Taima Titanium makes pans with a pure titanium cooking surface instead of a nonstick coating. I bought the 8-piece Pure Titanium Signature Pan Complete Set for $599 and I've been cooking on it since early summer. Here's how it went.
At a glance
What it is | An 8-piece set with a Classic pan, a Wok pan and a Deep pan, each with a lid, plus a spatula and a turner. The cooking surface is titanium with a textured pattern pressed into it, no coating. |
Who it's for | Anyone replacing a nonstick set who doesn't want to replace it again in two years, and doesn't want to learn cast iron. |
The verdict | It's a good set of pans. Eggs slide and steaks brown properly. It cost more than I'd ever spent on cookware, and I'd pay it again. |
Price | $599 for the 8-piece set when I bought it. The single Classic pan is $159 on its own. |
The catch | You have to do the oil-and-heat seasoning step before the first cook, and the titanium surface changes color at high heat. |
First impressions
We've been through three nonstick sets in ten years. The last one was an $89 set from Kohl's that started flaking around the rivets after eighteen months. My brother-in-law Gary had been going on about titanium pans since Christmas. I finally looked.
The Taima site is a lot. There's a sale banner and a countdown clock, and every product gets a long page with lab badges and chef quotes. I'll be honest, I rolled my eyes at some of it. What I actually wanted to know was buried in the details tab: the cooking surface is 99.86 percent titanium and the pan is five layers with aluminum in the middle and stainless on the outside. There's a lifetime warranty too. That was enough for me to order the 8-piece set instead of the single pan.
The box came the same week as our new garage door opener and the garage looked like a loading dock for a few days. Inside, the three pans have a hammered finish on the outside and gold-colored handles. Not what I'd have picked. They've grown on me. The lids fit, and the spatula and turner are titanium too and feel like they'll outlast me.
How it works
The idea is simple. There's no coating to wear off because the surface you cook on is solid titanium, and Taima has a pattern of tiny ridges pressed into it (they call it SlipScale) that's supposed to give you the release of a nonstick pan. Taima says the surface is lab tested and free of PFAS, PTFE and PFOA, and the product page has a certificate image for the titanium purity. Underneath, the aluminum layers spread the heat and the stainless outer layer makes it work on induction.
The one thing you have to do is season it before the first use: a teaspoon of high smoke point oil, medium-low heat, two to three minutes.
The first week, and the eggs
I skipped the seasoning step on day one because I was hungry and didn't read the card. Two eggs stuck. Long story short, I did the oil step that evening, and the next morning the eggs slid to the plate with a nudge from the turner. That's been true every morning since. I'm exact about this because eggs were the whole reason I gave up on stainless years ago.
The Wok pan took a stir fry on high heat that same week and nothing stuck to it either.
Everyday cooking over the summer
Most nights the Classic pan is the one on the stove. Chicken thighs brown evenly across the whole surface, with no pale spot in the middle the way our old pans had. Steaks get a proper crust on medium-high, and I've stopped cranking the burner all the way up because the pan doesn't need it.
The Deep pan does the Sunday tomato sauce. Our old stainless pot used to give it a faint metallic taste if it sat overnight. I haven't noticed that with this one. Gary came over in July for the Rockies game and asked what was different about the sauce. I'm counting that as a win even though I'd changed the recipe too.
The lids are heavier than I expected. I don't mind that. My wife does.
Cleanup and how they're holding up
Everything goes in the dishwasher and comes out clean. When something does bake on, I've used the green side of the sponge and once a piece of steel wool, and there isn't a mark on the cooking surface.
The cooking surface of the Classic pan took on a bronze and blue tint after the first high-heat sear and it has stayed that way.
Three months in, nothing has warped and the surface still releases the way it did in week one.
Price and value
The 8-piece set was $599 when I bought it. Buying the three pans separately on the Taima site would run $159 for the Classic, $199 for the Wok and $189 for the Deep. That's $547 before you have a single lid or utensil, which is why the set made sense for us.
Pros
- Food releases like a nonstick pan without a coating that flakes
- Even browning across the whole pan, so lower burner settings do the job
- Dishwasher safe and takes steel wool without a scratch on the cooking surface
- Works on our induction cooktop and goes straight into the oven
- Lifetime warranty
- The set price beats buying the pans one at a time
Cons
- $599 is a lot for pans, however you look at it
- The seasoning step is required, and skipping it gets you stuck eggs
- The titanium surface takes on a color tint at high heat
- The lids are heavy
FAQ
Is Taima titanium cookware worth it?
For us, yes. We wanted pans we could stop replacing and that didn't need the babysitting cast iron does. Three months in, they're doing that.
Is it really nonstick?
After the seasoning step, yes. Eggs and fish are the test for me and both slide. Before the seasoning step, no, and I found that out the hard way.
Is the whole pan titanium?
No. Taima says the cooking surface is titanium, the layers underneath are aluminum, and the stainless steel outside is what lets it work on induction. Only the titanium touches your food.
Can it go in the dishwasher?
Yes, and I put it in most nights. Metal utensils and steel wool have been fine on it too.
Would I buy it again?
Yes. If I were starting over I'd still get the set rather than the single pan, because we ended up using all three more than I expected.
Bottom line
If you're replacing a worn-out nonstick set and you're tired of doing it every couple of years, Taima's titanium cookware is worth the money. Ours have earned their spot on the stove, and the Kohl's set went to the curb in July.
