What's a Saute Pan and How Does it Differ?

Faster Cooking Times: The application of a bacon press or steak weight can help reduce cooking times by ensuring that heat is evenly distributed and that the meat is in full contact with the cooking surface, leading to more efficient and consistent cooking.

Best for: Almost any food that needs frying, browning, or searing. Because it’s ovenproof, stainless is also a good choice for foods that you start on the stovetop and then move to the oven to finish, like thick pork chops.

The details: Nitahara says that 95 percent of the pans used in the CIA’s teaching kitchens are stainless steel because they can take a lot of punishment. “The only time we don’t use them is on egg day, when we use nonstick,” he says. He adds that the shiny surface of a stainless pan makes it easy to see whether your food is browning.

In CR’s tests of stainless steel pans, we measure heating evenness by cooking pancakes, and we gauge how evenly a pan sautés by cooking potatoes until they’re tender. We also conduct a cleaning test to see how easy it is to remove cooked-on food. You’d think that all stainless pans would be about the same to clean, but our tests show that some require a lot more scrubbing than others.

Here are two recommended stainless steel pans from CR’s tests.

    One popular type of cast iron cooking griddle is the cast iron skillet used for cast iron cooking griddle .  This type of skillet is designed for use on the grill, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of cast iron cooking while taking advantage of the open flames and smoky flavor that come with grilling.  Cast iron cooking griddles used for grilling typically have a flat cooking surface and raised edges to prevent food from falling off, making them ideal for cooking a variety of foods, from breakfast favorites to delicious roasts and vegetables.

Are Frying Pans and Skillets the Same?