Our Place built a cult following on one product: the Always Pan, a pastel, do-everything ceramic pan sold as the clean, non-toxic answer to Teflon. The marketing is confident. This review is more measured. On health, the evidence is genuinely reassuring. On transparency and lifespan, there are honest caveats worth knowing before you spend $150.
- Ceramic coating made without PTFE, PFOA, PFAS, lead, or cadmium (per Our Place)
- Consumer Reports tested the Always Pan and detected none of the 96 PFAS it screened for
- 2.0 body is 100% post-consumer recycled aluminum
- Genuinely useful 10-in-1 design that replaces several tools
- 100-day returns and a limited lifetime warranty
- Our Place declines to publish its full lab results, so claims can’t be fully independently verified
- Like all ceramic nonstick, the coating wears out, some users report slickness fading within a year
- Aluminum core sits under the coating once it degrades
- Premium price for what is ultimately a wear item
Related: read our honest Caraway cookware review and compare cast iron vs ceramic cookware if long-term durability matters most to you.
What Is Our Place?
Our Place is a direct-to-consumer cookware brand best known for the Always Pan, a ceramic-coated pan marketed as a 10-in-1 tool that replaces a frying pan, sauté pan, steamer, and more. The pitch is straightforward: modern non-toxic cooking without the “forever chemicals” found in traditional nonstick. The current version, the Our Place 2.0 pan, upgraded the coating and switched the body to 100% post-consumer recycled aluminum. Our Place says the newer Thermakind coating is engineered to last roughly 50% longer than the original.
The Always Pan sits alongside brands like Caraway in the “pretty, safe, non-toxic” cookware category. If you want the head-to-head on materials and lifespan, our Caraway review covers the closest competitor, and both belong in the wider non-toxic cookware guide.
The Non-Toxic Case (Solid)
Start with the good news, because it is real. Our Place states its ceramic coating is made without PTFE, PFOA, PFAS, lead, or cadmium. That is a manufacturer claim, but it does not stand alone. Consumer Reports independently tested the Always Pan and did not detect any of the 96 PFAS compounds it screened for. That is meaningful third-party corroboration of the single claim buyers care about most, and it directly answers the “is Our Place non toxic” question on the PFAS front.
Worth keeping in perspective: the scientists Consumer Reports consulted were not surprised, because PFAS simply aren’t needed to make a ceramic nonstick surface in the first place. So a clean PFAS result is the expected outcome for a genuine ceramic coating, not a miracle. It confirms Our Place is telling the truth here, rather than proving the pan is uniquely special.
On heavy metals, an older Our Place test report listed lead, cadmium, mercury, and cobalt as non-detectable. The honest caveat is that the report did not publish its minimum detection thresholds, and as of 2026 Our Place declines to release its full testing publicly, citing proprietary formulas. So the heavy-metal picture is reassuring but not fully open to independent verification the way, say, Caraway’s published testing is.
What “Ceramic Nonstick” Actually Is
“Ceramic” here is a bit of a marketing simplification. These coatings are not solid ceramic; they are a thin sol-gel layer, essentially a silica-based (sand-derived) film cured onto the metal. Our Place describes its Thermakind coating as made mostly from a sand derivative, water, and alcohol. It is silicon-based chemistry rather than the fluoropolymer (PTFE) chemistry of Teflon, which is exactly why it avoids the PFAS family.
Here is the part marketing tends to skip. Sol-gel ceramic coatings are proprietary blends, and independent reviewers have flagged honest unknowns, questions about undisclosed polymers or nanoparticles that the company hasn’t publicly resolved. There is no evidence these are harmful in normal use, but “no evidence of harm” is not the same as “fully characterized and independently confirmed safe.” If that distinction matters to you, uncoated options like cast iron or stainless steel remove the question entirely, which is the tradeoff we walk through in the cast iron vs ceramic comparison.
The Lifespan Problem
The biggest practical knock on the Always Pan is not toxicity, it’s durability, and it is the same knock that applies to every ceramic nonstick pan. The coating wears. Some owners get several good years; others report the nonstick fading within the first year of regular use, and at least one long-term reviewer found slickness noticeably gone around the six-month mark. This is not a defect unique to Our Place. It is the nature of the ceramic coating class.
Once the coating degrades, food starts sticking and you are effectively cooking on an aluminum pan until you replace it. That replacement cycle is the sustainability weak spot: a pan that lasts three to five years is far less green than cast iron or stainless that lasts decades. You can meaningfully stretch its life, though. Use low to medium heat only, skip aerosol cooking sprays (they bake into a sticky residue that kills the nonstick), stick to wood or silicone utensils, and hand wash. Treat it as the delicate tool it is and you’ll get the most out of it.
The Titanium Always Pan
Our Place clearly heard the durability complaints, because its newer answer is the Titanium Always Pan Pro. Instead of a ceramic coating, it uses a coating-free titanium cooking surface, marketed as NoCo technology, with a micro-textured finish said to mimic a leaf’s structure so food releases without any applied nonstick layer. Because there is no coating, there is nothing to wear off, and it carries a limited lifetime warranty rather than the ceramic pan’s shorter coverage.
Independent reviewers confirm the titanium interior is genuinely coating-free and PFAS-free, and that it cooks well once you learn its rhythm: preheat properly, use enough fat, and be patient. The tradeoffs are a steeper learning curve, slightly more scrubbing than a fresh nonstick, and a higher price (around $195). If longevity is your priority and the ceramic wear cycle bothers you, the titanium line is the more future-proof buy, closer in spirit to buy-it-once cookware.
Who It’s For
The ceramic Always Pan is a good fit if you want an easy, genuinely non-toxic nonstick pan for everyday low-and-slow cooking, eggs, veggies, grains, and one-pan meals, and you accept that it is a consumable you’ll replace eventually. It is not the pick if you want to sear steak at high heat, or if you want one pan to last a lifetime. For those goals, cast iron, carbon steel, or the titanium version make more sense. Ready to buy the ceramic version? See current pricing on our Our Place Always Pan 2.0 product page or check it on Amazon.
The Verdict: Is Our Place Non-Toxic?
Yes, on the evidence available, the Our Place Always Pan is a credibly non-toxic pan: its PFAS-free claim is backed by independent Consumer Reports testing, and its heavy-metal testing reads clean. It loses points not for danger but for two honest gaps, Our Place won’t publish its full lab results the way some rivals do, and like all ceramic nonstick, the coating is a wear item that undercuts the long-term sustainability case. A strong 3.9 out of 5: buy the ceramic pan for clean everyday nonstick, or step up to the titanium line if you want it to last.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Always Pan toxic?
No, based on available evidence. Our Place says its ceramic coating is made without PTFE, PFOA, PFAS, lead, or cadmium, and Consumer Reports independently tested the Always Pan and detected none of the 96 PFAS it screened for. The main caveat is transparency: Our Place doesn’t publicly release its full lab results, so some claims rely on the company’s word.
Does the Always Pan have Teflon or PTFE?
No. The Always Pan uses a silicon-based sol-gel ceramic coating (Our Place calls it Thermakind), not the fluoropolymer PTFE used in Teflon. That chemistry is why it avoids PFAS, and Consumer Reports’ PFAS testing supports the PTFE-free claim.
How long does the Always Pan coating last?
It varies. Some owners get several years; others report the nonstick fading within the first year, and one long-term reviewer noticed it around six months. Ceramic coatings all wear eventually. Low-to-medium heat, no aerosol sprays, soft utensils, and hand washing extend its life considerably.
Is the Titanium Always Pan better?
For longevity, yes. The Titanium Always Pan Pro is coating-free, so nothing wears off, it’s also PFAS-free, and it carries a limited lifetime warranty. The tradeoffs are a higher price (around $195) and a learning curve. If durability matters most, it’s the more future-proof choice over the ceramic pan.
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Sources & Further Reading
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