These are what everyone thinks about when scrambling eggs or searing scallops. They are shallow and typically curved upward. They come in various sizes from 6 to 12 inches and have a long handle. Every home chef should have at least one of these. They also work well as a makeshift lid when turned upside down.
Think of the one pan meal. Skillets are perfect for cooking these. Similar to a frying pan but much deeper with straight sides. They come with their own lids and like frying pans, come in different sizes. When it comes to a casserole, you can't go wrong with a skillet.
Every kitchen needs a saucepan, preferably a few. These pans are deep, straight -sided and flat bottomed. Great for boiling liquids, rice or pasta, boiled eggs and reheating foods. They come in different sizes for low to medium volume and have long handles.
A saucier is a little different than a saucepan. It is splayed out and upward and the bottom is not at a right angle to the walls. This eliminates stuff getting trapped between the wall and bottom when stirring and allows for quicker evaporation when reducing a sauce. Having one of these in your kitchen is essential for efficient sauce making.
Larger than their saucepan cousins, these pans are for soups, stocks and heavier duty boiling. Ranging in size from 6 to 60 quarts these are the workhorse of the kitchen and are usually on the burner for many hours. The only limiting factor on how big to go is how hot your burners can get.
After using various materials for the last two decades, here are my observations, pros and cons for each material.
Copper
The response time to temperature change can not be beat. It is almost instantaneous and it also heats very evenly. If it weren't so expensive, I would have copper everything. Cleaning copper is more laborious and it will need to be polished regularly.
Cast Iron
These pans will outlive you and they are reasonably priced. You don't need to spend a fortune on brand name like Le Creuset to get a great cast iron pan. They heat evenly and maintain that heat for a long time. However, the response time to temperature change is very poor.
Stainless
Honestly, I don't use my stainless frying pan or skillet that often and they are almost dedicated to specialty item, like searing Wagyu.
Nonstick
.There are different types of nonstick material and I prefer ceramic. The pans do eventually lose their nonstick qualities but they are very inexpensive and easy to work with. They clean up easily as well.
Frying pan:
Ceramic- 12 inch, 10 inch and 8 inch. These are perfect for
Stainless- 12 inch that I use for specialty item such as Wagyu or
Skillet:
Cast Iron- 12 inch and two 10 inch. These are normally the go-to pans for almost everything. The durability, even heating and
Copper-
Saucepans and Sauciers:
Copper- I have a small saucier that I use for making quick stocks or jus.
Stockpots:
Three stainless stockpots with lids
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