What kind of frying pan do you use?

[kannon]

Greetings all -

As a newly retiree, I have more time for cooking now. I am a big breakfast guy. So with more time I can go from coffee and bagel to omelettes and fried eggs.

Was wondering - what kind of frying pan do you use and how well does it work?

Cast iron? Aluminum? Green pan? They all look great on infomercials but what about in real life?

Thanks. Bon Appetite

Kannon

 

[Meadbh]

I have become a much better cook since ER because I have time to play with my food, so to speak. For omelettes I use a 10" stainless steel frying pan, part of this set:

Maze Cookware Polished Stainless Steel 11-Piece Set with Bonus - Gordon Ramsay by Royal Doulton | US

which I got for free with Air Miles. The key to preventing the omelette sticking to the pan is getting it to the right temperature before adding the oil. I found Jamie Oliver's video most helpful. He does use a nonstick pan, though!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQyRuOEKfVk

Bon appetit!

 

[razztazz]

Stainless steel. Works great. Used to use teflon but stopped about 10 yrs ago. Things sticking to the steel pan has not been an issue. Just used some of that spray on stuff and try to let the pan heat up a bit before use and don't dump something like eggs on a cold pan.

 

[Sunset]

I use a non-stick pan, the black coating. Then I spray a mist of olive oil on it when heating it up.
Once its hot I put in the eggs (I don't super heat the pan as some non-stick give off bad fumes when overheated).
Clean up is very easy with a non-stick pan.

 

[pb4uski]

My favorite is a cast iron griddle.... a holdover from our camping days cooking breakfast over a wood fire. Our propane stove has 4 burners (one in each corner) and a oblong center burner that is perfect for the griddle. I also sometimes use the griddle for breakfast on the propane gas grill in the summer.

DW's new favorite frying pan has a ceramic coating and it is growing on me but I'm not keen on it for eggs though.

 

[calmloki]

Huge fan of big logo '30s era Griswold cast iron and have a fair assortment, but the pan that she uses most is a heavy as sin newer Lodge cast iron griddle.

 

[Meadbh]

The kitchn is my favourite cooking blog. Here is their breakfast index:

Breakfast Recipes | The Kitchn

 

[Midpack]

I cook every day. (If I only had one pan) For most things I use a 10" All-Clad non stick pan.

For larger and/or higher temp cooking, an All-Clad stainless sauté pan.

And for some higher temp items, a basic cast iron Lodge skillet pan is ideal. After 40 years, it's still as good as new.

 

[heeyy_joe]

Cast iron lodge skillet, properly seasoned is awesome!

 

[donheff]

I cook bacon and eggs about 5 times a week using a Calphalon non-stick. Get a heavy pan - they distribute the heat well. I prefer non-stick since no matter how hard I try I find the others a hassle to keep tempered. Also, toss in some butter with those eggs. I also have a couple of large All Clad stainless skillets that come out when I need more pan space. They are great but require more work. I usually heat them up very hot and then scrub the cooking surfaces with a little course salt and olive oil to get a non-stick finish.

 

[2017ish]

+2 on the Cast Iron Lodge. Didn't get mine until 5 years ago, and love it. We have a gas stove and find that and a Wok to meet most of our needs.

 

[rodi]

I have several vintage le creuset skillets. Basically enameled cast iron - so the even heat of the cast iron and the non-stick of the enamel. We also have a very large cast iron - no idea if it's lodge brand - but it's awesome and that's what we cook bacon in, as well as pancakes. We also have a tiny cast iron (5" diam?) that is perfect for one person's eggs.

 

[pb4uski]

I have enameled cast iron grates on my Weber grill and love them in that they retain heat like cast iron but are non-stick like enameled grates. Never thought of porting that concept to a frying pan.... think I'll try that next time I need a new skillet.

 

[HFWR]

Have several cast iron skillets of various sizes, and also a small aluminium non-stick skillet for eggs, used when no bacon is involved...

 

[savory]

+2 on the Cast Iron Lodge. Didn't get mine until 5 years ago, and love it. We have a gas stove and find that and a Wok to meet most of our needs.

+1 - Cast Iron Lodge griddle/pans. I would also recommend a cast iron wok. SIL showed us how to use it. It's simply a great way to cook and not just Asian food. He is the main cook (I'm the bottle washer) but when I do some cooking, especially frying, it is terrific. The amount of oil used is much less and the oil can drain back into the bottom of the wok while the food is resting on the side of the wok.

 

[MRG]

Can you use cast iron on flat top electric stoves? I think ours said not to.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[Bamaman]

Nothing beats cast iron skillets. Unfortunately, my glass top electric stove doesn't allow for cast iron to be used. Our skillets are now reserved for baking cornbread.

We use Calphalon skillets now. Only problem is anodized skillets cannot go in the dishwasher. We also have a couple of teflon style skillets that we also use.

 

[FatCyclist]

Switched last year from Calphalon non-stick to O\the Ozeri Green Earth pans for everyday use. Absolutely love them.

 

[Sue J]

We have a set of 3 (8", 10", 12") hard anodized pans from Food Network. They are non-stick, don't know if it's a coating or if the hard anodized is inherently non-stick. They have been wonderful. Very even heat and wash up very easily. They say you can use metal utensils but we don't.

The rest of our cookware is Revere Ware, stainless steel with copper bottoms. The Revere Ware set came with 2 frying pans but I could never master those and replaced them with Teflon or T-Fal pans. Those never lasted too long.

 

[athena53]

Huge fan of big logo '30s era Griswold cast iron and have a fair assortment, but the pan that she uses most is a heavy as sin newer Lodge cast iron griddle.

I got DH a set of 4 Griswolds from the 1950s off e-Bay for Christmas in 2013. I did some research and they aren't as prized as the 1930s ones (apparently the quality went down when iron was needed to make weapons in WW 2) but better than the ones made after they merged with another company and still great for cooking. Bonus: Mom told me that my great-grandmother and her sister worked as servants in the Griswold household.

We use one or more of them daily and the cornbread DH makes in the larger pan is fantastic. We rarely buy each other presents, but when DH mentioned the story of his GF taking his cast-iron pans that he'd bought from the maker at a craft fair (he was out of the house when she removed "her" things after the breakup), a light bulb went off in my head. I'm so glad I found them easily and at a good price.

 

[mpeirce]

This is my daily omelet pan.

Anolon Nouvelle Copper - 8.5-Inch French Skillet #82515 - Anolon.com

I've been using this one for a few years and it's great. The copper core retains and distributes the heat very nicely. It's nonstick for eggs.

 

[calmloki]

I got DH a set of 4 Griswolds from the 1950s off e-Bay for Christmas in 2013. I did some research and they aren't as prized as the 1930s ones (apparently the quality went down when iron was needed to make weapons in WW 2) but better than the ones made after they merged with another company and still great for cooking. Bonus: Mom told me that my great-grandmother and her sister worked as servants in the Griswold household.

We use one or more of them daily and the cornbread DH makes in the larger pan is fantastic. We rarely buy each other presents, but when DH mentioned the story of his GF taking his cast-iron pans that he'd bought from the maker at a craft fair (he was out of the house when she removed "her" things after the breakup), a light bulb went off in my head. I'm so glad I found them easily and at a good price.

All my Griswold finds have been individual, mostly yard sale, finds, so a mix of early and later pieces, but the difference in weight and fineness of casting between their stuff and modern cast iron is dramatic. The large logo stuff is just a notch lighter and better yet. Casting iron seems to be something done with more skill earlier - have a couple old non-Griswold or Wagner pans that, to my eye and hand, are their equal.

 

[LoneAspen]

A few years ago, I treated myself to a Demeyere Atlantis 7-layer stainless frying pan, and it works great. Definitely the best piece of cookware I've ever bought. Pricy, but worth every penny.

 

[braumeister]

I've used an All-Clad skillet for the last 10 or 12 years. It gets used at least once every day, frequently two or three times.

I noticed the non-stick coating was starting to deteriorate about 5 years ago, and was happy to note that they do honor their warranty. I sent it back and they sent me a new one at no charge.

 

[photoguy]

A few years ago we bought a non-stick pan by Caphalon. It was somewhere between $50-75 so although not super expensive, it wasn't what I considered cheap. However we were disappointed by how fast it lost it's non-stick surface.

This christmas I was given the all-clad stainless steel saute pan Midpack listed above. I'm hoping this basically lasts the rest of my life.

If we settle down and get a permanent location, I'd like to get a cast iron fry pan and maybe a wok as well.