When did frying pans get so complicated?

JonathanRyan

JonathanRyan

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It's a bent bit of metal for putting food in and heating over a moderate heat, right?

Just spent like 2 ours on Amazon looking for one and it's a minefield. Do I want ceramic, volcanic, plastic or iron? And then there's the shape and the handle.......

Anybody know of a good one?

(BTW there's a 4 year old thread on here about them - 4 years ago I was happy with the Tefal I had. That's the one I want to replace.)
 
It is a bloody minefield. There are more frying pans than all the viruses in China. A lot of them are rubbish.

I do not know if you are looking for induction compatibility (as I would be), but induction needs an iron base pan to work. Some makers put an iron disc inside the base of an alloy pan to achieve induction compatibility, but the pan effectively becomes a bi-metal strip. Heat it (on any cooker) and there is a risk it will produce a bevel.

I'll be watching this thread and looking out for a pan that is worth buying.
 
arclight said:
I do not know if you are looking for induction compatibility (as I would be)
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I'm actually not. I am literally cooking with gas :)

Bobsyeruncle said:
Tefal simpleo range if you don't want anything fancy....
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Should probably have mentioned that I'm looking or something without PTFE in the cooking surface. I'm not entirely convinced by the arguments against it but I'd prefer something else.
 
We have a couple of Circulon pans similar to this. Bought them around 15 years ago.they have a stainless steel base, good non stick coating. You can clean them easily. The larger one is great for doing steak and it deglazes well.

kitchenwarexpress.co.uk

Circulon Momentum Stainless Steel Frying Pan

Buy this 29cm frying pan from the Momentum cookware range from the official Circulon web shop for fast delivery and a lifetime guarantee!
kitchenwarexpress.co.uk kitchenwarexpress.co.uk
 
We have circulon (good but slow to heat) Le Creuset (nice pan, fragile non-stick) and most recently a Lakeland hard multi-coated pan that seems the best of both worlds.

I cook on induction and they all work but the Lakeland is the best for frying.
 
We had a Circulon and after about 4 years the surface started going, Circulon asked for a photo of the surface, agreed that it was faulty and sent us a new pan! We have had the replacement for about 3 years and the surface still looks like new.
 
I tried asking the wife she said look at the ones I use in the kitchen

As if I would even know where the kitchen was
 
Mark Johnson said:
Ikea have good pans...and reasonably priced
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The cheaper Ikea ones heat well, but the surface is very soft, marking and scratching easily and losing it's non-stickiness fast even with un-damaged coating. We have discarded a larger pan bought 4 years ago and used occasionally plus we have a second small one I use for frying steaks and noodles (not at the same time) - the coating here is undamaged, but food still sticks though less than it does to Stainless.
 
ancient_mariner said:
We have circulon (good but slow to heat) Le Creuset (nice pan, fragile non-stick) and most recently a Lakeland hard multi-coated pan that seems the best of both worlds.

I cook on induction and they all work but the Lakeland is the best for frying.
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I'll be interested to know how the Lakeland one lasts. We bought a set of their pans when we got an induction hob about 5 years ago and the dishwasher has badly eaten into the aluminium from the outside. The insides are doing OK, some pitting in the bottom of the most frequently used pans and the large saute pan is OK because it it is big and tends to get hand washed.

Our Circulon pans were good for many years until teenage kids started using them :(
 
sirch said:
I'll be interested to know how the Lakeland one lasts. We bought a set of their pans when we got an induction hob about 5 years ago and the dishwasher has badly eaten into the aluminium from the outside. The insides are doing OK, some pitting in the bottom of the most frequently used pans and the large saute pan is OK because it it is big and tends to get hand washed.

Our Circulon pans were good for many years until teenage kids started using them :(
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I don't dishwash pans, so there's a fair chance it will last well.
 
ChrisH said:
I love my John Lewis frying pan, not the cheapest but built well and nothing as yet had gone anywhere near sticking.
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The one I have is crap. Non stick is peeling - similar age Tefals are still fine, as is the Sainsbury's one that we now use for tarte Tatins instead of the JL one (which I originally bought because it was the only one I could find that was oven safe as well as hob.)
 
Nod said:
The one I have is crap. Non stick is peeling - similar age Tefals are still fine, as is the Sainsbury's one that we now use for tarte Tatins instead of the JL one (which I originally bought because it was the only one I could find that was oven safe as well as hob.)
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If it still has the John Lewis logo on it take it back, they are lifetime guarenteed
 
Get to Asda. Walk to the cookware section, they'll have a pan range on offer on the end of the aisle.
Usually a goodun.

Get the right size frying pan and don't let the wife near it with a scourer.
 
andya700 said:
We have a couple of Circulon pans similar to this. Bought them around 15 years ago.they have a stainless steel base, good non stick coating. You can clean them easily. The larger one is great for doing steak and it deglazes well.

kitchenwarexpress.co.uk

Circulon Momentum Stainless Steel Frying Pan

Buy this 29cm frying pan from the Momentum cookware range from the official Circulon web shop for fast delivery and a lifetime guarantee!
kitchenwarexpress.co.uk kitchenwarexpress.co.uk
Click to expand...

Quite amazed at how cheap that pan is.
I thought this would be a useful thread and it is :ty:
 
Mark Johnson said:
Ikea have good pans...and reasonably priced
Click to expand...
I went round all the kitchen shops in Cardiff last year when i needed a set of saucepans. Ended up with the IKEA sensuell (sp?) stainless steel pans as they felt really well made and fraction of the price of some other brands. I think IKEA also do some cast iron pans that may be worth a look.
 
Who would have thought so many people are so keen on pans :)

Mark Johnson said:
Ikea have good pans...and reasonably priced
Click to expand...

They do - but Ikea is a day trip away. I plan to go there eventually but would like a pan sooner.

andya700 said:
We have a couple of Circulon pans similar to this. Bought them around 15 years ago.they have a stainless steel base, good non stick coating. You can clean them easily. The larger one is great for doing steak and it deglazes well.

kitchenwarexpress.co.uk

Circulon Momentum Stainless Steel Frying Pan

Buy this 29cm frying pan from the Momentum cookware range from the official Circulon web shop for fast delivery and a lifetime guarantee!
kitchenwarexpress.co.uk kitchenwarexpress.co.uk
Click to expand...

I had some Circulon saucepans a long time ago. They lasted years but then the surface started flaking and I kept finding bits in food - put me off a bit. That's an amazing price though.

stryvya said:
We rather like this one. read the reviews:-

https://www.matalan.co.uk/product/detail/s2764021_c000/salter-megastone-frying-pan-28cm-grey
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Yes - I've seen that win a "best of" looks really good for the money.

ancient_mariner said:
We have circulon (good but slow to heat) Le Creuset (nice pan, fragile non-stick) and most recently a Lakeland hard multi-coated pan that seems the best of both worlds.

I cook on induction and they all work but the Lakeland is the best for frying.
Click to expand...

Is that their own brand? I like the look of the Greenpan that they and John Lewis sell. i reckon if both those shops sell it, it's probably good.
 
Donnie said:
I have my own pan, the wife and kids are not allowed to use it until they can prove to me they are able to take care of a "normal" frying pan, that's been going on now for about 7 or 8 years. This is it and can be had cheaper if you search about and especially in the sales https://www.lecreuset.co.uk/en_GB/p/3-ply-stainless-steel-uncoated-sauté-pan-with-lid/SS5321124.html?dwvar_SS5321124_color=silver&dwvar_SS5321124_size=24cm-l2-9 Mine looks nearly as good as the day I bought it.
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In fact a quick google just found it for £30 off here https://aolcookshop.co.uk/products/...iV1sP9lSUgalqOwki9i9ZGqRfc2_LGyRoCAMYQAvD_BwE
 
JonathanRyan said:
Who would have thought so many people are so keen on pans :)
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Possibly not so keen on pans, but perhaps thoroughly sizzled off with bad pans.
After you have had your grub welded to a pan a few times it sets you wishing for something better (preferably someone else to do the cooking) ;)
 
ChrisH said:
If it still has the John Lewis logo on it take it back, they are lifetime guarenteed
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I did. They offered to replace it for an identical one. No refund.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Just spent like 2 ours on Amazon looking for one and it's a minefield. Do I want ceramic, volcanic, plastic or iron? And then there's the shape and the handle.......
Click to expand...
Plastic frying pan? From the makers of chocolate tea pots?
 
I don't think a non-stick type has been invented that doesn't start to stick after a couple of years regular use.
It's good to have one for the odd time you know something will mess up your main one.

We bought a stainless steel one some 20 years ago it just gets better with age and careful use, keeping conditioned i.e. never let detergent near it.
You can run hot water over it if something is really messy but usually just scrape out any debris and/or wipe out with paper.
It's not pretty but it doesn't stick even scrambled or fried eggs
 
A professional kitchen will use metal utensils like spoons to taste so non-stick are out (plus if you watch Dark Waters....Teflon is bad for you), the type of pan to get is carbon steel, it has the benefits of longevity of cast iron without the weight. You can put it on the oven, it makes it own natural coating. It will out live all of us.
 
cambsno said:
Been using these for 6 years - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00462QP16/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sort of thing they use in pro kitchens. I am guilty of not seasoning as well as I should but still have good non stick properties, heat quick and get good colour, plus can use in oven. Can see these lasting another 10 years easily!
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Same here, bought one when my old cast iron one started to look too grubby , but that is damned expensive, you can get them for around £30

BTW cast iron shatters if you throw it in temper and leaves one hell of an impression in a door frame :oops: :$:exit:
 
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