#Stainless steel pan full#

As a material, cast iron can pretty much do it all: get really hot and retain that heat, go from the stove to oven, and hold a nonstick surface if seasoned properly. But really, if you only had to cook with this single one for the rest of your life, you’d be pretty okay. Weight: I’ve listed whether the pan is heavy, medium, or lightweight - something to consider when moving them around the stove, storing them, and cleaning them.Ĭast iron | Hand-wash and keep well seasoned | HeavyĬhoosing a best overall skillet is easier than you might expect given the vastly different categories I laid out above. For this, I’ve noted when maintenance is just a simple run through the dishwasher or a hand wash versus when there’s more to do. Maintenance: Some of these pans are meant to last a lifetime others aren’t.

(The one exception is carbon steel, which you might call a cousin to cast iron.) Pretty much 100 percent of the experts I spoke with agree that a mix of cast iron, nonstick, and stainless steel or copper (which are fairly interchangeable) are all you need to make first-rate food, so those are the types you will find on this list. Material: This is so obvious it feels a little silly to say, but the most important factor in determining which skillets you need is the material. But with nearly every one on this list, you can go bigger or smaller.īest overall | Best nonstick | Best less expensive nonstick | Best ceramic nonstick | Best copper | Best stainless steel | Best DTC stainless steel | Best stainless steel with copper core | Best carbon steel One note: For consistency, I’ve mostly linked to skillets that are approximately ten inches (it’s a middle-ground size that works well for most dishes in households where you’re generally cooking for two to four people).

#Stainless steel pan full#

But if you’re starting from scratch or doing a full-on refresh, it’s worth a full read through to make sure you end up with a well-rounded, hard-working assortment. If you’re simply looking to fill a hole in your collection and know what you want, you can jump to any section by clicking the quick links below. Do you go with a classic brand or take a chance on a newly beloved direct-to-consumer company? When it comes to such an essential tool, is it always worth it to splurge? How many skillets do you really need? There’s no one answer to each of these questions because the cookware you own should ultimately be a reflection of how you personally operate in the kitchen - something I’ve tried to help you think through here (with the recommendations of many pros, of course). And then within each type, there are a lot of options. There are, after all, several types - cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, copper, and nonstick. If you use enough oil when you cook and get the oil hot first, you will not experience sticking problems with an unseasoned stainless pan, but if you are trying to do low fat cooking on a barely oiled pan, proteins, in particular, will tend to stick.It should be said up top: Skillets is a broad category. Stainless has no rust issue and the metal, although it has surface texture, is not as open as cast iron, so the seasoning is optional.

Because of the porous nature of cast iron, seasoning is absolutely essential if you don't want sticking.or rusting. It is brownish on stainless (I have a whole bunch of pans that look like that, which annoys the wife, but since I do the cooking, she lets it go) and is unnoticeable (other than the deeper black) on cast iron. Seasoning the pan basically creates a surface of oil that has been baked on so that your food is on that rather than directly touching the metal, so less sticking. And if you ever scrub it with steel wool, you'll have to do it all over again. Seasoning the pan will make it less likely to stick, but will also give it a brownish tinge, so it won't be 'shiny and new' looking.