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What is the best saucer pan?

I have decided to buy a new saucer pans set, but when started looking for one – I was totally lost. There are so many types there, and I am not sure what are they specifically good for, or not good for. I mean – would you choose a non-stick, tefal-like pans, or copper base ones, or stainless steel ones, there are also brass sets and aluminium ones?How are they different? The ones with chrome handles or rubbery handles?
I am sure there are a few pros out there who can explain the difference and give me advice. Thanks

Depends on for what. Sets are pretty but not practical for real cooking.

For frying chicken or pan frying steak, making hash, doing a braise and pancakes you can’t beat cast iron. It’s cheap, you get a good sear, it holds a steady heat, and makes it’s own non-stick surface. I would make sure I have a good sized, deep-sided cast iron skillet, and a dutch oven. If you get them so they share a cover all the better.

For omelets, eggs and crepes, you need a small, heavy cast aluminum teflon coated skillet. It will only do two eggs at a time but they will be perfect.

For cooking vegetables and making sauces you need a selection of sauce pans. 1 quart, 2 quarts, 4 quarts. Here you can go for the stainless clad copper/aluminum, and I have found that the brands with see through lids are very nice. But mine are anodized aluminum Calfalon (I don’t like Circulon – the ridges at the bottom are hard to clean) with practical flat lids that go from pan to pan. Mine have lost their anodized surface, and I feel bad when the reipe says use a non-aluminum pan, but no one complains about the food. But that’s why I say stainless steel for the sauce pans. You want the copper and aluminum to spread the heat and the stainless steel for longevity and a good scrubbable surface.

Then you need one really big stock pot with a cover…as big as you can store. This is for pasta, stock, soup, lobsters, soaking your feet, etc. It can be relatively inexpensive but it should still have a good thick bottom so there are no hot spots.

Once these are purchased, you can add a iron wok with seaming baskets (go to the neareast asian market area and buy it there) and a 12 or 14 inch paella pan in anodized aluminum. The later is not so much for paella – although it will do great for that. But the short handles make it very oven ready for pan roasting, for “tagines”, for overflow pan frying (you can’t cook too many latkes), taking to potlucks, etc.

The economics of the situation might force you into a set at first, so get the stainless set but know that you will toss the skillets in favor of cast iron and good heavy teflon when they start to go, and add the other pieces over time.

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