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How We Made These Pans for More Than 30 Years

For more than three decades, we made every Smith Titanium pan around one simple belief: cookware should be honest, durable and built to last. Now, as we prepare to close our workshop for good, we want to show you how—and why—we made them this way.

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For more than 30 years, my brother Robert and I quietly built cookware in our small workshop, far away from mass production and marketing hype. Most people found us through chefs, serious home cooks and simple word of mouth.

Me (left) and my brother Robert (right) in our workshop. Picture by Mark Holloway for The Washington News

I spent most of my career in professional kitchens, while my brother Robert worked in materials engineering. We worked in different worlds, but kept running into the same problem: ordinary cookware simply did not last.

 

Every pan I used in the kitchen eventually let me down. Coatings flaked, handles loosened and pans warped the first time they met real heat. At some point, I stopped accepting it.

 

My brother Robert had seen the same problem from another angle. He was working with titanium in industrial applications and kept asking me why hardly anyone was using it properly in cookware. It was strong, stable and did not need a synthetic coating to hide behind.

 

We soon discovered the reason. Titanium is more difficult and more expensive to shape and finish correctly. For most brands, that calculation did not make sense. For us, it was exactly why the pan was worth making.

Me (left) and my brother Robert (right) in our early twenties, experimenting with our first test pans in a small workshop. Picture by Frank Miller, circa 1985.

How we made a different kind of pan

We never designed Smith Titanium to compete on price. We designed it around one conviction: a pan should outlive the kitchen it is cooked in. No toxic coatings. No PFAS. No synthetic nonstick surface that can wear away or flake into your food—just real titanium and honest construction.

 

We started with carefully selected titanium, then formed it under controlled pressure into the shape of each pan. Because titanium resists ordinary forming methods, every piece had to be worked with patience before its surface and edges could be finished by hand. Only after inspecting the balance, strength and finish did we allow a pan to leave our workshop.

 

We were never interested in making something disposable. The cookware industry depends on replacement cycles: buy, wear out and buy again. We wanted out of that model completely.

 

Every pan was made to handle daily cooking and real heat—the conditions that expose every weakness in lesser cookware. Ours did not need a coating to disguise the material underneath. Word spread slowly, the way it does when something genuinely works: from chefs to home cooks, and from one kitchen to the next.

Me (left) and my brother Robert (right) working on our Smith Titanium pans. Picture by Jane (2006)

Why we are closing now

After more than 30 years, we have made the difficult decision to close Smith Titanium. Not because demand disappeared and not because the pans stopped mattering, but because we built what we set out to build—and we believe some things should end with the same integrity with which they began.

 

We could have sold the brand or handed production to someone else. We chose not to. These pans were made in a particular way, and we do not want the Smith name placed on a cheaper version of our work.

 

So we are releasing our final remaining inventory ourselves, at up to 70% off. There will be no new production and no restock. When the last pans are gone, our workshop closes for good.

Me (left) and my brother Robert (right) in our workshop. Picture by Jim Goldberg for Daily News

Your last chance to own one

For 30 years, we made these pans slowly, carefully and without taking shortcuts. We will not make them again. Our final Smith Titanium collection is now available at up to 70% off, only while the remaining inventory lasts. Once a pan sells out, it is gone permanently—and when the final one leaves, we will close the doors to our workshop for good.

Shop our final pans before they are gone

Own one of the last Smith Titanium pans we will ever make—now up to 70% off.

VISIT OUR WORKSHOP

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You can tell this pan wasn’t rushed. The craftsmanship feels intentional and refined. I love knowing it was made by experts.

Jessica T.

verified customer

This pan has completely changed how I cook. Searing, sautƩing, even sauces turn out better. Exceptional build quality.

Andrew Danham

verified customer

I read about the workshop before ordering and honestly, its story made me curious. Built like a tank and performs beautifully.

Rachel

verified customer

I bought this after reading about the closing sale and I’m so glad I did. It feels like owning a piece of cookware history.

Perry Foster

verified customer

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