My cheap Aldi frypans started out flat, but after a moderate amount of use the bottoms warped into a bit of a dome, high in the center. I got some new T-fal pans and was shocked to see on first use that melting butter flowed to the edges — they were domed from the get-go! On checking other brands in the store I found that 90% of the new frypans were not flat but slightly domed. Two questions:
What’s going on — why aren’t they flat?
What brand(s) can I count to be flat when new and stay flat through years of use?
After discovering Happycall while living in Korea, I very well may be their biggest fan. Their frying pan is available in the US and is at a good price, not to mention the pan lasts a mightly long time.
And the older the better. My pans are seasoned about 40 or so years and are pretty good but there’s gonna be a shootin’ war when my mom passes on and us three daughters have to divvy up her 70+ year old pans. Those things are NICE.
We have two deep -fat style 10" with a cast iron lid for them, two regular (non-deep) 10", an 8", and a 6", all of the old milled surface (Wagners, mostly), and a large rectangular bacon-and-egger as well. Damn right they’re nice!!
My gf just bought a new frying pan. I can tolerate the bottom being slightly imperfect, causing oil to pool on the edges. What I hate, though, is the poor balance. The pan tilts toward the handle when on a flat surface.
Based on the fact that I like their handheld kitchen tools, I bought an Oxo frying pan. I haven’t had any problems with its flatness. It’s $40 at Amazon (for the ten-inch pan; there’s also an eight and and twelve-inch one) and it’s supposedly dishwasher safe (though I handwash it). If you’re looking at nonstick pans, some argue that the non-stick coatings start to flake eventually, so you’re better off buying cheap non-stick pans, perhaps from a restaurant supply store.
That would drive me nuts. I just got a new (gas) stove that has different grates than any one I’ve had before. I have to be aware of which orientation to put down pans, especially small ones, lest they tip.
^yeah, butter/oil doesn’t work to balance the pan, nor does a single egg! Nice nonstick surface, and a beautiful, long stainless steel handle. I toss around food effortlessly, easily flip an egg without a spatula.
Why does a cheap Hyundai not run like a Mercedes? Cookware is absolutely a rabbit hole you can dive down, and at a certain price point the improvements in quality aren’t worth the increase in price, unless money is no object.
Cheap cookware sucks. It warps, heat distribution is bad. If you actually enjoy cooking, consider acquiring a piece at a time that you actually use and will use for the rest of your life.
All Clad is not the absolute best and is slightly overpriced. But it doesn’t suck. If you look online you can find factory seconds at a 40% discount. Buy one decent piece a year for 5 years and you can have a set that anyone would be happy to cook on.
Cuisinart multiclad pro is generally regarded as the highest quality All Clad knock off.
If you want everything to be teflon, we have entirely different cooking styles. I’ll use teflon for eggs, but even there I’d prefer high carbon steel or well seasoned cast iron. Fried eggs and omelettes slide around my 40$ de Buyer carbon steel pan, but you have to be willing to maintain the pan seasoning, which not everyone is into.
Good luck and I hope you find what you’re looking for. Much like with power tools, buy cheap buy twice.
