The Frying Pan

What Is a Frying Pan?

A frying pan — also called a skillet — is a flat-bottomed pan used for searing, sautéing, frying, and browning. It has sloping sides, a long handle, and no lid. It is the most-used piece of cookware in most kitchens.

The frying pan is ancient. The earliest known pans were made of clay by the Ancient Greeks and called tagēnon (τάγηνον). Romans used a similar pan called a patella. These early pans were shallow, had long handles, and sat on tripods over open fires. The design has barely changed in 3,000 years — proof that some things get solved early.

Today, frying pans are made of cast iron, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, carbon steel, and ceramic. Each material behaves differently. Which one you choose depends on what you cook and how much you care about maintaining it.

Cast Iron

Cast iron frying pans have been in continuous production since the 18th century. The material is cheap, durable, and retains heat better than almost anything else. When properly seasoned (coated with a layer of polymerized oil), cast iron becomes naturally non-stick without any synthetic coating.

The history: Cast iron cookware was a staple in every American kitchen from the 1800s through the mid-20th century. Companies like Griswold Manufacturing (founded 1865 in Erie, PA), Wagner Ware (Sidney, OH), and Lodge Manufacturing (South Pittsburg, TN) produced millions of pans. Griswold and Wagner are now collector’s items — a Griswold No. 8 skillet from the 1920s sells for $100–300 at antiques shops (Griswold & Cast Iron Society).

Lodge, founded in 1896, is still the largest cast iron manufacturer in the United States. Their standard 10.25-inch skillet costs about $25 and is widely available. It comes pre-seasoned and ready to use.

Who knew? Cast iron was standard issue for US military field kitchens during both World Wars. The Quartermaster Corps used Lodge pans because they could survive being dropped, left in the rain, and heated over open fires.

How it’s made: Lodge casts its pans in sand molds at their foundry in Tennessee. Molten iron at 2,600°F is poured into a mold shaped like the pan. After cooling, the pan is ground smooth, washed, and sprayed with vegetable oil before being baked at high heat — this is the seasoning process. Each pan takes about 30 minutes to cast and 2 hours to season.

What to buy: A Lodge 10.25-inch cast iron skillet is the best value in cookware, period. It costs $25–35 and will outlive you. Amazon

Non-Stick Coating

In 1938, DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett accidentally discovered polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) while trying to develop a new refrigerant. The substance was slippery — nothing would stick to it. It took another 16 years to figure out how to bond it to cookware, but in 1954, French engineer Marc Grégoire coated his wife’s frying pan with PTFE and called it Tefal (a portmanteau of Teflon and aluminum).

The Teflon-coated non-stick pan revolutionized cooking. For the first time, eggs wouldn’t stick. Fish skin wouldn’t tear. Cleaning was a wipe, not a scrub. By the 1970s, Teflon pans were in most American kitchens.

The controversy: In the early 2000s, concerns emerged about perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used in the manufacture of PTFE. Studies linked PFOA to thyroid disorders, kidney cancer, and testicular cancer. DuPont settled over 3,500 lawsuits for $671 million in 2017 (EPA: PFOA Stewardship Program).

PFOA was phased out of US cookware manufacturing by 2015. Modern non-stick coatings (branded as Teflon Platinum Plus, Granitestone, or ceramic Sol-Gel) are PFOA-free.

The trade-off: Non-stick is fragile. Metal utensils scratch the coating. High heat (above 500°F) degrades it. After 2–5 years of regular use, the coating starts flaking. You have to replace the pan.

Who knew? The Teflon coating on non-stick pans is chemically inert in the human body. If you accidentally eat a flake, it passes through completely unchanged. It will not digest, absorb, or react with anything in your digestive system.

What to buy: Tramontina Professional 10-inch Nonstick Fry Pan ($25–35). It has a thick aluminum base for even heating and a PFOA-free PTFE coating. Amazon

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel pans are the workhorses of professional kitchens. They’re durable, dishwasher-safe, non-reactive with acidic foods, and can go from stovetop to oven without damage. Unlike cast iron or non-stick, they require technique — food will stick to stainless steel unless you heat the pan properly and use enough fat.

The gold standard: All-Clad. Founded in 1971 in Canonsburg, PA, All-Clad invented the bonded tri-ply manufacturing process. A sheet of aluminum is sandwiched between two sheets of stainless steel and bonded under extreme heat and pressure. The aluminum core conducts heat evenly across the pan; the stainless steel layers provide durability and a non-reactive cooking surface (All-Clad: Our Craft).

All-Clad’s factory is still in Pennsylvania, and their MC2, D3, and D5 lines remain the reference standard for professional-quality cookware. A 10-inch D3 fry pan costs about $100.

Budget option: Tramontina Tri-Ply Clad 10-inch Fry Pan ($35–50). Made in Brazil, the same tri-ply construction as All-Clad, and frequently recommended by America’s Test Kitchen as the best value stainless skillet (America’s Test Kitchen).

Who knew? Before stainless steel, most frying pans were made of tinned copper. They conducted heat beautifully but required frequent re-tinning and were ruinously expensive. The invention of tri-ply bonded cookware in the 1970s effectively killed the copper cookware industry.

What to buy: Tramontina Tri-Ply Clad 10-inch Fry Pan. It costs a third of All-Clad and performs 90% as well. Amazon

Carbon Steel

Carbon steel is the closest thing to a restaurant-grade pan that $30 can buy. It’s made from a single sheet of pressed steel (iron + carbon, no added alloys). It behaves like cast iron — needs seasoning, rusts if left wet, builds non-stick properties over time — but is much lighter and heats faster.

Carbon steel pans are standard in French and Chinese professional kitchens. In France, a poêle en acier carbone from brands like De Buyer or Matfer Bourgeat is what every chef learns on. De Buyer’s Mineral B line, made in France since 1830, is the most popular: a 10-inch pan costs about $45.

Who knew? De Buyer’s factory in the Vosges mountains of eastern France has been making cookware continuously since before the Eiffel Tower was built. Their pans are still pressed from a single sheet of steel — no rivets, no welding, no cladding.

What to buy: De Buyer Mineral B Carbon Steel 10-inch Fry Pan ($40–50). It requires seasoning before first use, but after that, it outperforms any non-stick pan for eggs and fish. Amazon

What You Actually Need

Here is the honest answer: one pan does 80% of cooking.

If you cook meat, vegetables, and eggs, you need cast iron. A Lodge 10.25-inch skillet handles everything from steak searing to cornbread baking. It costs $25, lasts forever, and improves with age.

If you cook delicate eggs, fish, or crepes, you need non-stick. A Tramontina Professional 10-inch pan. Replace it every 3–5 years. Don’t use metal utensils on it.

If you want one pan that does everything and can go in the dishwasher, buy stainless tri-ply. It requires more technique, but it will never wear out and never need replacing.

Most people who cook daily end up owning all three. Each serves a purpose. None is a compromise.

Common Mistakes

Using non-stick on high heat. Non-stick coating degrades above 500°F. Use cast iron or stainless for high-heat searing and reserve non-stick for eggs and fish.

Putting a hot cast iron pan in cold water. The thermal shock can crack the pan. Let it cool naturally, then wash with hot water and a stiff brush.

Storing food in a cast iron pan. Acidic foods (tomatoes, wine, citrus) react with the iron, leaching metallic flavors and stripping the seasoning. Transfer leftovers to a glass or plastic container.

Buying a cheap non-stick pan and expecting it to last. A $10 non-stick pan has a thin coating that flakes within months. A $30 Tramontina has a thick, reinforced coating that lasts years. The cheap pan is the expensive one in the long run.

Using non-stick spray on non-stick pans. The aerosol lecithin in cooking spray builds up a gummy residue that’s almost impossible to remove, eventually ruining the coating. Use butter or oil instead.

Assuming expensive means better. A $25 Lodge cast iron skillet performs as well as a $200 vintage Griswold. A $35 Tramontina tri-ply is 90% as good as a $100 All-Clad. The most expensive pan isn’t where the cooking happens — it’s where the marketing budget went.

Buying Guide