Eating is one of the pleasures of life. Indeed, let’s face it, it is the best action of the day after the hours spent sleeping. All worries, tiredness and bad thoughts vanish in front of steaming carbonara pasta, a peppered stew or a delicious slice of tiramisu.
However, we must not forget that if all these delicacies reach our dishes, the merit is of the object that allows us to expertly mix, and often with the use of heat, the best ingredients to churn out a delicious steaming dish: the skillet.
Behind this generic term, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different types in terms of shape and materials, each of which is suitable for a particular type of preparation.
From sturdy skillet, excellent in conducting heat but arduous to lift, to new discoveries of the best brands’ technology, each pot has its own character, which is also expressed in the flavour of the dishes prepared with it.
We have created this guide, accompanied by reviews, to introduce you to the best models on the market, united by quality, but different from each other in terms of use and composition.
Buyer Guide to Choose the Best Skillets
To follow a balanced diet, you need to be careful not only about what you eat but also where you cook. For this reason, when buying a pan, one must pay particular attention to the materials.
Almost all the bottom of the pans are non-stick, but this is not an absolute guarantee. Over time, many materials can release harmful substances, ruining dishes and altering their flavour.
This Form, This Dish
When children were playing in the kitchen, they were surely amazed and fascinated by the number of pots of all sizes and colours piled up in stacks in the various shelves of the cupboard.
If the shade has a purely aesthetic value, the form is instead the main element that will guide you, together with the price comparison, in the choice of a pot.
This parameter is not only linked to the quantity of food you want to cook but above all to the type of preparation, you want to follow. A high and capacious pot will be used to boil water for pasta, tortellini or gnocchi.
While a large and deep one, like the oriental wok, will allow you to “skip” the ingredients with rapid cooking that maximizes the heat of the fire; still others, such as the trays in which you pour the dough of your cakes, have been designed for widespread heating, such as that of the oven.
Rubbing the Pots!
The kitchen of the past made abundant use of fat to limit this inconvenience, today considered unacceptable, but which in those days was accepted as normal.
At high temperatures, traditional materials such as ceramic or aluminium act as a glue for the food close to them, which when burning sticks to the incandescent bottom of the pot, requiring hours of rubbing to be removed.
Fortunately for you, scientific research has developed in recent decades new materials, called non-stick for this, which are able to maintain the same heat necessary for cooking, while preventing food from sticking to their surface. In this way, in addition to saving the effort of cleaning the pot, the dishes become healthier, thanks to a limited presence of fats.
Choose the Right Material
With the introduction of non-stick pans, the technology has also performed miracles in the development of new materials or the rediscovery of others, so far used for different purposes, capable of optimizing their performance.
From the rankings, it emerges that the low heat conduction of cast iron, one of the most frequent components in stoves for the winter, has proved to be optimal to avoid the risk of burning meat or vegetables in high heat preparations, such as grilling.
At a higher price, you can choose between models, called enamels, in which the excellent heat conduction properties of alloys such as steel, or its carbon enriched version, are combined with a non-stick coating in porcelain or other materials.
How to Use A Skillet?
If you have a kitchen, it is very likely that you also have a pan, essential for cooking certain dishes, from simple and classic French fries to far more elaborate and demanding recipes.
Saying that you want to buy a pan is not enough, you need to know which one; in fact, there are different models, made with different materials. The ideal would be to have a well-stocked set.
Here we had also shared the guide about everything you know about the skillet.
The Treatment
You have just returned home after shopping. You came across a nice non-stick pan. It was just what you were missing.
Eager to try it immediately, wash it, dry it and pour in the oil to prepare some french fries. If you have followed these steps, there is bad news. Before being used, the pan needs a little treatment.
First of all, it’s true, you wash, but how? With lukewarm water and using a non-abrasive sponge. The second point, after cleaning the pan, it must be dried thoroughly.
But this step is even superfluous, aren’t you crazy enough to heat the oil in a pan containing drops of water? You know what could, indeed, what will happen for sure, right? Squirt everywhere, if not worse.
So, you have dried your new pan well, what else is left to do? A little butter should be passed on the bottom and on the walls (there are those who prefer oil) in order to form a patina, which will protect your new purchase for a long time.
Tools Not to Be Used
The non-stick bottom is a great invention in our opinion. The food does not stick and this allows not to spoil the recipe but also to clean the pan more easily.
However, this fund is quite delicate. Not only does it lose its properties over time, but its deterioration can be anticipated in the event of incorrect behaviour.
You know, the food must be mixed, turned and maybe you do it with the fork that you hold in your hand. This is an error that can damage the pan by scratching the bottom. It is categorical, in fact, to use wooden or rubber utensils. Metal and anything that could lead to scratches are banned.
How to Fry?
But how do you fry in a pan? Employing large quantities of oil is certainly a solution, although not the healthiest. However, there are foods that need to be immersed in boiling oil for proper frying, as in the case of the famous French fries.
But it is not the only solution. In fact, in many cases it can be enough to sprinkle the bottom of the oil only, avoiding that the food floats inside. Do you want to eat even healthier? No problem, how about a non-fried omelette?
That’s right, we said that the bottom is non-stick, therefore, heat the pan a little, taking care not to overdo it to avoid damaging it and, once hot, pour the previously beaten eggs inside. They will cook in a few moments and you can enjoy your non-fried omelette.
