Frying Pans & Skillets (Cookware)

Low sides that flare outward define a frying pan, and that flare is the whole design. Steam leaves the pan instead of collecting, so food browns rather than steams, and a spatula slides under anything sitting near the edge. Sizes quote the top diameter, so a 12 inch pan gives you closer to 9 or 10 inches of actual flat cooking surface.

Material turns the same shape into three different tools. Stainless steel takes high heat and builds fond, the browned stuck bits that dissolve into a pan sauce when liquid hits them. But food grips it unless the pan is fully preheated first. Nonstick coating releases eggs and fish with almost no fat and starts breaking down above roughly 500 degrees Fahrenheit, which rules out hard searing and puts a two to five year clock on the pan. Cast iron takes twenty minutes to heat evenly, then holds that heat straight through a cold steak. That is why it sears best and why it weighs five to eight pounds. Carbon steel does much the same at half the weight.

Beside a saute pan, the difference is walls. Straight vertical sides hold more liquid without spitting, which suits a covered braise, while sloped sides suit tossing and flipping. Saucepans take the opposite shape entirely, tall and narrow, and will never brown well because steam has nowhere to go. Grill pans lift food off the surface on ridges, so they mark meat but cannot build a full contact crust or leave you anything to deglaze.

Households of one or two are best served by a 10 inch pan, since a 12 inch wastes burner heat and takes longer to come up to temperature. Cook for four or more and the 12 inch pays off, because crowding a pan drops its temperature and the food releases water and steams in place of browning. Glass and ceramic cooktops want a flat bottom and a pan you lift rather than drag. Nonstick is out if you finish dishes under a broiler. Cast iron is out if lifting six pounds with one hand is a problem.

Set the pan on a flat counter and press the rim, which should not rock, since a warped base leaves oil pooled at one edge forever. Weight through the base predicts heat behavior, so a thick disc or a fully clad body holds temperature when cold food lands. Heat stainless empty until a drop of water beads and rolls rather than fizzing, then add fat, and sticking largely stops. Never run cold water into a hot pan, which warps the base, and dry cast iron on a warm burner before wiping a thin film of oil across it.