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When I was looking for a new daily use small frying pan, ceramic was at the top of my list. I knew I was going to use this pan A LOT and didn’t want something that would be a pain to clean. I’m a frequent egg cooker, so nonstick is a must for me. I wasn’t looking to get traditional nonstick because I could stay away from the chemicals used in them, so all roads led to ceramic.
I have a 12-inch GreenPan sauté pan, so I’ve been a big fan of GreenPan for a couple of years now. With my mind set on ceramic and GreenPan on my short list of brands, I headed to the (virtual) store.
I knew I wanted to get a smaller pan that was easy to whip up a couple eggs in, so I was looking only for 8-inch frying pans. The 2 GreenPan options I found that fit the bill were the Lima and the Paris. Both look very similar as they both come in the “GreenPan grey” with a stainless-steel handle. Overall, they both looked like great options for what I was looking for.
I ended up going with the GreenPan Lima 8-inch frying pan, which arrived in about 2 days. Thanks Amazon.
I chose the Lima over the Paris because the Lima seemed to have a bit of a shallower build. I like to toss my food as I’m cooking so I like a more curved construction. While the Paris may have some more capacity, the Lima was exactly what I was looking for.
GreenPan Lima Frypan Features:
- Ceramic nonstick that doesn’t have toxic chemicals
- Riveted stainless steel handle
- Hard anodized aluminum pan body
- Oven safe up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit
The package arrived and I was a bit surprised that it showed up in just a bubble mailer with no box around it to protect the pan. It was still in perfect condition, so I figured if it could withstand shipping and handling, it won’t have a problem in my kitchen.
The packaging it does come in is a cardboard cover that advertises some of the features of the pan.
Cooking Eggs with the GreenPan Lima
I gave it a quick hand washing and got ready to put it to the test – with a couple of scrambled eggs. I try not to cook with too much oil, so I was really glad to see the surface of the pan was already smooth and nonstick-ish before even putting any oil on it. I did still use a bit of coconut oil to make sure things went as planned.
After heating it up on a low heat for about a minute, I poured my bowl of eggs on the pan to hear the satisfying sizzle. To protect the nonstick coating from getting scratched, metal utensils shouldn’t be used on this pan. I typically use silicone utensils which work well on this pan.
I left the heat on low (2 or 3 out of 10 on my gas range) and stirred the eggs every 30 seconds or so to keep them cooking evenly. It only took maybe 3 or 4 minutes to finish cooking to, what I consider to be, perfection.
The Clean Up
Getting the eggs off the pan and onto the plate couldn’t have been easier because they… weren’t stuck! The nonstick seems to have worked just about perfectly and there was very little evidence that anything had even been cooked on the pan.
Just a quick rinse and few seconds of hand washing had the pan completely cleaned off and awaiting it’s next job.
Cooking Chicken with the GreenPan Lima
For its next assignment I used the GreenPan Lima 8-inch frying pan to cook a chicken breast for dinner.
I let the chicken marinate in some olive oil and seasoning for about 30 minutes first. Once I was ready to get started, I added about a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and turned the heat to 4 out of 10 on my gas range.
Adding the chicken in confirmed I had the reached perfect temperature, as it began to sizzle but not too much. I let the chicken cook uncovered and flipped it after 4 minutes or so. I had my plastic tongs ready to help flip the chicken, but once I moved the pan around, I realized how easily the chicken glided around the pan. It really was not sticking whatsoever! So instead of using tongs, I took advantage of the lower lip construction of the pan and just gave it a toss to flip it. Not only did I feel like a real chef, I now had 1 less thing to clean. Win win, right?
After another 3 to 4 minutes I gave it another flip and repeated that process twice more to make sure things were cooking evenly. After about 15 minutes total, the pan’s work was done. I turned off the heat and let the chicken rest on a cutting board. As for the pan, I could already tell cleanup would be a no-brainer. I let the pan cool before giving it a quick wash, but all that remained was a bit of olive oil and some seasoning that came off the chicken.
The End Result
Ever since I got my air fryer, I have had a hard time cooking chicken any other way but I’m glad I did. Using the GreenPan to cook a chicken breast was super quick and easy. It also gave the chicken some texture on the outside, while staying tender on the inside. Thanks to the hard anodized aluminum construction, there were no hot spots on the pan so the chicken was cooked evenly.
I let the chicken rest for a few minutes then sliced it up to put on top of a salad.
The Clean Up
Once I had gotten rid of all the evidence on my plate and the pan had cooled, I gave the pan a good spray in the sink. Just the faucet alone got the pan looking clean. I then just used a soapy sponge and some warm water to make sure it was clean. It was back to good as new, ready for its next assignment.
Wrapping Up our GreenPan Lima Review
So far, I have been extremely happy with this pan. It seems to be able to handle casual daily cooking no problem and the nonstick works better than I could have hoped with a little oil added. The pan handle does get a little hot after about 10 minutes or so, but I still didn’t need a hot pad to touch it. If I were to cook for 20 minutes or more continuously with it, I would make sure to have a hot pad nearby.
If you are looking for an easy to use and easy to clean ceramic frying pan, I would highly recommend picking one of these up. The 8 inch size is perfect for cooking for 1 or 2 people, but they also have 10 inch and 12 inch options for more capacity.
