Living with your TITÁN

Titanium cookware is forgiving, but a few small habits in the first week make a big difference for the years that follow. This is everything you need to know.

The first time you use it

Before the first cook, do one quick ritual: pour a splash of white vinegar into the pan, warm it gently for a minute, swirl, then rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry inside and out. That's it — the surface is ready.

There's no seasoning to do. Titanium isn't cast iron; the low-stick patina builds on its own, simply by cooking.

The patina effect

Over the first few weeks of regular use, you'll notice the titanium surface gradually developing a smooth, slightly darker character. This is the patina — a microscopic, naturally low-stick layer that builds with heat and a little fat.

Unlike a chemical coating, this patina improves the pan rather than slowly destroying it. The longer you cook on a TITÁN pan, the better it behaves.

Daily use

Preheat, briefly. A hot pan is the difference between one that sticks and one that doesn't. Two or three minutes on medium for gas or electric; on induction it heats almost instantly, so around a minute is plenty. Let the oil ripple be your signal, not the clock.

Add fat to the hot pan, not the cold one. Oil hits the heat and starts performing immediately. This is one of the bigger habit shifts coming from Teflon — worth getting right early.

Then drop to medium-low. This is the whole secret. Titanium's clad core heats fast and holds it, so you rarely need more — and high heat after food goes in is exactly what carbonises it against the surface and causes sticking. It sears beautifully at medium; there's no need to crank it, and this cookware simply doesn't want maximum heat.

Use any utensil you like. Titanium is hard. Metal spatulas, whisks, tongs — all fine. Any marks they leave are cosmetic.

The handles stay cool. The solid stainless handles stay cool to the touch through normal cooking — though on long or high-heat cooks they can warm up, so keep a cloth handy (and always treat them as hot in the oven or under a grill).

Cleaning

Most days: warm water, dish soap, a soft sponge. Done.

For stuck-on food: add a little warm water to the still-warm pan, let it deglaze for a minute, then wipe. Don't shock a very hot pan with cold water (thermal-shock warping is a risk on any clad pan).

Stubborn marks: a non-scratch scourer with a little bicarbonate of soda is fine. Steel wool works in moderation but will dull the polish over time.

It's dishwasher-safe — there's no coating to ruin — though we recommend hand-washing when you can, to keep the exterior at its brightest.

What's normal

• Rainbow or iridescent tint on the cooking surface — the patina developing. Cosmetic, not a defect.
• Slight darkening over months of use — expected.
• Fine surface marks from metal utensils — the pan isn't damaged, it's breaking in. The titanium surface is a solid layer, so these marks stay shallow and cosmetic; you're always cooking on titanium.

What to watch for

• Warping — usually caused by thermal shock (running cold water on a screaming-hot pan). Avoid the shock and you'll never see it.
• Severe blue/black discolouration in one spot — a sign of overheating an empty pan for too long. Keep the heat moderate and don't dry-heat.

Look after it once a week and you've done the work. The pan does the rest.