From cast-iron skillets to nonstick frying pans, this frying pan guide will help you pick the best pan to suit your needs.
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Having a good frying pan in your cookware arsenal is a must. These pans can handle almost every cooking task you throw at them, from cooking eggs to searing, sauteing, braising, pan-frying, and more. With this versatility, you can cook anything from a fried egg to a full-blown chicken paella.
The number of choices you have when choosing a frying pan can be a little overwhelming, though. Frying pans come in a variety of sizes and materials, and it&#;s hard to know which frying pan is best to suit your needs. We take a look at the pros and cons of each type of pan in this complete frying pan guide.
What Is a Frying Pan?And is it different from a skillet? The terms &#;skillet&#; and &#;frying pan&#; are often used interchangeably because they&#;re basically the same thing: a flat-bottomed pan with a long handle and wide, sloped sides that flare out at an angle. This pan is an all-in-one kitchen workhorse that&#;s perfect for searing meat, sauteing vegetables, building pan sauces, pan-frying food and braising.
If we want to get picky with the terminology, a skillet is slightly deeper than a frying pan, and it generally refers to a pan made from cast iron. Frying pans, on the other hand, usually refer to pans made from nonstick material, but they can also be made with stainless steel, ceramic, aluminum and more.
(In case you were wondering, a frying pan is also different from a saute pan, which has tall, straight sides and always comes with a lid.)
Sydney Watson/Taste of Home
How Do I Choose the Best Frying Pan?Before spending your money on a new pan, you&#;ll want to ask yourself a few questions. Do you plan to use the pan on the stovetop only, or do you want to use it in the oven, too? Will you use it for a variety of cooking tasks, or are you just trying to cook eggs? Is a lightweight pan important to you? Does it need to be large enough to cook dinner for four? These answers will help drive you to the best pan to fit your needs.
Review our tips for choosing the best skillet and consider each type of frying pan&#;s pros and cons.
These pans are usually made with aluminum and contain a PTFE or Teflon coating that keeps the food from sticking to their surface. They&#;re designed to cook items like eggs, pancakes, crepes or fish. You can use them to cook other items, but they aren&#;t meant for use with high heat so they&#;ll never create a hard sear.
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Cons
These &#;green&#; nonstick pans are coated with a silica-based gel made from sand. Ceramic cookware is just as nonstick as coated pans, but without the use of any chemicals.
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Our last nonstick option is more durable than the first two. These pans are manufactured with a process than makes them stronger than regular aluminum. That means you can use them at higher heat like a stainless-steel pan and they&#;re more durable, so go ahead and use them with metal utensils.
Pros
Cons
Stainless steel alone isn&#;t a good conductor of heat, which is why we recommend using tri-ply pans that fuse together multiple layers of metal. That process makes these pans heavier than single-layered pans, but they&#;re still lighter than cast iron. Stainless steel pans are great for searing and braising meat, pan-frying or sauteing, making pan sauces or cooking foods in the oven. Check out our guide for cooking with stainless steel.
Pros
Cons
If we had to pick one piece of cookware, it would probably be our cast-iron skillet. These heavy-duty pans are extremely versatile. A properly-seasoned cast-iron pan can cook eggs, pan-fry chicken or steak and create a variety of one-pot meals (not to mention they can be used for dessert and to bake bread).
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Carbon steel is similar to cast iron, but it&#;s much lighter because it&#;s made with thinner material. These pans heat up quickly, but they also lose heat just as quickly. When properly seasoned, a carbon-steel skillet can be just as nonstick as a coated pan.
Pros
Cons
If you&#;re mainly cooking breakfast, we recommend buying a nonstick frying pan for everyday use. These pans are also great if you&#;re on a low-fat diet, as you can use them without cooking oil or butter. A more versatile frying pan is a cast-iron skillet, but it&#;s too heavy for some people&#;s liking. If that&#;s the case, you may prefer a stainless-steel frying pan.
A 12-inch frying pan is large enough to handle most cooking tasks. You can create skillet meals for four in one of these pans, and it also has enough space if you&#;re using it to pan-fry foods. We generally recommend a 10-inch nonstick skillet for egg cookery, although you may prefer a smaller, 8-inch frying pan if you usually cook for one or two.
A nonstick frying pan is definitely better at certain tasks. They excel at cooking without additional cooking oil and are perfect for delicate foods like eggs or fish. That said, their nonstick surface prevents them from getting a hard sear on foods. To achieve a golden-brown, caramelized crust on something like a steak or pork chop, you&#;ll need to use a pan without nonstick coating.
A high-quality, tri-ply stainless steel frying pan is definitely expensive, but it will practically last forever with proper care. Just be sure to keep it out of the dishwasher and wait until the pan completely cools before washing it to keep it from warping.
Nonstick pans, on the other hand, have a definite shelf life. In general, a nonstick pan should last about five years. If you notice any scratches in the pan&#;s coating, it&#;s time to toss it out. You don&#;t want the coating flaking off into your food.
Before you throw away the pan, see if you can fix it first. The handles can often be reattached if they&#;re loose, and nonstick surfaces can sometimes be fixed. But, in general, it&#;s time to replace your frying pan if it&#;s warped, has a surface that&#;s badly scratched or the handles are falling off.
The Best Frying Pans ofThere are several things to consider before buying a new frying pan: size, weight, material and whether it contains a nonstick finish. We recommend buying a stainless-steel skillet if you&#;re only going to buy one frying pan. The All-Clad 12-inch Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Bonded Fry Pan is an all-around kitchen workhorse. It works on the stovetop and in the oven, it heats up quickly and retains heat well, but it also comes with a hefty price tag. For a more economical choice, we also like the Tramontina Gourmet 12-inch Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Clad Fry Pan.
Nonstick frying pans are great for eggs, crepes and pancakes, and our culinary staff has specially developed a 2-piece non-stick aluminum skillet that&#;ll suit all your culinary needs. The 9.5-inch pan is perfect for single breakfast orders while the 11-inch pan works if you&#;re cooking for a crowd.
If you prefer a ceramic-coated pan, look to this set from GreenPan. Its coating is reinforced to avoid scratching when using metal utensils. Check out our guide for buying a nonstick pan to learn more about the different types of nonstick coatings.
This Calphalon nonstick hard-anodized aluminum skillet is available in 8-, 10- and 12-inches, covering all your bases. Use it on the stovetop for skillet meals or pop it in the oven to bake. It can handle temps up to 450 degrees.
If cast-iron is more your style, you can&#;t go wrong with a Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet. It&#;s pre-seasoned, so you&#;ll be ready to cook as soon as it arrives. Learn how to make the most of your skillet with our complete guide to cast iron cooking.
Finally, this carbon-steel pan from BK Cookware is a Test Kitchen favorite. Its black carbon steel construction is extremely durable and is designed to develop a nonstick seasoning over time.
Skillet RecipesTaste of Home
We keep referring to the skillet as the kitchen workhorse for a good reason. You can use it to make so many different meals, from breakfast to dessert.
For starters, skillets are great for cooking meat. Sear a thick steak, pork chop, pork tenderloin or whole chicken on the stovetop. Once it has a beautifully crisp exterior and golden brown color, transfer it to the oven if it needs to finish cooking. You can also use it exclusively on the stovetop to cook quicker-cooking meats like chicken cutlets or meatballs. Either way, be sure to use all those pan drippings to create a delicious pan sauce.
They&#;re also ideal for one-pan meals. Give it a try the next time you make pasta dishes like mac and cheese or rice dishes like Creole skillet dinner. Use it to stir-fry meat and vegetables like beef teriyaki, or make a breakfast hash with eggs and bring the skillet to the table as the serving dish. You can also finish your sauteed creation with mashed potatoes to make shepherd&#;s pie, or top it off with puff pastry to create an easy pot pie.
Don&#;t be afraid to think outside the box, either. A skillet is a perfect vessel for making homemade pizza or side dishes like cornbread. You&#;ll be surprised at how many cakes, cobblers, brownies and cookies you can make in a skillet, too.
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Skillet Cooking TipsThere&#;s nothing more frustrating than food sticking to a pan. You could always turn to nonstick cookware, but you don&#;t have to. The easiest way to prevent food from sticking to a stainless-steel or cast-iron pan is to preheat the pan with a thin layer of cooking oil before adding the other ingredients. When the oil begins to shimmer, the pan is ready to use. If you&#;re not sure, add a drop of water to the pan. If it makes a loud hissing noise and splits into individual droplets, the pan is ready to go!
Skillet Cleaning, Care and StorageTaste of Home
Before you use your skillet, read these tips to extend the life of your favorite frying pan.
Seasoning a stainless-steel or nonstick frying pan isn&#;t strictly necessary, but you may want to anyway. This process seals in the pores on the surface of the pan, creating a nonstick surface and extending the lifespan of the pan. Start by washing the pan with warm, soapy water. After drying it out, add a teaspoon of neutral cooking oil to the pan and heat it over medium heat for about a minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool before removing the excess oil with a paper towel.
Psst! The seasoning process is different for different types of materials. Learn how to season a carbon-steel pan or a cast-iron skillet.
In general, we recommend avoiding the dishwasher when it comes to pots, pans and cooking knives. The high-heat rinse cycle and harsh chemicals used in a dishwasher can damage the finish on your cookware, and it can also loosen the fittings that affix the handles to the pan. If you must use the dishwasher, check with the manufacturer first to make sure your pan is actually dishwasher-safe.
The best way to clean a frying pan is by hand. Be sure to wait until the pan is completely cooled, or you can risk warping the pan or chipping any enameled or nonstick coating. If the pan has any burnt-on bits, soak the cooled pan in the sink using warm, soapy water. Really stubborn messes can be cleaned by simmering 1/4 cup of baking soda in a few inches of water for about 10 minutes. When the baking soda-water mixture cools, wash your pan like normal with soap and warm water.
If there&#;s one piece of cookware we reach for almost every day, it would be the frying pan. Like a good pair of blue jeans, a frying pan&#;also known as a skillet&#;should be versatile, long-lasting, and feel both comfortable and easy to use on a regular basis. Bonus points if it&#;s also oven- and grill-safe.
Once you&#;ve made up your mind to buy a new frying pan, however, you still need to figure out which kind to get. Carbon steel or stainless steel? 10&#; or 12&#;? To help make things a little easier, we put together a comprehensive guide to choosing the best frying pan for your needs, and how to keep it in great working condition.
For more information, please visit Personalized Custom Frying Pan.
While the basic shape of a frying pan&#;flat-bottomed, shallow with flared walls, with a single long handle &#;doesn&#;t vary much, the material it&#;s made from does: you&#;ll find frying pans made of cast iron, stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, and so on. Here are a few of the most popular types of frying pan materials, and how to decide which one you should get.
A permanent fixture in professional kitchens, carbon steel is a middle ground between stainless steel and cast iron cookware. Like stainless steel frying pans, carbon steel pans are maneuverable, versatile, and highly responsive to changes in temperature. Yet like cast iron, carbon steel pans offer heat retention, durability, and non stick potential, courtesy of the layer of seasoning that&#;s developed prior to cooking with the pan, and which builds the more you cook with it.
And while you&#;ll need to do a bit of extra maintenance to keep that seasoning intact&#;much like how you&#;d care for a cast iron pan&#;you&#;ll be rewarded with a pan that combines the best parts of cast iron and stainless steel.
Heavy, long-lasting, and with unrivaled heat retention, cast iron frying pans have nearly unlimited uses, from shallow-frying to roasting to baking. While they&#;re slightly trickier to maintain than other pans&#;they require hand-washing, and you may need to reseason unfinished cast iron from time to time&#;cast iron pans can last for decades or even lifetimes.
Note that cast iron can also be harder to handle because of its additional weight, so you won&#;t be able to flip or toss food as easily. If that&#;s an issue for you, a carbon steel pan might be a better choice.
Ceramic cookware is not actually made of a stoneware material. Instead, it&#;s a variation of non stick coated with a layer of silicone, applied over a metal base. This is a self-sacrificing material, meaning that a small amount of the coating is released every time the pan is heated, and once it&#;s gone, it&#;s gone. The surface generally wears out after about a year of use&#;or less if you use it over higher heat.
In addition to their limited lifespan, ceramic pans are also generally not oven-safe, both due to their construction materials and the coating itself. Read more on why we don&#;t suggest these pans (and what we recommend instead) in our guide to ceramic cookware pros and cons.
Versatile, easy to clean and maintain, and relatively inexpensive, non stick is a great place to start for new cooks and an essential worth investing in for everyone else. The first thing to look at when shopping for a non stick pan is the core construction&#;this is what sets it apart from materials like stainless steel, cast iron, or carbon steel. A high-quality core material (like stainless alloy) will put it on par with more durable materials in terms of heat responsiveness and control, while a cheaper material (like aluminum) will relegate it to egg duty only.
All this to say, high-quality non stick can be used for most of your daily cooking needs, from stir-fries to perfect grilled cheese&#;especially if it&#;s made with oven-safe coating. Read our guide to shopping for
Stainless steel pans are like the goldilocks of frying pans: they&#;re lightweight and easy to handle as well as responsive, versatile, and durable. Note that stainless clad cookware incorporates other metals and alloys in order to capture the best qualities of them all. This is why Made In&#;s Stainless Clad Collection tends to be better at retaining heat.
Stainless steel is typically also oven-safe and non-reactive (allowing you to cook acidic ingredients), and is relatively easy to clean and maintain. And, while stainless steel pans aren&#;t quite as effective as non stick when it comes to keeping delicate fish or scrambled eggs from sticking, they&#;re excellent for high-heat jobs like searing steak, caramelizing onions, and making a pan sauce.
Choosing a frying pan is a bit like shopping for a chef knife: While there are a few standard markers of quality you should always look for, you should also consider how your new pan will fit into your life. Here are a few points to keep in mind when shopping for a frying pan.
Size
Frying pans come in a number of different sizes, but for daily use, we reach for either an 8&#; or 10&#; pan&#;this gives you enough room to evenly cook your food without overcrowding, and allows you to toss and flip to your heart&#;s content. Plus, one of the great things about a mid-sized frying pan is how easy it is to grab: If you&#;re making a 1am grilled cheese after a night out, you probably won&#;t feel like hauling out (or cleaning) a giant pan.
If you have a big family, however, or you often cook for a group, we recommend getting a 12&#; frying pan to have on hand in addition to a smaller one. Check out our guide to frying pan sizes for additional guidance.
Heat Distribution
If you&#;re looking for a pan with great heat distribution, high-quality carbon steel or stainless steel is your best bet&#;though a well-made non stick pan can offer solid heat distribution as well. With stainless steel, look for pans made from several layers of different metals (expressed in terms of &#;cladding&#; and &#;ply&#;) to ensure better heat distribution. Made In&#;s Award-Winning Stainless Clad is 5-ply, meaning five layers of four different metals and alloys are bonded together across 100% of the pan to provide an unrivaled cooking experience.
Durability
In addition to making sure your frying pan has great heat distribution, we also recommend investing in a pan that will last, and which is resistant to warping, cracking, and other forms of damage. In general, a pan constructed from high-grade materials by experienced craftsmen will be higher quality and live longer. This goes for all kinds of cookware: A high-quality non stick pan will also stay non stick for longer.
Handle
While the body of your pan might be made of an oven-safe material like cast iron or stainless steel, many pans come with plastic, wooden, or nylon handles that can burn or melt in the oven In these cases, the pan shouldn&#;t be used in the oven&#;always make sure the entire pan is oven-safe before transferring it to the oven. This is usually listed on the product page online, on the box, or in product information materials included in the box.
In addition to oven safety, you should also make sure your pan&#;s handle is comfortable and safe for you to hold. While you&#;ll pretty much always need an oven mitt before grabbing the handle of your cast iron, some pans&#;like Made In&#;s Stainless Clad and Non Stick&#;offer a hollow Stay Cool handle that does exactly what its name implies. (We&#;re not miracle workers, though&#;we still recommend using an oven mitt or dish towel when removing this cookware from the oven.)
Stovetop Compatibility
Another important point to consider when buying a frying pan is whether or not it&#;ll actually work on your stovetop. While gas and electric stoves are compatible with basically every kind of frying pan, , you&#;ll need to use a pan constructed at least partly of ferromagnetic materials like cast iron, carbon steel, and magnetic stainless steel. These materials help create an electromagnetic current when they come in contact with an induction burner, generating heat. Note that all of Made In&#;s frying pans are compatible with induction cooking. Oven Compatibility
Aside from whether your pan is induction compatible or not, you should also make sure it&#;s oven-safe if you plan on finishing food in the oven. Most cast iron, stainless steel, and carbon steel pans are fine for oven use&#;though it&#;s always better to check. And while Made In&#;s Non Stick cookware is able to be used in the oven up to 500F, many non stick pans are not oven-safe, so be sure to check the packaging or product page first.
The better you care for your frying pan, the better it&#;ll perform. From cleaning to storing, here&#;s how to show your pan a little TLC.
As a general rule, it&#;s best to hand wash your frying pan rather than putting it in the dishwasher. Though certain pans, like Made In&#;s Stainless Clad, are technically dishwasher-safe, we still highly recommend hand washing to help prolong their lifespan. You should definitely avoid putting non stick in the dishwasher, even if it&#;s labeled dishwasher-safe, to avoid damaging the non stick coating and potentially warping the pan.
While a gentle scrub with a dish sponge, warm water, and a mild dish soap is usually enough to clean your frying pan, tougher messes like burnt-on food require a little more elbow grease. Here&#;s how to safely clean enameled cast iron, non stick, and stainless steel pans, depending on the level of mess.
When putting away your frying pan, always make sure you&#;ve thoroughly dried it first. This is especially important with unfinished cast iron and carbon steel pans, which can easily rust if they&#;re not fully dry. Make sure to clean your pan thoroughly as well, and ensure there&#;s no lingering food residue on it. Stuck-on food will become even harder to remove as it sits, and you could risk scratching your pan by scrubbing it too vigorously.
For storage, we highly recommend hanging your pan on a hook or pot rack if you have one&#;though you can also place them in a drawer or cupboard. Just make sure to place a dish towel, non-metal trivet, or thick napkin between each pan when stacking them to avoid scratches and chips.
While a high-quality pan will almost definitely last longer than a cheap one, there are a few care-related points to remember when washing, storing, and cooking with your pan. These vary somewhat based on the material your pan is made from.
While materials like cast iron can handle high heat without sustaining any damage and only need a quick reseasoning to restore their natural non stick coating, non stick pans are comparatively delicate (though not as delicate as ceramic non stick). If the coating gets scratched or begins to break down from overheating, there&#;s not much you can do to fix them.
For washing, it&#;s best to hand wash your frying pan rather than putting them in the dishwasher. Like we mentioned earlier, you should always let your pan cool down before washing to avoid thermal shock. Across the board, try to avoid using metal utensils&#;silicone, wood, and other non stick-friendly tools are the safest bet.
Buying the right frying pan is half the battle. Once you&#;ve settled on which one is best for you, here&#;s how to cook with it.
For gently sautéed dishes and other foods cooked on low or medium heat, you can get away with using pretty much any fat. For high heat cooking or shallow frying, we recommend oils that have a high smoke point, like grapeseed, vegetable, or canola oil, and staying away from fats like extra-virgin olive oil, butter, and unrefined coconut oil. The latter options are more likely to cause oil splatter and will burn more easily, producing smoke.
Depending on what kind of frying pan you&#;re using, you&#;ll often need to preheat it for a few minutes before adding your food. Carbon steel, stainless steel and cast iron should ideally preheat while empty for at least a few minutes before adding your fat and ingredients, with a few exceptions&#;when cooking bacon or other fatty cuts of meat, starting in a cold pan can help the fat render slowly and produce a crispy exterior.
On the other hand, a non stick pan should never be heated without anything in it, as this can damage the coating. Always add food or cooking fat to your non stick pan before heating it.
When to add your food to the pan depends on what you&#;re cooking. With delicate ingredients like butter, seeds, nuts, and whole spices, it&#;s best to add them to a cold pan to keep them from burning. On the flip side, you should always add steak or pork chops to a very hot pan to ensure proper browning (unless you&#;re reverse searing, that is). You can tell whether or not a pan is hot enough if your oil is shimmering, or a droplet of water flicked onto the surface bubbles and evaporates quickly.
First, mind the heat: Too hot of a flame can cause your food to stick and burn in a stainless steel or unseasoned cast iron pan, and can damage the coating on your non stick pan. If using stainless steel, you should also make sure you&#;re using enough fat, which can further prevent sticking and burning.
It&#;s usually best to temper ingredients like meat&#;meaning you let it come to room temperature&#;rather than adding it to the pan still cold from the refrigerator.
Before taking the plunge on a new frying pan, remember: The best pan is the one that fits your needs and cooking style. There&#;s no reason to buy an impressive-looking pan that you won&#;t feel comfortable using regularly&#;especially if it means going over your budget. If you plan to only use your pan for things like eggs, simple stir-fries, and reheating leftovers, an 8&#; or 10&#; non stick frying pan might be the way to go.
If you see yourself making dishes that require sustained high heat, or plan on using your pan for baking or oven roasting, you might be better off with cast iron or carbon steel. For a dependable, adaptable foundation, stainless clad is the way to go.
Still feeling indecisive? You may want to go for more than one frying pan. Since every pan has its own strengths, having at least two pans to choose from will make it easy to cook a wider variety of dishes.
We&#;ll say it again: A frying pan is one of the most quintessential kitchen tools you can buy. Depending on the size and material of your pan, you can use it for everything from simmering sauces to searing duck breasts. And since you&#;re probably going to be using your frying pan every day, we definitely recommend taking a little more time to ensure you&#;re getting a solidly built, durable product instead of one you&#;ll need to replace in a year or less.
Whether you go for cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, or non stick, any of Made In&#;s frying pans are a solid bet. Now all you have to decide is what kind of steak you want tonight.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Custom Made Cookware. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.