In Search Perfect Skillet

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Stainless Steel. A few decades ago, everything stuck to stainless skillets, but today, the stick-resistant power of new, heavygauge stainless steel pans is amazing. Stainless is one of the most durable metals but not the best heat conductor, a critical factor in cookware performance. Quality cookware combines stainless steel with a better conductor, such as aluminum or copper, which often is added to the bottom of the pan or sandwiched between two layers of stainless and extended up the sides. Stainless requires minimal care. It's easy to clean as long as you don't bum food on the surface; avoid high heat and let your food cook a little longer. To keep your steel's reflective surface glowing, which nicely compliments whatever is cooking, treat your stainless steel with care — never clean your new stainless with steel wool or an abrasive pad.

LET'S TALK COOKING SURFACES

Interior surface options of both anodized aluminum and stainless steel skillets listed here are not nonstick, but when small amounts of oil or fat are used, they're stick-resistant. I expected the anodized aluminum to The more stick-resistant than the stainless, but that wasn't the case; food will stick to either surface. A Calphalon representative explained that the anodized pan is great for browning chicken and other meats because the best heat conductor, aluminum, is in direct contact with the food. With the stainless steel pan, the aluminum or copper is underneath the stainless coating, producing a slightly different result. But, will it cook the darned chicken? Superbly, but differently.

Only a pan with an applied nonstick coating is truly nonstick. When the nonstick coating Teflon was introduced 30 years ago, it was thin and easily scratched, but in recent years, nonstick coating has improved so much it accounted for 76 percent of cookware sales in 1999 in the United States.

Nonstick pans are easy to clean, require little or no off for cooking, and you'll never have to chisel your fish out of one of these pan. But, if you're cooking without oil in a nonstick pan for any reason, you'll find some foods burn or dry out before they're fully cooked. Also, food takes longer to cook in a nonstick pan because the coating insulates the food from the heat.

Sometimes you'll want your food to stick — to brown or caramelize, to do more than simply cook. If you've ever picked only the crispy pieces out of a plate of fried potatoes, you know what I mean Nonstick pans make mushy fried potatoes because the added oil doesn't adhere to the pans surface. It just forms fat puddles, and the food then slurps up the Oil, defeating the pans low-fat purpose.

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THE DUTCH OVEN COOKBOOK'

Sharon Kramis and Julie Hearne

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