Join Me and See Where and How All-Clad Cookware is Made
After the book signing at Giant Eagle Market District, we drove to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania to tour the All-Clad Metalcrafters plant. I’ve been cooking with All-Clad cookware products for many, many years and I was quite curious to see how these wonderful pots and pans are made. John Ulam, an accomplished metallurgist, discovered that by bonding various metals in just the right ways, he could create a new product with amazing qualities. He realized that these new ‘clad’ metals would be ideal for cookware and established All-Clad Metalcrafters in 1971. Professional chefs and gourmet home cooks loved the performance of these pots and pans and they grew in popularity. It always fascinates me to see how things are made and this field trip was no exception. Enjoy!
1 Arriving at the All-Clad factory
2 Signing a back issue of my magazine, featuring my Cantitoe kitchen - Of course, the pots hanging from the pot rack are All-Clad!
3 In the All-Clad boardroom there is a sampling of items from their five lines.
4 A good example of the five lines
5 These are Krups products - All-Clad's sister company.
6 Bill Groll showing a new pot rack - soon to be available at Sur La Table http://www.surlatable.com/
7 The hooks of the pot rack are held in place with magnets.
8 Here I am with Judy Baker, Melissa Palmer, Melanie Tennant, and Nick Jendrejeski
9 Robin and I with our protective glasses
10 One part of the busy factory
11 Because of the noise in the plant, we wore headphones to hear what Bill was saying.
12 Katie Goldberg and Nicole Sutliff
13 Giant rolls of coiled metal
14 More metal coils
15 This coil of aluminum is fed into a cutting machine.
16 It's called an aluminum shear.
17 The shear cuts the aluminum into workable-sized rectangles.
18 Next, the rectangles are fed into a grinding machine, preparing them for the bonding process.
19 Coincidently, producers and a cameraman from HGTV were also at the plant.
20 Here, sheets of stainless and aluminum are stacked to prepare for bonding.
21 Those stacked sheets are passed through this oven, which is 60-feet long.
22 The oven controls - each part of the long oven is heated to various temperatures for the bonding process.
23 The bonded metal emerging out of the oven
24 Once the bonded metal is cool, it is fed into this machine, which cuts it into blanks.
25 The blanks will be formed into pots and pans.
26 Bill Groll, explained that the scrap leftover from the blanking process is recycled for reuse.
27 This stack of blanks will go into another machine to form them.
28 Holding a blank - it has substantial weight.
29 This is a hydraulic forming press - it has 160-tons of force.
30 It has just formed a pot.
31 Formed, unfinished stock pots
32 Unfinished, formed fry pans
33 Unfinished formed sauce pans
34 The unfinished pots are passed through a rotary buffing machine.
35 And through a commercial washer
36 This inspection gauge is used to check the concavity of the product. If necessary, press tools will be used to rectify inferior readings.
37 These polished fry pans are ready for their handles.
38 This machine is a hole punch to attach handles with rivets.
39 Handles stamped with All-Clad waiting to be riveted
40 This is Millie, the riveter - she fastens on the handles.
41 Here I am with Susan, who inspects the finished product.
42 Product boxes waiting to be filled
43 Again, we meet up with the HGTV Producers and cameraman.
44 Here I am with Bill Groll - VP Research and Development
45 And with Melissa Palmer - VP Marketing Communications
46 And posing with Judy Baker
47 Saying goodbye to our drivers - Chuck and Oscar
48 On the way home I mixed up a cocktail refreshment for everyone.
49 Katie enjoyed this day!
All-Clad and Krups make a very nice product. Nice, new fry pans... doesn't make your heart swoon!! lol Two great adventures this week!
Thanks you so much!! http://www.meandmartha.net
Dan Viger
Hollis Center, Maine.
Posted by: Dan Viger | May 21st, 2010 at 12:21 am
Thanks for sharing Martha.
All-Clad is my all time favorite and I just purchased a few of the newest D5 line of pans I just love them. I do own a lot of LeCreuset pots but All-Clad is great.
Posted by: Ann | May 21st, 2010 at 7:09 am
Happy to see the spirit lives on in PA. Years ago, we had a Bethlehem Steel Supply store in Tioga. Our 5 year old son was in office when a truck driver came in and asked him if he wanted to ride along to pick up supplies. When Rocky left him alone in car he called me on 2-way (before cell phones) and I asked him where he was at and his childish voive came over the speaker "I am at the place where Jesus was born."
Posted by: ann | May 21st, 2010 at 7:13 am
Hi Martha,
It's always interesting to see how things are made so thanks for the lesson on All-Clad. I have stainless steel pans but not this brand, although I've been thinking about getting the 12-inch fry pan because of a favorable performance test I had read. I like that it weighs less than 3 lbs. and is excellent for crepes and for browning steaks and chicken. I also figure if you use it, it has to be good! Enjoy another day in Malaysia, although it is night time there now! Trish
Posted by: Trish | May 21st, 2010 at 8:45 am
Martha - All-Clad is a wonderful company with great products. If you interested in more Pittaburgh items - check out WQED's website and look for "Things We've Made" a Rick Sebak. I fell in love with Pittsburgh in 2000 and dream of living in that area someday.
http://www.shopwqed.org/prod-Things_We_ve_Made_DVD-181.aspx
Pat R. - a Native Texan
Posted by: Pat R | May 21st, 2010 at 8:48 am
I love seeing how stuff is made. Thanks for the tour. And happy hour on the plane? How fun!
Posted by: the 7msn ranch | May 21st, 2010 at 9:15 am
I absolutely loved the fact that All-Clad is made here in America and that some of the residents of PA have a great job. Im only buying All-Clad from this moment on. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Mona C | May 21st, 2010 at 10:43 am
Martha,
Such quality that no pans can match. Love Krups products too!
Great tour of All-Clad! So interesting to see how these marvelous pans are made!
I have a couple of pieces of All-Clad and know how exciting it is to open that gray box to reveal it's prize!
Really like Canonsburg, PA. area. Was there a few years ago at a wonderful Victorian B&B. I would have loved to gone to the factory but it wasn't on the trip plan! LOL
Thanks again for bringing us such a inside look on how these are made! Very cool! Love your drivers who took you to the plane and whoo! Fun on the plane with cocktails!
Enjoy your vacation in Malaysia with Kevin and all!
Posted by: Paula M. | May 21st, 2010 at 12:21 pm
How fantastic that you highlighted a quality American manufacturer! Yea people at Steel Clad! We're proud of you for being competitive and showing American know-how.
Posted by: Karen | May 21st, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Just think...these All-Clad guys makes women REAL happy with the finished product. Great guys! Thanks.
Posted by: http://twitter.com/Geotravel | May 21st, 2010 at 12:37 pm
My husband and I registered for and received several Al-Clad pieces when we were married. We really enjoy them and will have the pieces in our kitchen for life! Thank you for sharing your tour with us, Martha.
Posted by: Hollie McTiernan | May 21st, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Martha, this was a great field trip. It reminded me of a factory I once worked in when I was a college student.
Glad to see your tweets on your trip are still coming. Seems like you are kickin' it (for those not familiar with the slang "kickin' it" means "having a good time").
Holla atcha later.
Posted by: KLBrown | May 21st, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Thanks Martha. That was a most interesting tour.
Posted by: Edna | May 21st, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Martha, thank you for taking us to the virtual tour. I am a huge fan of All-Clad. And my husband became fan of All-Clad although he doesn't cook. *LOL*
I have to show him your post, I know he will enjoy your pictures.
Posted by: Rie in CA | May 22nd, 2010 at 2:09 am
Just purchased another set of ALL-CLADS for my daughter in college. She's in HEAVEN! I love ALL my pots and pans from All Clad - been cooking on them since 1994.
Posted by: Jane M | May 22nd, 2010 at 8:06 pm
I LOVE the fact that All-Clad is made entirely in the USA! I'm only buying All-Clad from this moment on. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Mary Trout | May 23rd, 2010 at 7:41 am
Pic #37 reveals how these All-Clad guys and gals make women REAL happy with the finished product. Flying Lufthansa recently i watched a Cameron documentary on the Titanic where rivets were still intact! There were kitchen cabinet handles intact, too. The rivet manufacturer was mentioned but i didn't have time to write it down. Great series of pics! Thanks.
Posted by: http://twitter.com/Geotravel | May 23rd, 2010 at 7:44 am
Hi Martha, What a fascinating blog about All-Clad products! I love seeing how all kinds of items are made and these look great. It would be fun to see how many of your brand of products are made, also, especially those sold at Macy's and Home Depot! You must have had a terrific, busy time during your trip to Pennsylvania. Thanks again for all of those fantastic tweets and twitpix from Malaysia. Love, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | May 23rd, 2010 at 5:49 pm
What beautiful products and they are made in the states. Yeah! I liked seeing Martha serving drinks at 35,000 feet. She does everything, doesn't she?
Keep those stories and pictures coming.
Posted by: CB Ballard | May 24th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
oooooh! I LOVE All-Clad!
Posted by: Wendy | May 26th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Hi Martha I recently started watching your shows and they are really cool. I learnt many things from your show. I love cooking and gardening and like to do experiments. your website is defenitly a golden door opened for the people who lovecooking.
spectacular photos martha. you look like a professional with apron. ALL- CLAD has good range of cooking ware. thank for leeting us have a look at how these lovely pans are made.
Thank you Martha
love your your shows martha.
Posted by: bhavana | May 31st, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Just wondering Martha, are these the pots you would recommend to a serious home cook? My existing pots are looking a little worse for wear and I was thinking about getting the all-clad. Lastly, what combination of pots would you recommend for someone on a limited budget?
Thank you for sharing. My interest in the pots has been reignited!
Posted by: Donna Duncan | June 26th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Martha
You are amazing, beautiful and so talented.
I love to read your magazines to get new ideas and especially see your smiling face.
Regards
Posted by: Matt | August 11th, 2010 at 1:20 pm