What frypan?

bulldogod, Nov 23, 12:08am
cast iron or non stick ,looked today and some really cheap ones and really expensive but I dont know differance?
cookessentials, Nov 23, 12:47am
Cast iron..the best you can get would be the American "Lodge" which is pre-seasoned. If you want a non stick, get a hard anodised one such as the Infinite Circulon.
buzzy110, Nov 23, 2:09am
Any cast iron one will do the job. I have one my mother used so must be in at least 60 years of usage and still going strong.

Cheap non-stick pans are rubbish. The metals they are made from don't transfer heat fast enough and you can't control the temperature well enough. Non-stick is toxic and heated too high it will de-laminate into your food.

Personally I have always used cast iron or a sandwich based s/s pan. Bases can be either aluminium or copper. I have cast iron and both other types of frypan plus a Dinerite skillet which is triple skinned all the way through and heats within 2 minutes at half temperature setting on an electric stove.

I have never had food stick to any of my pans and have therefore never felt the need to poison myself or my family with toxic non-stick pans. It is simply a matter of using the correct pan for the desired outcome.

So go buy two. A cheap and cheerful cast iron and an expensive, but really worth it, s/s with a good quality heat transfer base.
kay141, Nov 23, 2:15am
I would love cast iron frypan and casserole dishes but I have trouble lifting them empty, so with food in could be a problem. I do have a cast iron omelette pan which is yonks old.
uli, Nov 23, 2:15am
I prefer steel to cast iron - much smoother, much thinner and lighterand as nonstick as a good wok if seasoned properly and not scrubbed too much.

I would not buy anything with nonstick coating, as especially in a fry pan it will get too hot eventually and break down, for you to ingest it with every meal.
cookessentials, Nov 23, 3:51am
A common mistake that most people make! is heating the heck out of a non-stick pan. They are made for medium to low heats. A hard anodised pan will not "delaminate" LOL. Of course, the cheap "coated" pans will over time and especially when not used properly as most people seem to do.
cookessentials, Nov 23, 3:59am
A "sandwiched" base on a pan is no longer as heat and energy efficient as a fully encapsulated base. Take yourself off to someone who knows cookware who can give you the right advice as I have done. Sadly, here you will get the usual conflicting and scaremongering every time this subject arises LOL. The base of a pan is not aluminium, it has a core of aluminium and these days very few pans have a copper bottoms, in fact, as far as I am aware there are none available unless, of course you go to a full copper pan such as Mauviel or similar. The reason a stainless steel pan has an encapsulated base with a middle core of aluminium is because aluminium is an excellent conductor of heat, as is copper. Stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat which is why any stainless steel pans of any use have an encapsulated base. The old "sandwich" style of pan went out with the ark becauise of the heat loss from the bottom of the pan. The ancapsulated base removes this problem because it completely encases the aluminium core,therefore, retaining the heat.
stompy, Nov 23, 4:13am
I like stainless steel
bulldogod, Nov 24, 5:55am
so cast iron ones are healthy option?? What is meant be seasoning them?
beaker59, Nov 24, 7:30am
You wash the new cast iron pan then coat with cooking oil and heat up to smoking hot then repeat clean the pan with hot water and scourer or similar start using it it will not be completely non stick at first but will be still quite good and improve with age until completely black. I find that the easiest way to season and just as effective as the complicated oven methods.

The big thing though is don't wash in detergents just while the pan is still warmish run it under the hot tap and scrub with a scourer dry and put away.
cookessentials, Nov 24, 8:29am
You actually season your pan in the oven. If you buy the Lodge pre-seasoned pans, there is no need to season as this is already done for you. When seasoning, you use a THIN layer of melted vegetable oil or cooking oil. Wipe out any excess with a paper towel, but keep it well coated. Your oven needs to be preheated to 180C or higher and make sure you put a layer of foil or an oven proof tray on the rack below the one you are going to use. Your pan goes into the oven upside down and is seasoned for about an hour. There is no need to scour and re-season the pan. After about an hour, remove pan from oven with protective mits and place on a heat proof surface, right side up and allow to cool. The seasoning will build up over time and you will probably have to use a little oil when cooking certain things like eggs until the pan is seasoned over time. When you finish using it, just wipe it out with a paper towel and season again, this helps it build up a good surface.Never immerse a seasoned cast iron skillet in water for cleaning. Rust spots can form on the cooking surface, but minor rusting can be corrected with a steel wool pad and another round of seasoning.
Never drop cold water into a hot cast iron skillet. The thermal shock may cause the pan to split or crack instantly. Allow hot cast iron skillets to cool gradually, away from any sources of water.
uli, Nov 24, 8:34am
If you have weak wrists - DO buy a thin steel frypan - and it will work the same as the heavy cast iron (and it won't break into bits if you drop it).
buzzy110, Sep 1, 5:59pm
Yes. I forgot to mention that I also have a spun carbon steel pan and that is totally brilliant as well.

FYI cooks, I was well aware of the fact that pans were encapsulated, however, for simplicity's sake, I mentioned only that they were sandwiched. To a novice buyer the difference would be immaterial. All they need to know is that one with aluminium or copper on the bottom heat faster and one that is just a cheap s/s pan with no base and a non-stick coating is both difficult to heat and therefore will incur over heating.

Also, some foods require a higher cooking temperature than allowed with non-stick coatings. The thought of stewing a decent steak or trying to brown meat for a casserole in a pan that cannot be properly heated leaves me sad for the buyer.