On the other hand, the French skillet is excellent for frying large quantities of food or making stews and sauces that require simmering. These dishes are challenging to cook in a frying pan, which cannot hold excess moisture, and the food may easily fall out of the pan. Examples of such meals include risotto and paella.

 The primary function of a Dutch oven is to provide even and consistent heat for slow cooking and stewing.  The tight-fitting lid helps lock in moisture and flavor, keeping dishes fresh and delicious.  Dutch ovens can also be used for frying because their heavy-duty construction can withstand high temperatures.

While it is also rare for skillets to come with a lid, you’ll certainly see it more often than you would on a frypan. The lid is also typically fully opaque so you won’t be able to monitor your cooking as easily. But it sure helps with slow-cooking and braising dishes.

Best for: Almost any food that needs searing, including steak and burgers. Cast-iron pans are ovenproof, so you can use them to roast meats like beef or pork and to bake cornbread, deep-dish pizza, shepherd’s pie, and more. And they retain heat so well that they’re a good choice for deep-frying chicken, doughnuts, or other foods because they keep the oil at a constant temperature.

The details: Cast-iron frying pans are practically indestructible, and they’re handed down for generations in many families. That makes their typically low price even more attractive. And if well cared for, cast iron develops a patina that releases food almost as well as nonstick. But the pans are heavy, and you have to be patient when heating them up because they don’t come up to temperature fast. Once they do, however, they retain heat.

Our tests of coated and uncoated cast-iron pans show how versatile this cookware can be. We sear steaks, brown scallops, and bake cornbread to see how well a cast-iron pan works for home cooks. The best pans ace all these tests. We also judge how easy they are to clean. Because of the enamel coating, the coated pans are a bit easier to clean than the uncoated ones.

Here are two recommended cast-iron pans from our tests.