How To Buy A Frying Pan – To find the best pans on the market, we asked chefs, food writers and cookware specialists, then tested the standout products at The Kitchen.
After consulting with professionals, we found the pan we were looking for to be versatile (can effectively cook a variety of foods), durable (won't end up in the bin after three months) and good value for money meaning it's inexpensive or as durable that you will never have to buy it again.
How To Buy A Frying Pan
There are many different types of pans, so we've narrowed our search down to three main categories: iron pans (very durable but harder to maintain), non-stick pans (easy to maintain but less durable), and stainless steel iron pans (very popular with benefits but difficult to use). If you want to cook or fry, you will need a pan or wok.
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Each pan has been tested for different typical functions: frying or scrambled, steak frying, vegetable frying. We also took into account: weight, ease of use, amount of oil needed, washing and much more. (We used some of these casseroles in our test of the best recipe boxes and meal delivery services.)
Below is our selection of the best pans on the market, in a variety of styles, followed by an expert explanation of the pros and cons of each type of pan.
Why we love it: Heat retention is great and the single sheet construction means it will last longer than life
This wrought iron skillet is very impressive. Unlike the vast majority of pans on the market (others we couldn't find…), it's forged from a single sheet of metal, meaning there are no rivets or joints – weak spots, simply put. It is basically indestructible, which is why it has a centuries-old guarantee. Yes, the initial cost is north of £100, but Solidteknics should be in your will – and your children's, and
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To hold, the pan immediately feels heavy. At 2kg, I didn't find it too heavy to lift, but there's also no way to flip pancakes from time to time; turning an onion was much easier than, for example, throwing it.
The handle is relatively comfortable to hold, with a well-placed thumb groove. Best of all, the braided construction where the handle meets the pan prevents heat from traveling up the metal towards the skin. It works too: not once did I have to use a kitchen cloth like with old school cast iron pans – not only a fire hazard, but an annoyance.
Because it's iron, the pan needs an element of love and care (certainly more than a non-stick pan, which we'll get to shortly). After unpacking, you need to season it with oil, which gives the pan a non-stick (natural) surface. This process takes at least a few hours, although other things can be done during this time. Basically, you rub a thin layer of oil (flaxseed is usually recommended, but I used canola and it seemed to work well), put the pan on high for 90 minutes, take it out, let it cool, then repeat. . The golden color fresh out of the box quickly turns black and greasy.
After it's cooked? In short, the answer is great. Big heat? No problem – making a steak is a breeze. The pan sears the edge of the meat, leaving a caramelized char, and the non-stick surface ensures the steak leaves the pan clean when cooked.
Frying Pan Silicone Universal Lid
What made me happiest is that this pan has an amazing knack for elevating simple dishes to a level that could pass for an acceptable restaurant. The omelette was a nice color and silky smooth; green beans in blisters; even the scrambled eggs were tasty (albeit a bit sticky). When cooking, you need to use more oil than the best non-stick pans, but you don't need to overdo it.
And once you've run out of salt and pepper malarkey, the pans are very easy to maintain. You can use any utensil for cooking – a metal spatula, for example, won't scratch harmful chemicals because it's metal on metal. To clean the pans, rinse them with hot water and scrape off the residue (some soaps and detergents as well as scouring pads can corrode the non-stick patina you have carefully created). Dry it off, apply a thin layer of oil if you care, and be surprised 100 years from now someone is doing the same thing in the same pan.
“Non-stick” generally describes pans with one of two types of coating: Teflon (a type of plastic) or ceramic (a natural mineral coating that is non-stick and hard, but more brittle). Non-stick pans are ready to use – no need to season – and should maintain a smooth cooking surface for many uses. Whether it is or not really defines their use as a product.
My favorite after testing a range of non-stick options is Scanpan. The slightly shiny patented surface of this pan under 100 pounds is quite high tech. Scanpan certainly prides itself on this, claiming its product is “the last non-stick pan you'll ever need to buy” and comes with a full lifetime warranty.
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What makes it so special? Well, they made a ceramic-titanium composite that is useful for cooking because ceramic is naturally non-stick and titanium is naturally hard as nails, so the combination of the two should be slippery and durable. This compound is fired into the steel-aluminum skeleton of the pan at twice the speed of sound (no, I don't know why, but it sure sounds impressive), and then Scanpan adds an extra non-stick coating, as they say ceramic-titanium chip protection. The entire shebang has a Mohs rating of 9.5 – which to you and me means it's almost as strong as a diamond.
It certainly creates a very smooth surface and your morning eggs will glide on toast with very little oil. This makes cleaning easier, as food residues (very rarely) dry up easily. While the specs say using dish soap is fine, you really shouldn't need it.
The pan itself has five layers: a stainless steel outer for durability, three layers of aluminum for heat conduction, and another layer of steel just below the surface. It has a solid feel with strong rivets and a thick base, which is what you'd expect from a pan costing almost £100. Importantly, the Scanpan can take in more heat than most non-stick pans – it keeps the oven up to 260°C, while the Tefal pan I tested was limited to 175°C. Also suitable for induction.
I find cooking with Scanpan easy and fun. A drop of oil is enough to keep the eggs from sticking together. The same goes for vegetables, so you can soften them without drenching them with oil. The bends are deep, allowing you to mix foods or cook sauces without spilling.
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Compared to some non-stick pans, it's not the lightest, weighing in at 1.39kg – though that's still less than most cast iron pans, including Solidteknics. The extra weight feels strong and solid. Of all the pans I tested, it had the most comfortable grip, although I found it a bit slippery when my hands were wet.
This strong and durable stainless steel pan with an aluminum core provides even heat distribution at a very reasonable price.
Because ProCook Elite is non-stick, cooking requires a significant amount of oil and some tasks are difficult to complete. For example, a steak can become a friend too close to the surface of the pan, while eggs are problematic. But I'm a big fan of frying vegetables in a bit of oil and salt over high heat, and this pan was just right. The asparagus and green bean flavors swell and char beautifully in no time, while retaining a satisfying crunch inside.
As it is made of steel, the pan is resistant to the risk of warping when exposed to high temperatures (the same cannot be said for most products with a non-stick coating). This partly explains why many cooks choose steel pans.
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Cooking in sauce is also easy – thanks to the deep curves, you can finish a dish of spaghetti in sauce without splashing. Because stainless steel is non-reactive, tomato sauces will not have a metallic taste. It is also recommended to fry onions and peppers. I was impressed by the lightness of the pan (1.1 kg) and the handle that fits well in the hand.
But the real charm of stainless steel is its easy approach to maintenance. It's incredibly durable, and no matter how charred the surface is during cooking, it washes off easily and easily – as long as you soak it in soapy water, it's best to do this a few minutes after you've finished cooking while it's boiling. a little chilled.
While we picked a winner in the non-stick, stainless steel and cast iron categories, several of the other pans we tested were also impressed. They were…
Aesthetically, the most beautiful pan I have come across, with the charming and rustic look typical of the Le Creuset series. This cast iron pan is very heavy and weighs less than 3 kg, so it's not easy
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