Cookware Got Worse on Purpose
This article explores how manufacturing quality in cookware has declined due to corporate consolidation and cost-cutting measures. It highlights the specific case of All-Clad, which faced a class-action settlement after its 'dishwasher safe' pans developed sharp, dangerous edges.
Why it matters
It illustrates the broader trend of 'enshittification' in consumer goods, where private equity ownership and brand consolidation prioritize profit margins over product safety and longevity.
A couple of years ago, the small All-Clad pan I fry eggs in cut me as I was pulling it out of the dishwasher. A clean slice on my index finger off the rim. I patched it up. Didn’t think much else of it. I discovered what actually happened while researching this essay, sitting in a settlement archive three years too late to file a claim.
All-Clad had been selling its American-made stainless pans as dishwasher safe. In the dishwasher, the bonded rims corroded until the exposed edge got sharp enough to easily slice through skin. The company settled in 2023, capped at $4 million for a class covering seven and a half years of national sales, a rounding error for its French owner.
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