A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning
foods. It is typically 200 to 300 mm in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards,
a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab handle opposite the main
handle. A pan of similar dimensions, but with less flared vertical sides and often with
a lid, is called a sauté pan or sauté. While a sauté pan can be used like a frying pan,
it is designed for lower heat cooking methods, namely sautéing.
History Copper frying pans were used in ancient Mesopotamia.
Frying pans were also known in ancient Greece where they were called tagēnon and Rome,
where they were called patella or sartago. The word pan derives from the Old English
panna. Before the introduction of the kitchen stove in the mid-19th century, a commonly
used cast iron cooking pan called a spider had a handle and three legs used to stand
up in the coals and ashes of the fire. Cooking pots and pans with legless, flat bottoms were
designed when cooking stoves became popular; this period of the late 19th century saw the
introduction of the flat cast iron skillet. Frying pan relatives
A versatile pan that combines the best of both the sauté pan and the frying pan has
higher, sloping sides that are often slightly curved. This pan is called a sauteuse, an
evasée, or a fait-tout. Most professional kitchens have several of these utensils in
varying sizes. A grill pan is a frying pan, usually with
very low sides, with a series of parallel ridges in the cooking surface or a removable
metal grid. A grill pan cooks food with radiant heat on a stovetop. It is referred to as a
"griddle pan" in British English. A "rappie pan" is a pan used to make rappie
pie, an Acadian potato dish. The pan is made from Aluminum or Stainless Steel.
Construction Traditionally, frying pans were made of cast
iron. Although cast iron is still popular today, especially for outdoor cooking, most
frying pans are now made from metals such as aluminium or stainless steel. The materials
and construction method used in modern frying pans vary greatly and some typical materials
include: Aluminium/Anodized aluminium
Cast iron Copper
Stainless steel Clad stainless steel with an aluminium or
copper core A coating is sometimes applied to the surface
of the pan to make it non-stick. Frying pans made from bare cast iron or carbon steel can
also gain non-stick properties through seasoning and use.
Non-stick frying pans
A process for bonding Teflon to chemically-roughened aluminum was patented in France by Marc Gregoire
in 1954. In 1956 he formed a company to market non-stick cookware under the "Tefal" brand
name. The durability of the early coatings was poor, but improvements in manufacturing
have made these products a kitchen standard. The surface is not as tough as metal and the
use of metal utensils can permanently mar the coating and degrade its non-stick property.
For some cooking preparations a non-stick frying pan is inappropriate, especially for
deglazing, where the residue of browning is to be incorporated in a later step such as
a pan sauce. Since little or no residue can stick to the surface, the sauce will fail
for lack of its primary flavoring agent. Non-stick frying pans featuring teflon coatings
may give off toxic fumes, as the coating decomposes when heated beyond approximately 240 °C.
Such temperatures can be reached within minutes. Electric frying pans
An electric frying pan or electric skillet incorporates an electric heating element into
the frying pan itself and so can function independently off of a cooking stove. Accordingly,
it has heat-insulated legs for standing on a countertop. Electric frying pans are common
in shapes that are unusual for 'unpowered' frying pans, notably square and rectangular.
Most are designed with straighter sides than their stovetop cousins and include a lid.
In this way they are a cross between a frying pan and a sauté pan.
A modern electric skillet has an additional advantage over the stovetop version: heat
regulation. The detachable power cord/unit incorporates a thermostatic control for maintaining
the desired temperature. With the perfection of the thermostatic control,
the electric skillet became a popular kitchen appliance. Although it largely has been supplanted
by the microwave oven, it is still in use in many kitchens.
Using a frying pan
The cooking surface of a frying pan is typically coated with a layer of oil or fat when the
pan is in use. In pan-frying, a layer of oil has four functions: it lubricates the surface;
increases contact between the food and the pan; acts as a thermal mass to reduce cooking
time; and increases flavour and colour. The depth of the oil will vary depending on
the food being cooked. When frying battered fish or chicken, for example, the oil generously
covers the inner pan surface, but when frying pancakes, the oil is but a thin film to keep
the batter from sticking. Some frying techniques do not require added
oil. "Blackening" dredges the food itself in fat, and uses a layer of spices to keep
the food from sticking to the pan. These recipes also call for an intensely heated pan, which
quickly sears the food being cooked. The handle of a frying pan usually has a silicone
non-slip grip. This can be very helpful to prevent burns
Caring for a frying pan Cast iron and carbon steel frying pans must
be seasoned before use and periodically afterwards, and should be cleaned with care not to remove
the seasoned coating. Frying pans made from copper are tinned to
prevent toxic reactions between the copper and the food being cooked and may occasionally
need re-tinning. Some cooks also polish the exterior to remove tarnish.
Uncoated aluminium and stainless steel frying pans require very little maintenance.
Frying pans with non-stick coatings such as Teflon cannot safely be heated past the burning
point of their coatings, though high-heat coatings are available). See Non-stick frying
pans above. References