Right before you go shopping for a fry pan, in a specializing cookware store or a department store, you know it is going to make you depressed, you know the selection is going to shock you, that the variety will not make your decision easier, and for a moment you are quite jealous of your nonna for having an easy time since she only had one fry pan (until you remember how difficult it was to clean that one frying pan and you are again happy to go shopping).There is a bid variety of shapes, material, coatings, and you need to also, at the same time keep in mind what YOU like, what YOUR needs are, what makes YOU comfortable in a kitchen, and what YOU can afford.MaterialsThe basic frying pan ranges are in Stainless Steel, Cast (Iron or Aluminum- regular or Hard Anodized) and Copper, which is generally more expensive. A good idea is the combination between a few materials- such as the three layer Stainless Steel pans where the outer layers are a hard, durable Stainless Steel and the middle layer is a heat conducting efficient Copper or Aluminum.Since Aluminum is relatively cheap frying pands are usually affordable, but note they will be relatively "soft" so they can bend it they fall or get hit, you can invest a bit more in Hard Anodized (an Electrolyzed Aluminum) that is much harder (yet still relatively economical) they all will have some non stick coating on it since cooking straight on Aluminum is not very recommended. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat (but it does cool quickly once removed from the heat source).A word about coatings- some are sold as naturally manufactured and "Green" but there have been comments saying they are a bit less efficient than older non-stick coat versions, the rule is that if the coat is unscratched and pan is used according to manual, my private opinion is that you can use any non stick coat, but the environmental factor does sometimes mean the we make an effort today to promise a brighter tomorrow. Use non metallic tools on any coating you use and store carefully so the coat will not scratch and will live longer, but remember- a coat, no matter how good, is still an external coat, not the material itself, and it will eventually, wear off. Cast iron frying pans are very special, and are, on the one hand, some of the most durable frying pans available, and when the entire pan is cast iron, it can with great ease be used in ovens. But on the other hand are very delicate and should be handled with care between uses (Rust, a big problem). They are the best for a limited range of dishes and cannot replace a simple general use fry pan for all the frying needs.SizeFrying pans are available in any size between 10cm- 4 inch and 36cm- 14 inch, a general use fry pan should be about 26 cm - 10 inch, in diameter, that will be comfortable with a scrambled egg for 4 people and a few Bacon strips. Heating an oversized pan is comfortable but also costly as you waste energy heating a surface you will not use, also not using the entire surfaces creates temperature differences on the surface cold spots.Handle and KnobMost fry pans do not have a lid, if one is important for you- consider buying a saut? pan that will have a lid but will probably be slightly wider and deeper than other pans. A glass lid is comfortable for looking in but it limits the temperature of an oven the pan can be placed into, as do handle materials such as wood or Bakelite. If putting the pan in the oven is something you use often, consider a frying pan that has a lid and handle from the same materials as the body. A solid selection would have 3 sizes of Aluminum coated pans, a cast iron medium sized pan, a bigger Stainless Steel saut? pan and a large wok. That would fill your basic needs.
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Just before you go shopping for a fry pan, in a niche cookware store or a department store, you assume it is going to make you tired, you know the wide variety is going to shock you, that the variety can't possibly make your decision easier, and for a moment you are rather jealous of your grandmother that had an easy time as she only had one fry pan (until you remember how difficult it was to clean that one pan and you are again motivated to go shopping).
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