Best for: Almost any food that needs frying, browning, or searing. Because it’s ovenproof, stainless is also a good choice for foods that you start on the stovetop and then move to the oven to finish, like thick pork chops.
The details: Nitahara says that 95 percent of the pans used in the CIA’s teaching kitchens are stainless steel because they can take a lot of punishment. “The only time we don’t use them is on egg day, when we use nonstick,” he says. He adds that the shiny surface of a stainless pan makes it easy to see whether your food is browning.
In CR’s tests of stainless steel pans, we measure heating evenness by cooking pancakes, and we gauge how evenly a pan sautés by cooking potatoes until they’re tender. We also conduct a cleaning test to see how easy it is to remove cooked-on food. You’d think that all stainless pans would be about the same to clean, but our tests show that some require a lot more scrubbing than others.
Here are two recommended stainless steel pans from CR’s tests.- The wooden handle of such a pan adds a touch of rustic elegance. Unlike metal handles that can become too hot to touch, wooden ones remain cool to the hand, providing a safe and comfortable grip even when the pan is fresh off the stove or oven. Made from hardwood, these handles not only offer but also contribute to the overall aesthetic appeal of the cookware, blending seamlessly into both modern and vintage kitchen settings.
You can use skillets for pan-frying or searing a few servings of meat. However, dishes that cook quickly and need constant stirring or flipping, such as a beef stir fry or a spinach mushroom omelet, gives a skillet a chance to really shine.





The geometry of a pan can affect how easily moisture is driven off of food, and how rapidly a sauce will reduce. It's often claimed that the sloped sides of a skillet help moisture exuded by cooking meats evaporate more rapidly, allowing you to sear more efficiently. And this is true, but only given the same cooking area. In other words, a 12-inch skillet with a 10-inch cooking area will sear foods more efficiently than a 10-inch sauté pan. The corollary to this, of course, is that, given an equal amount of food that needs searing over super-high heat (some steaks, for example), the large surface area of a sauté pan does not offer any significant advantages over a skillet—you'll still have to cook in just as many batches.
In contrast, French skillets have higher and straight sides, allowing you to cook more food but making it harder to flip.
A non-stick pan is what you use if you're cooking foods that tend to stick.
Last but not least, the classic cast iron skillet is a must-have for any kitchen. Cast Iron Frying Pan retains and distributes heat evenly, making it perfect for searing, frying, and even baking.


bacon press cast iron.
Enamel Pot Epoxy Repair:
The Cast Iron Dutch Oven Price of a Dutch oven usually reflects its size, craftsmanship, and additional features like enamel coating or pre-seasoning. While a higher price tag may mean superior quality, there are plenty of mid-range options available that offer great performance at a more affordable price.
There are a variety of non-stick coatings a frying pan can have, such as a standard PTFE non-stick coating to manufacturer-specific coatings. Read on to learn more about the different types of non-stick coatings a pan can have, ranging from good to best.