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Since I've done a fair amount of research before my purchases, have a good amount of experience now, and got some nice extra information from Demeyere I figured I'd do a bit of a comprehensive writeup to bundle all the information together. May it be of use for people in helping decide on future purchases; I really struggled to find useful comparisons to help me choose between different lines when I made my purchase.
First some caveats / limitations:
-I am based in Europe. As a result I have never used, touched, or even seen an All-Clad up close so I am unable to provide any comparison with them. The same applies for popular newcomers on the market like Made-In; never saw 'em, never used them.
-My writeup is mostly useful for deciding between different lines of Demeyere pans or between Demeyere and similar style pans. Can't really help you to decide between for example disk bottom and clad pans.
-I own a 24, 28 & 32 cm Multiline, and a 24 & 28 Proline. Was able to touch and handle most of the others but these are the ones I actually used long-term.
-I'm not a non-stick user and as a result I never owned or care about any of their non-stick stuff. The non-stick stuff is quite different from the stainless stuff, so what I say here doesn't necessarily apply to those.
-I don't know what's available on for example the US market, or when it will be in the future. Apparently the Multiline and Ecoline are mostly available in Europe, but perhaps demand can drive supply.
Specifics common across the different lines:
-At time of writing warranty is the same 30 years all the way from the entry level Ecoline to the Proline. Check before you buy though, up until fairly recently for example the Ecoline only got 10 years of warranty, so the warranty situation can change.
-Demeyere sizing measures the inside of the pan, rim to rim. That means they can be a bit bigger than other brands that measure differently. For example the outside diameter of my Demeyere 28's is about 1,5 cm more than my Debuyer 28's.
-All their pans will have the same internal measurements regardless of thickness. As a result they'll all fit the same lids (so a 24 cm lid will fit on any pan of any line of that size), and you can mix and match lids between different series if you so desire.
-They basically come in 2 thicknesses, the 3-3.3mm and the big fat 4.8mm. So Ecoline, Multiline, Industry frying pans will all have similar thermal performance.
-They all come with welded handles. Which is awesome. they're easier to clean than pans with rivets, nothing catches on it while stirring, you don't get any issues with stuff loosening up over time after using too much high heat, and they're still bombproof. Now that I've used them for a while I vastly prefer the welded handles over the rivetted handles, and consider them one of the main selling points of Demeyere.
-It's worth shopping around since prices can vary significantly between retailers. I ended up buying all my pans from www.bestsale.be and www.artencraft.nl, but prices can fluctuate and sometimes a shop can have a good deal on something.
Differences between the lines:
-Over here you mostly see Proline, Multiline and Industry, but they have a bunch of other lines (that are often rarely seen in the wild). Their properties can usually be extrapolated from their layer count. So if I say 'multiline' in this section it will also apply to all the other lines that are of similar thickness.
-From a thermal perspective there's basically 'Proline and the rest'. You might walk away with the idea that 'Proline is better' because it's the thickest and the most expensive. In my opinion this is the wrong way to look at it. They are simply different tools for different jobs. Yes, the prolines are the best at searing meat due to their high heat capacity - a good way to look at them is 'a stainless version of a thick heavy cast iron pan'. The thinner models however are lighter, more responsive, heat up a lot faster, easier to handle, and still plenty conductive enough that they're far more useful as all-round pans for sauteing vegetable, and honestly still awesome for meat. If I could only buy 1 pan it would be a Multiline. If I could buy 2 I would consider buying a Multiline and a Proline. Of course as a KKF member I ended up buying 5 but that's a seperate matter. It's entirely reasonable and sensible to buy pans from both lines as they fulfill different roles. For meat I always grab the prolines. For anything else I always grab the multilines. If I didn't know proline existed I'd happily sear all my meat in Multilines and not think any less of it.
-The handles are a bit different; honestly it's not a big deal. Even the ones on the cheap Ecoline are basically the same as on their Apollo line and are quite good and comfortable. I will say that I found all of them a bit on the thin and slim side, but I have somewhat big hands. It wasn't bad enough to be a dealbreaker on any of them though.
-It's a bit sneaky, but some of their products are Designed in Belgium, while others are Designed and produced in Belgium. If in doubt check on the website. Proline, Multiline and Industry are all made in Belgium. Ecoline is made in Vietnam.
-Most of the lines will have the Silvinox surface treatment, but some of the cheaper ones like Ecoline do not. It's supposed to purify the steel in the top layer, make them a bit more stain resistant or whatever, but honestly in general use I can't say I really noticed much of a difference. They'll still develop fond like normal stainless pans, and they'll still clean up quite easy with hot water - but in my experience all stainless pans do.
-There is some difference in thickness within lines based on sizing that's good to be aware of. While the 24, 28 and 32 cm Proline are all 4,8mm the 20 cm pan is only 3mm, just like the other lines. It is therefore rather pointless to pay a premium for a 20 cm proline. Similarly the 32 cm Multiline is slightly thicker (3.3mm vs 3 mm), but this is a negligible difference.
(1/2)
First some caveats / limitations:
-I am based in Europe. As a result I have never used, touched, or even seen an All-Clad up close so I am unable to provide any comparison with them. The same applies for popular newcomers on the market like Made-In; never saw 'em, never used them.
-My writeup is mostly useful for deciding between different lines of Demeyere pans or between Demeyere and similar style pans. Can't really help you to decide between for example disk bottom and clad pans.
-I own a 24, 28 & 32 cm Multiline, and a 24 & 28 Proline. Was able to touch and handle most of the others but these are the ones I actually used long-term.
-I'm not a non-stick user and as a result I never owned or care about any of their non-stick stuff. The non-stick stuff is quite different from the stainless stuff, so what I say here doesn't necessarily apply to those.
-I don't know what's available on for example the US market, or when it will be in the future. Apparently the Multiline and Ecoline are mostly available in Europe, but perhaps demand can drive supply.
Specifics common across the different lines:
-At time of writing warranty is the same 30 years all the way from the entry level Ecoline to the Proline. Check before you buy though, up until fairly recently for example the Ecoline only got 10 years of warranty, so the warranty situation can change.
-Demeyere sizing measures the inside of the pan, rim to rim. That means they can be a bit bigger than other brands that measure differently. For example the outside diameter of my Demeyere 28's is about 1,5 cm more than my Debuyer 28's.
-All their pans will have the same internal measurements regardless of thickness. As a result they'll all fit the same lids (so a 24 cm lid will fit on any pan of any line of that size), and you can mix and match lids between different series if you so desire.
-They basically come in 2 thicknesses, the 3-3.3mm and the big fat 4.8mm. So Ecoline, Multiline, Industry frying pans will all have similar thermal performance.
-They all come with welded handles. Which is awesome. they're easier to clean than pans with rivets, nothing catches on it while stirring, you don't get any issues with stuff loosening up over time after using too much high heat, and they're still bombproof. Now that I've used them for a while I vastly prefer the welded handles over the rivetted handles, and consider them one of the main selling points of Demeyere.
-It's worth shopping around since prices can vary significantly between retailers. I ended up buying all my pans from www.bestsale.be and www.artencraft.nl, but prices can fluctuate and sometimes a shop can have a good deal on something.
Differences between the lines:
-Over here you mostly see Proline, Multiline and Industry, but they have a bunch of other lines (that are often rarely seen in the wild). Their properties can usually be extrapolated from their layer count. So if I say 'multiline' in this section it will also apply to all the other lines that are of similar thickness.
-From a thermal perspective there's basically 'Proline and the rest'. You might walk away with the idea that 'Proline is better' because it's the thickest and the most expensive. In my opinion this is the wrong way to look at it. They are simply different tools for different jobs. Yes, the prolines are the best at searing meat due to their high heat capacity - a good way to look at them is 'a stainless version of a thick heavy cast iron pan'. The thinner models however are lighter, more responsive, heat up a lot faster, easier to handle, and still plenty conductive enough that they're far more useful as all-round pans for sauteing vegetable, and honestly still awesome for meat. If I could only buy 1 pan it would be a Multiline. If I could buy 2 I would consider buying a Multiline and a Proline. Of course as a KKF member I ended up buying 5 but that's a seperate matter. It's entirely reasonable and sensible to buy pans from both lines as they fulfill different roles. For meat I always grab the prolines. For anything else I always grab the multilines. If I didn't know proline existed I'd happily sear all my meat in Multilines and not think any less of it.
-The handles are a bit different; honestly it's not a big deal. Even the ones on the cheap Ecoline are basically the same as on their Apollo line and are quite good and comfortable. I will say that I found all of them a bit on the thin and slim side, but I have somewhat big hands. It wasn't bad enough to be a dealbreaker on any of them though.
-It's a bit sneaky, but some of their products are Designed in Belgium, while others are Designed and produced in Belgium. If in doubt check on the website. Proline, Multiline and Industry are all made in Belgium. Ecoline is made in Vietnam.
-Most of the lines will have the Silvinox surface treatment, but some of the cheaper ones like Ecoline do not. It's supposed to purify the steel in the top layer, make them a bit more stain resistant or whatever, but honestly in general use I can't say I really noticed much of a difference. They'll still develop fond like normal stainless pans, and they'll still clean up quite easy with hot water - but in my experience all stainless pans do.
-There is some difference in thickness within lines based on sizing that's good to be aware of. While the 24, 28 and 32 cm Proline are all 4,8mm the 20 cm pan is only 3mm, just like the other lines. It is therefore rather pointless to pay a premium for a 20 cm proline. Similarly the 32 cm Multiline is slightly thicker (3.3mm vs 3 mm), but this is a negligible difference.
(1/2)
