name-brand pan claims it “sautes, fries, bakes, sears, boils, braises, strains, serves, stores … does it all!” Meanwhile, this Aldi pan is only oven safe up to 300 degrees, so we don’t recommend using it for much in the oven other than maybe keeping things warm. The Aldi pan also does not include a built-in spoon rest or spoon holder like the name brand does.
This Mini Awesome Pan is sold under the Crofton brand. There is no company called Crofton. Instead, that’s the name Aldi puts on some of its cookware it sources from various suppliers.
What We Don’t Know:
We haven’t yet purchased this Mini Awesome Pan, so we don’t know how well it works or how it holds up to cooking and regular use. We plan to buy one as soon as they arrive in our local Aldi stores. In the meantime, we write open threads so readers can have a place to discuss Aldi products.
Do you plan to buy the Crofton Mini Awesome Pan? Leave a comment below.
