Top 10 Tips for Choosing a Frying Pan

Popular vote - which manufacturer's frying pans are the best?
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Kukmara

Rondell

Tefal

Nadoba

Lodge

Neva-metal tableware

TVS

Total voted: 29

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Shops offer a wide range of frying pans. They differ in shape, metal and coating, weight, wall thickness and are divided into several categories.

Classic - universal round frying pans. A good option for all cooking methods, including frying and stewing.Material and wall thickness vary.

pancake - round frying pans of small diameter with a flat bottom and low sides of about 1 cm for the convenience of flipping pancakes.

Grill pan - it has a specific ribbed bottom, it is used for frying products, for example, cooking steaks. An excellent choice for lovers of healthy food. Products during cooking do not come into contact with the bottom, they are not greasy. Provided a sufficiently high-quality non-stick coating, you can cook on them without oil. The shape is different in contrast to the standard options - round, square, triangular, rectangular. Additionally, gratings are available for fixing on the sides.

wok - a simplified version of the Japanese frying pan for quickly frying various foods. It has a specific shape - a small, flat or rounded bottom, high sides with a sharp expansion at the top. Because of this, heating occurs mainly in the lower part, so the products can quickly burn, they need to be constantly stirred.

The metal used to make dishes affects not only durability, but also the taste of cooked dishes. It depends on the heating rate, the duration of heat retention.

Cast iron pans the best in terms of durability, heating uniformity and heat retention. They warm up slowly but strongly. It is convenient to cook game, stews, bake pies, and make casseroles in them. On gas stoves, they warm up most evenly. A big plus is that cast-iron pans without a non-stick layer can be cleaned with metal washcloths, use any spatulas, and not just wood and silicone.Recently, more and more often you can see cast iron pans on sale, the inner surface of which has an additional non-stick coating, which makes their use even more convenient.

Aluminum pans They are lightweight, which makes them comfortable to use. Until recently, they were considered insufficiently high-quality and durable, but many cookware manufacturers have proven the opposite. Using stamping technology, combined with reliable and durable non-stick coatings, they have been able to create pans that last a long time, helping to cook quickly and tasty.

copper pans They are expensive, but very comfortable and beautiful. They are often used by professional chefs in restaurants. Usually copper goes in combination with stainless steel, as it is subject to deformation, such pans must be handled with care. They do not recommend cooking on induction cookers, but this prohibition can be circumvented. They sell special discs made of another metal.

Pans with a good non-stick coating are ideal for daily cooking. It prevents food from burning, which makes the cooking process more enjoyable and easier. There are several types of non-stick coating.

Teflon - the most common non-stick coating.When cooking in such pans, you can do without fat, which pleases adherents of a healthy diet. Pros - low weight, extreme ease of care. Minus - they can not be heated above 200 ° C. They will release carcinogenic gases. Another disadvantage is that the coating is unstable to mechanical damage and does not last long. The highest quality frying pans that can withstand heat up to 260 ° C are manufactured by Tefal.

Ceramic the non-stick layer is made of a special nanocomposite polymer. Such a coating is considered to be of higher quality than the classic Teflon. Even when heated to 450˚C, it does not emit harmful substances. But falls, sudden changes in temperature, detergents using alkali can lead to damage, cracking of the non-stick layer. Ceramic pans are not always allowed to be used for induction cookers and dishwasher safe.

Marble - a kind of Teflon coating, in which marble chips are added, which increases its service life. The use of aluminum as the main material of the dishes gives the pans all the properties described above - lightness, speed and uniformity of heating. Due to the improved coating, it cools down a little slower than standard Teflon pans. Their prices vary greatly depending on the quality and manufacturer. If you want to choose really good dishes, look at options from 2500 rubles with the thickest possible multilayer bottom. The service life, subject to careful handling and proper care, will be up to 25 years.

Granite, titanium, diamond less common types of nanocomposite compositions for the internal coating of dishes. Their higher cost is offset by excellent quality.The main advantages are durability, reliability, resistance to shock and temperature extremes. According to their characteristics, they can be compared with the best cast-iron counterparts, before which they can additionally boast of lightness and safety. Good brands are Woll, Swiss Diamond, Risoli.

You need to choose a pan based on the purpose for which it will be used. For frying scrambled eggs and preparing breakfasts, a small and inexpensive non-stick frying pan with a non-stick coating is suitable. For frying and cooking stews, it is better to choose large diameter options with a thicker bottom. Before buying, it is important to make sure that the handle is comfortable.

To quickly fry foods in an Asian manner, you should choose a wok pan that is now fashionable. For pancakes, you will need a separate frying pan specially designed for this. For frying steaks, vegetables and other similar dishes, it is worth buying a grill pan.

Usually, when choosing dishes, buyers do not attach much importance to the manufacturer, relying only on the characteristics, appearance of the product and personal preferences. But, if you choose a proven brand, the pan will last much longer. There are some of the most popular, well-established brands.

Tefal is a leading company in the field of production of Teflon-coated frying pans.The French company offers customers a wide selection of quality dishes. Pans of this brand are equipped with temperature indicators showing the degree of heating.

Rondell is a German company that offers solid, convenient frying pans. The manufacturer uses high-quality materials, stable, wear-resistant coatings and gives a guarantee for the products offered.

Kukmara is a Russian manufacturer that produces high-quality frying pans with a massive bottom and thick walls. A big advantage of the brand is affordable prices.

"Neva-metal dishes" - an enterprise from St. Petersburg that produces cast utensils. For ease of cooking, different types of non-stick coatings are used. Frying pans of this manufacturer serve for a long time, do not deform, and are resistant to scratches on the inner surface.

TVS is an Italian company, one of the best manufacturers of aluminum pans with non-stick coating. Their products combine reliability, convenience, absolute quality and attractive appearance. Various highly resistant non-stick coatings are used.

The standard, most common pan sizes are from 18 to 28 cm. These numbers indicate the outer diameter of the product. This parameter deserves special attention if the pan is sold without a lid - this will help you later choose it separately. The optimal size depends on various factors - the size of the family, the dishes that are planned to be prepared. The most popular and sold frying pans have a diameter of 24 or 26 cm.

Another parameter is the diameter of the burners on the stove. It is not recommended to buy pans that are too large - food will remain raw at the edges, and burn in the middle.The optimal height of the sides, suitable for cooking any dishes, is 3 cm.

Which frying pan to choose - light or heavy? Most users agree that heavy models are much better, as they are stable, warm up most evenly due to the thick walls and bottom. Thick metal is resistant to deformation, lasts a long time and does not burn. But too heavy pans should also not be chosen - the hand will get tired.

The minimum thickness of the metal of a quality product is from 3-4 mm. A pancake pan needs to heat up quickly, so thinner metal is acceptable. In other cases, the thicker the walls, the more uniform the heating will be. For a quality product, the thickness of the metal should be uniform, and the surface for frying should be even.

An additional feature is the outer coating. It does not affect the quality of cooking in any way, but it affects the appearance of the dishes. The most common models with enamel and lacquer coating. There are also unfinished versions. Lacquer coating - not a very good solution. It quickly loses its appearance - it burns, loses its original color, becomes covered with scratches. enamel coating better because it is more durable.Good ceramic pans are usually coated with a nanocomposite material not only on the inside, but also on the outside.

If the pan is sold without a lid, it can be ordered separately. They are glass and metal. The advantage of glass is that you can control the cooking process without lifting the lid. Metal ones are more durable, not afraid of falls and bumps. Make sure that the handle on the lid can withstand high temperatures, not directly fastened - in this case, it will heat up less. An optional but desirable condition is the presence of a hole for excess steam to escape.

How convenient it will be to cook depends on the shape and quality of the handle. There is no single rule for choosing - you need to focus on your own feelings. Before buying, the pan must be lifted, held, rotated to make sure that it fits comfortably in the hand.

It is worth paying attention to the type of fastening of the handle and its reliability. Rivets are not the best option, screws are better. Solid products are optimal in this regard. The material of the handle is also worth paying attention to. Good options are treated wood, heat-resistant plastic. Metal handles are the most reliable, but they get very hot. You can choose the option with a removable handle if you plan to often cook in the oven.

Manufacturers usually indicate which types of stoves (gas, electric, induction) cookware is suitable for. Relevant information is applied to the bottom of the pan or recorded in the attached instructions. For gas stoves there are no restrictions - you can use any options.The best choice is heavy models with a thick bottom. They are more convenient to use because of the increased stability.

For electric stoves All pans can be used except uncoated aluminum. When heated, it leaves marks on the burners. The same can be said about glass-ceramic stoves. Another important condition is that the diameter of the pan must match the size of the burner. The main thing is that the bottom is thick and perfectly flat. Problems only arise with induction cookers - they need special pans with the ability to magnetize. The material from which the bottom is made is important, and the walls can be anything.