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Prior to today, the OPCU (Our Place Cinematic Universe) primarily set the scene around its fan-favorite cookware, the Alway’s Pan, while occasionally sprinkling in some other quality kitchen essentials — knife + cutting board sets, bamboo steamers, drinkware sets, etc. But, for the first time since debuting in 2019, Our Place’s beloved Always Pan has a successor: the Perfect Pot, and it’s currently on sale for $40 less in honor of Black Friday. For $125, the new non-stick and non-toxic ceramic dish (dipped in four classic Our Place colorways: Blue Salt, Steam, Char, and Spice) serves as a stockpot, Dutch oven, saucepot, roasting rack, steamer, bread pot, braiser, and spoon rest. This time around, instead of one free-for-all launch, the brand released its first container of Perfect Pots on August 16 via limited daily color drops through August 19 and the rest is history.
According to Our Place’s site, this do-it-all dish should give you the creative freedom to boil, crisp, bake, braise, roast, steam, strain, store, serve, pour, and steep whatever your stomach is in the mood for. Sound familiar? Essentially, if you’re a fan of the Always Pan’s ingenuity, we have a hankering that you’ll get a kick out of its fresh out of the oven younger sibling. Read on below for all you need to know about what makes this pot so perfect — including reviews from the very own R29 Shopping team, coming to a computer screen near you.
Our Place Perfect Pot, $165 $125
What is the Perfect Pot?
The Perfect Pot is a larger-than-life Dutch-oven adjacent cookware that covers your basic cooking needs. Its main selling points are its lightweight stature (4.3 pounds), aesthetic appeal, and, unlike the Always Pan, you can pop this guy in the oven up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you buy, you receive the pot, a beechwood spoon, a biodegradable sponge, and a roasting rack. Rather than including a strainer similar to the one that comes with the pan, the Perfect Pot is equipped with built-in side vents that get the same job done.
What can you cook in the Perfect Pot?
You can tackle anything from chicken roasts to hearty lentil soups, one-pot pasta ensembles, and roasted veggies. If you’re looking at your Always Pan wondering if you really need to add this pot to your cabinet, ask yourself if you want the option to bake mac and cheese in the oven, boil up to 5.5 quarts of water, feed your entire family with one dish, and more endless kitchen possibilities.
Our Place Perfect Pot Reviews
“I’m an everyday type of home cook (specializing in breakfast and dinner) who loves a good one-pan meal that can be served up and enjoyed in a bowl on the couch. Easy cleanup is key for me when I’m doing my thing in the kitchen. I already own two Always Pans (Spice and Heat colorways), which I use just about every day to make my eggs in the morning — their non-stick abilities are unparalleled and they really do look very nice left out on the stovetop — so I was pretty amped up to try out the Perfect Pot.
My first out-of-the-box impressions were that it’s super lightweight compared to the Always Pan! Although I’m an AP stan, I do feel that the piece can be a bit heavy and cumbersome inside a tight kitchen space. The Perfect Pot, in comparison, is a cute compact size that’s surprisingly un-hefty. The Blue Salt colorway is so beautiful in person — it may be my new stovetop spotlight favorite (sorry, Heat).
Over the weekend I made two meals in my Perfect Pot. The first was a tomato and mozz pasta salad and the second (pictured above) was an oven-roasted chicken dish. Normally, for these types of meals, I would use my Le Creuset Dutch oven — which is an extremely heavy-duty pot — but, in happy contrast, the Perfect Pot did my Dutch oven’s job just as well while being so much easier to handle. Boiling water was a breeze instead of a lugging-struggle to and from the sink. Moving it to and from the oven was similarly breezy during my chicken-roasting feat — it’s important to note here that the Always Pan CANNOT be put in the oven (I made that sad mistake with a very limited-edition lavender hue).
Cleanup, as with the Always Pan, was no sweat for both dishes; the hardened cheese from the pasta and crusted chicken grease scrubbed right off with minimal effort and zero residues left behind. I highly recommend this pot to anyone looking for a more compact, lightweight, and stylish alternative to…well…just about any other option out there. It’s a yes for me! Although, I would like to petition its renaming to the ‘Everything Pot.’” – Elizabeth Buxton, Deputy Editor
“This is my very first and only Our Place product and this may be a pathetic thing to admit but I never cook. It doesn’t really bring me joy and I find it to be a chore (and bore). Plus, I hate the clean-up that’s required afterward and actively try to avoid doing it.
My first thoughts were: ‘Woah, this Pot is HUGE!’ and ‘Where is it gonna live within my limited NYC cabinet space?’ (reader, I made it work, but barely). Next, I was taken aback by all the thoughtful details and accouterments — like the steamer rack with silicone legs, the wooden spoon with ridges, the scrubbing sponge, and the indent spout for where the spoon chills AND where you can easily pour out liquids.
For my first trick, I made a sophisticated meal of salmon and green beans using the steamer rack. I poured some water in, brought it to a boil, placed all the stuff directly on top of the non-stick rack, covered it, and let it do its thing. In no time the fish was cooked to a perfect medium and the string beans had a perfect bite. It was so easy — I was feeling like Alison Roman over here. One thing to note is that the Pot gets SUPER hot and it stays that way for a while, so if you have food chilling in there but it’s off the heat, it WILL keep cooking. Also, don’t accidentally burn yourself! But all-in-all, clean-up was a breeze because of the non-stick finish (thank goodness). And although I DID have to entirely clear out my small sink to accommodate for the Pot (file under: NYC apartment problems), the actual washing of the Pot didn’t take too long.
Overall I’m very pleased with this Pot — it’s the kind of product that makes me wanna host a three-bean chili dinner party or something. I would absolutely recommend this Pot to friends who love to cook, or (as a tip) would suggest my engaged pals put this Pot on their wedding registry.” — Jinnie Lee, Freelance Affiliate Writer
“I have the Always Pan in the green color (Sage) and I cook a lot, at least five to six times a week. At first glance, it’s much larger than I thought it would be, but it has a nice look and feel. It’s also a bit heavy, but the Always Pan is pretty weighty, so that’s something I expected. I didn’t realize it came with a roasting rack. If I ate meat and roasted full chickens or something, I feel like this accessory would be pretty useful. But I’m not sure how much use I’ll get out of it since I’m just a roasted veggie girl. I do also appreciate that it comes with a wooden spoon. It’s more of a classic spoon shape compared to the wooden spatula that comes with the Always Pan. You can never have too many wooden kitchen utensils!
Since the Perfect Pot is pretty big (definitely not something to use for just a single serving of food), I decided to make a lentil chili. It was a joy to cook with and super easy to clean. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to cook soups, stews, etc.” — Kate Spencer, Creative & Updates Editor
“I have the Always Pan, the bamboo Spruce steamer attachment, the Fully Prepped Knife + Cutting Board bundle from Our Place, and now I also have the Perfect Pot. Despite having a kitchen decked out with Our Place products, I give myself a six out of 10 on the home cook scale. I whip something up at home every once in a while to survive and save money, but I almost always cave and order delivery. That being said, I think I make good food when I get serious.
My Perfect Pot (or as my mom likes to call it, “The Everything Pot”) arrived at my doorstep and it had the signature sustainable, aesthetically pleasing Our Place packaging — all cardboard, no plastic, and lots of info packets + a free sponge. The Pot truly is huge, but if I needed to I could throw it like a baseball. It is so lightweight and I can pick it up with one hand with no problem. The outside coating is exactly like the Always Pan and BONUS! Their lids are interchangeable. Meaning, if you want to use the Perfect Pot’s built-in strainer lid on your Always Pan, you can.
To test it out, I went with my ol’ reliable one-pot rigatoni, sausage, and veggie pasta dish that usually sustains me for about three days. One thing that surprised me: I actually like the size. I live alone and my kitchen is practically non-existent so it is kind of in the way, but I can make enough pasta in this single dish to last me for at least four days. My other small cookware appliances just don’t have the range.
Making the pasta was a breeze, sizzling the Italian sausage and sauteeing the spinach was great as well. The real kicker was when I went to pour the leftovers into my Tupperware and it was like a slip and slide. The non-stick is no joke.
All in all, I would gift this to someone with a family to feed before gifting it to a young professional in their 20s, BUT I am very happy that this pot is now a part of my collection. Calling all meal-preppers and big-portion-lovers, this pot is probably perfect for you.” — Alexandra Polk, Associate Lifestyle Writer
“This is my first Our Place product. I pretty much never cook, although I can make some things. I just can’t be bothered. It seems like a lot of work most of the time.
First, I was surprised by how lightweight the pot is, considering the size, I was expecting it to be super heavy. I was really happy it came with the wooden spoon! We didn’t have one, I’m now expecting every non-stick pot I buy to come with a wood spoon. It came very well packaged too, there’s almost no way it would be damaged when shipping.
I made the classic Boricua dish of Arroz con Habichuelas (or rice and beans haha). I don’t tend to make rice in a pot, and instead, go for the much easier rice maker, but it turned out super tasty and incredibly easy and quick. Minimal sticky rice at the bottom, so the non-stick really lived up to my expectations. I was also dreading the clean-up since it’s not dishwasher-safe but, again, I was pleasantly surprised. It was super easy and quick. It also dries much quicker than my other pots and pans. Overall, I highly recommend it. It works AND it’s pretty. There’s not much else you could ask for.” — Mercedes Viera, Associate Deals Writer
“The perfect pot is my first Our Place product. I have always wanted the always pan though! Also, I’ve been in the process of moving and getting settled, so I haven’t cooked as much recently. However, I really love whipping together a home-cooked meal. I’m not a very picky eater, but I am very into good flavors and great ingredients.
The packaging was clever and made it easy to figure out how everything works. The pot was pretty secure, so you know that Our Place takes great care in the delivery process. I got the Perfect Pot in the color “Spice”. It looks more like a pink or a lighter terracotta color though. It’s very cute and definitely aesthetically pleasing. Any food made in the pot wouldn’t need to be plated and can go straight to the table. I also love that they included a pot scrubber that works well with the pot in the packaging as well.
I made some pasta tossed in a sauce along with broccolini and topped it off with sardines. I think the pot made cooking easier particularly because it’s the best non-stick pot I’ve used. I wasn’t worried about my tomatoes sticking to the bottom while my sauce was simmering, so that was definitely a solid perk! The pot itself definitely has some weight to it, although I did find that it was lighter than dutch ovens I’ve used in the past. Clean-up was very easy and it didn’t even take me a minute to wash off the perfect pot. All in all, I’m definitely pleased. I want to try some of the other functions like the roasting rack to really reap the full benefits of the pot.” — Chichi Offor, Affiliate Associate Writer
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