Which pan for which job: a kitchen cheat sheet

A good cook with the wrong pan has a harder time than an average cook with the right one. Pans differ in how fast they heat, how evenly they spread that heat, how well they hold it, how they react with food and how much abuse they take. None of that is visible in a shop, so here it is job by job.

The pans, in one line each

• Clad stainless steel: steel outside with an aluminium or copper core. Even heat, no coating to damage, oven safe, goes on for decades.
• Cast iron: heavy, slow to heat, holds heat for a long time. Seasoned surface that improves with use; dislikes long acidic cooking¹.
• Enamelled cast iron: cast iron coated in glass enamel. Holds heat like cast iron but does not react with acidic food or need seasoning.
• Nonstick (PTFE or ceramic coated): releases food with little fat. For gentle heat only; the coating wears out.
• Carbon steel: lighter than cast iron, seasoned like it, heats faster. A favourite for woks and crêpe pans.
• Bare aluminium: light, cheap and a good conductor, but soft and reactive. Often anodised or coated.

Job by job

Why the table says what it says

High heat. Searing needs a pan that is very hot and stays hot when cold food hits it. Heavy cast iron excels at this. Nonstick does not belong here for a specific reason: a PTFE coating starts to break down at around 360 °C, and an empty pan on a strong flame or induction zone can get there quickly. Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment advises never heating PTFE pans empty and taking particular care on gas and induction².

Sticking. Bare steel grips raw protein until a crust forms; with good heat and patience it releases, and the browned bits left behind become the base of a sauce. Our guide to stopping food sticking to stainless steel explains how. For eggs, which set before they brown, a coated pan is simply easier.

Acidic food. Acid reacts with some metals and with seasoning. Lodge, the cast iron maker, advises keeping acidic dishes in a seasoned pan to under about 45 minutes once the seasoning is established³. Stainless steel copes with acidic cooking, but it is not completely inert: a laboratory study found that tomato sauce simmered for hours in stainless steel picked up measurable nickel and chromium, most of all from new pans⁴. For most people that does not matter; for people with a nickel allergy, the authors point out that it can⁴. Cooking in steel is fine. Storing the sauce in the pan overnight is not a good habit with any metal.

Aluminium. Ireland's Food Safety Authority says there is still a great deal of uncertainty about how much aluminium pots, pans and containers add to the diet, and that higher levels may be found in acidic foods cooked or stored in them⁵. It also says overall aluminium exposure for consumers in Ireland is below the safety level set by the European Food Safety Authority, with tea and cereal foods the biggest dietary sources⁵. In practice: anodised or coated aluminium is fine; avoid storing acidic or salty food in bare aluminium.

Induction changes the rules

Induction hobs heat the pan itself with a magnetic field, so a pan has to contain iron, or have a magnetic plate in the base, to work at all. Cast iron and enamelled steel always work; aluminium and copper usually do not unless they have a magnetic base⁶. The quick test is a fridge magnet: if it sticks firmly to the base, the pan is compatible⁶.

Size matters too. The base of the pan should match the size of the cooking zone, and round, flat-bottomed pans heat most evenly⁶. People with a pacemaker or similar device are advised to take care near an induction hob in use and to check with their doctor or the device maker⁶.

A sensible starter set

If you are building a kitchen from scratch, these five pieces cover almost everything:

1. A 28 cm clad stainless steel frying pan or sauté pan for browning, sauces and oven finishing.
2. A 24 cm nonstick frying pan for eggs and fish, kept at gentle heat.
3. A 26 cm cast iron skillet if you love searing and shallow frying, or a carbon steel pan if you want something lighter.
4. A medium stainless steel saucepan with a lid for rice, sauces and vegetables.
5. A large pot or an enamelled cast iron casserole for pasta, stock, stews and braises.

Our comparison of stainless steel, cast iron and nonstick goes deeper into each material, and the nonstick care guide will make the coated pan last.

Pans you can skip

Matching ten-piece sets mostly add sizes you will not use. A grill pan makes stripes but sears less evenly than a flat pan. Very thin, cheap pans warp and develop hot spots that burn food in one place while it stays raw in another. Spend on two or three good pieces and add others only when a dish you cook often needs one.