A trusty pot is the best-friend of batch cooks and big families alike. Deep enough to simmer away soups, stews and casseroles, with a base that fries veg and braises meat easily makes it the kitchen accessory I reach for the most.
We’ve now all heard of the Our Place always pan after it took the internet by storm on release, so I was keen to see how well its successor, the perfect pot, would stand up. With eight functions, including everything from braising and baking, to roasting and frying, the pot promises to be a hard-working kitchen companion. Plus, like Our Place’s other products, it claims to have a toxic-free non-stick coating.
But at £135 it’s by no means cheap, and now other brands have released pots that promise similar qualities, in similar designs, for a fraction of the price. One of these is Dunelm’s cast aluminium casserole dish, which comes in at £45. The dish is part of the brand’s cast aluminium range, which also includes saucepans, a roasting tray, and other sized pots, but the functions and capacity of the 24cm cast aluminium casserole dish was the best match to the Our Place perfect pot.
Dunelm’s cast aluminium casserole dish is billed as a cookware that “facilitates swift heat conduction and even distribution, ensuring expedited cooking”, so after head-to-head testing in my kitchen, I found out how the Our Place and Dunelm cooking pots compared.
Read more: Our Place always pan 2.0 vs Ninja possible pan – which all-in-one cookware should you buy?
How I tested
I swapped my usual cookware for the two pots, making my lunch and dinner in each for a number of weeks. I tested everything from non-stick performance to how quickly the pots came up to temperature, how evenly they cooked as well as overall cooking speeds, design and quality.
Read more: Best cast iron skillets for sizzling up a storm, tested by a food writer
Our Place perfect pot
Weight: 2kg
Capacity: 5.2l
Dimensions: 14cm x 35.1cm x 21.6 cm
Oven safe: Yes, up to 230C
Dishwasher safe: No
Suitable for: All hob types
Why we love it
- Effective non-stick coating
- Beautiful design
- Lid comes with built-in strainer
- Easy to clean
Take note
- Expensive
- Feels unstable on a raised hob
On accepting my delivery of the Our Place perfect pot, I was stunned by how light it was. In fact, it’s so lightweight that I initially thought it might just be the lid in the box. As someone who hates labouring around heavy pots, this is a huge plus.
I tested the pot with a range of dishes that made use of its eight different functions. In reality there are actually seven cooking functions as one ‘function’ is store, but the rest offer impressive versatility.
As one of its main selling points, I was most keen to test out the non-stick capability of the Our Place perfect pot. According to Our Place, the pan uses thermakind, a proprietary ceramic non-stick coating that the brand says is made “without potentially toxic materials like PFA, lead and cadmium”.
To test how truly non-stick it is, I fried tofu coated in corn flour – something my stainless steel pans have always struggled to cleanly crisp up. Heating it up to temperature was quick and even, and once I’d popped the tofu in, I could quickly see it’d be miles more successful than my previous attempts. The result was impressive – golden brown tofu with a delicious crisp.
I was also itching to test the pot by making scrambled eggs. While I wouldn’t normally use a 5.2l pot for the job, I’ll honestly be reaching for it every time now. Unlike my other saucepans, no egg caught on the base; it made a fluffy, evenly cooked scramble that came together in less than two minutes. I left the pan unsoaked to see how well it cleaned up and to my delight, a gentle scrub with a soapy sponge left it clean.
It also cooked down onions and garlic evenly, and toasted spices nicely. The non-stick ability shined here as well, with none of the usual catching or charring of smaller pieces that I get in my other pans.
The pot claims to replace your strainer with the slots built into the lid. I found it an effective way to let steam out while simmering dishes without the need to take the lid off, but as a strainer it was a bit awkward. As the pot’s handles get really hot, you need two tea towels to successfully lift it over the sink and hold on to the lid while you shake out the water. It’s a good idea, but my trusty strainer will remain in my cupboard.
The pot comes with a beechwood spoon, which is a nice touch. It has slots carved into it to allow you to rest it on the pot’s handle, so replaces a spoon dish. While this stops mess from resting a wooden spoon on a pot’s rim, it’s easy to knock off accidentally. In a similar vain, while I liked the pot’s lightweight design for manoeuvring around the kitchen, due to its height I found it somewhat flimsy on my raised gas hob compared to other pots I’ve previously used.
Like the rest of the brand’s collection, the pot’s appearance sets it apart from its competitors. It’s available in five matte colourways: blue, black, cream, bright dark green and warm neutral pink. I tested the sage colour, which is a warmer brownish cream than the photos show. Our Place also gives a 3-year-guarantee on the perfect pot, which offers a nice reassurance.
Buy now £135, Ourplace.co.uk
Dunelm cast aluminium casserole dish, 24cm
Weight: 940g
Capacity: 4.85L
Dimensions: 33.5cm x 25cm x 18.3cm
Oven safe: Yes, up to 200C
Dishwasher safe: Yes, but handwashing is recommended
Suitable for: All hob types
Why we love it
- Effective non-stick coating
- Easy to clean
- Lightweight
Take note
- Pot and handles get hot
With its look and design, Dunelm’s casserole range jumped out to me as a contender to the Our Place perfect pot. I tested the 24cm cast aluminium casserole dish, but for those looking for a shallower pot, Dunelm’s 28cm cast shallow aluminium casserole dish is worth noting, too (£42, Dunelm.com).
At 940g, this pot is extremely light and easily manageable around the kitchen. Despite the weight, I didn’t find it flimsy and it held its place on my raised gas hob.
Much like the Our Place perfect pot, I was keen to test the non-stick abilities of the Dunelm casserole dish. It features a dual layer of non-stick, scratch-resistant coating, which I trialled by cooking a variety of dishes that notoriously don’t fare well in my usual steel pot. First up, I challenged it with scrambled eggs, which it rose to without a quibble, producing fluffy perfectly cooked eggs with no sticking in sight. Washing up after leaving it for an hour was an easy job, too.
I also tested how evenly the pot heated up by cooking a chickpea and potato soup. The recipe I used asked for the onions, garlic, lemongrass and ginger to be blended up and added at the same time – something I would normally delay in my usual cookware to prevent the garlic and spices from overcooking. To my delight, each ingredient became fragrant and cooked down perfectly, without a single slice of garlic taking on that slightly burned brown I’m used to.
I also noted the pot got to temperature quickly, in around 30 seconds. Bringing it to a simmer took a little patience after adding 400ml of stock and a can of coconut milk, but then it happily worked away to cook my soup.
The dimensions and capacity of this dish compared to the Our Place perfect pot are smaller, but I found it had enough space to make a meal for four people. If you have a larger family or like to entertain, the perfect pot’s 5.2l capacity might be better suited.
Featuring lots of dimples, the self-basting lid helps to retain moisture in meats while they cook, making them more tender. As a vegetarian I was unable to test this feature, but I can imagine for roasts or casseroles this would be a game changer.
Like the perfect pot, the handles and pot become really hot so take care to use a tea towel when manoeuvring it around the kitchen.
Visually, the whole range including this pot is beautiful. In contrast to the rough ceramic look of the Our Place perfect pot, it has a subtle glazed finish. There are fewer colourways with the Dunelm dish – a duck egg green (which I tested) and smart dark grey – but they would seamlessly align with the design of most kitchens.
Unlike the perfect pot, this Dunelm’s cast aluminium casserole is dishwasher safe – although Dunlem says due to its size, it’s best to hand wash it. Plus, its guarantee is two years longer than Our Place’s. Overall, if you’re unsure whether to invest in Our Place’s perfect pot, Dunelm’s cast aluminium casserole dish is a reliable alternative at a third of the price.
Buy now £45, Dunelm.com
Our Place perfect pot vs Dunelm’s casserole dish – which is best?
Your decision really comes down to whether you’re after the ceramic, PFA-free non-stick coating that’s promised by Our Place. If it’s a priority, then the “thermakind” layer in Our Place’s perfect pot performs exceptionally against traditionally difficult food. In terms of volume, it can hold 800ml more, so if you’re cooking for a large family (more than four people), it may be a better option.
If it’s the aesthetic you’re after, the Dunelm casserole dish delivers excellent non-stick cooking and a modern design for a third of the price. The cooking performance is pretty matched and personally, I wouldn’t choose to pay extra for the the perfect pot’s added bonuses like the in-built strainer and wooden spoon.
How Our Place’s perfect pot and Dunelm’s casserole dish were tested
I swapped my usual cookware for these pots, alternating each to cook my lunch and dinner over a few weeks. When testing I was looking for:
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Alice Reynolds is a writer and production journalist at IndyBest. As someone who’s passionate about food and cooking, finding a pot that can trult do it all is a top priority for her. Alice has previously covered food and drink launches and reviews including the best supermarket pizza and best creatine supplements as well as home advice like how much it costs to run an electric blanket for IndyBest. As with all her reviews, she’s enlisted her keen eye for value for money, showing that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get good quality products for your home.
