If you head to the nearest department or kitchen supply store, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the numerous decisions you’ll have to make before buying a frying pan. What kind of material will best fit your cooking needs? Should it be non-stick and what size is best? You'll also notice huge differences in price with some frying pan choices being under 10 US dollars (USD) and others over 100 USD for a single pan. Since you have so many options when purchasing a frying pan, knowing your materials, your size requirements, and your price range can help you make an informed choice.

Materials

The basic frying pan is available in several different metals. You can commonly find cast iron, stainless steel, and aluminum. With a little shopping around, you might discover ceramic and copper frying pans, which are likely to be fairly expensive. Combination stainless steel and copper bottom pans are popular too. Copper-bottomed frying pans like those offered by Revereware® offer the highly durable qualities of steel with typically good to excellent heat conduction.

The aluminum frying pan is most likely to come with a non-stick coating. This can be a good conductor of heat and help you easily remove things from the pan. Non-stick coatings tend not to work well with metal tools and can begin to flake off after a while, so you should only use plastic tools with them.

Other aluminum frying pans made of anodized aluminum are much more durable, and you may notice tiny circular ridges in the pan which help to better conduct the heat evenly. Brands with these ridges are often quite expensive, costing around 50-100 USD per an 8-10 inch (20.32-25.4 cm) pan, and one can often find these sold by companies like Calphalon® and Circulon®. Such pans are frequently the choice of professional chefs.

Cast iron frying pans are some of the most durable offered, and when the entire pan is cast iron, it can easily be used on stovetops or in ovens for casseroles. Some cooks swear by their cast iron pans, but they are prone to rusting if not appropriately cared for. There are also some reasons why using a regular aluminum frying pan or a cast iron frying pan are not good ideas.

If you plan to use your pans for highly acidic ingredients, like citrus fruits or tomatoes, some aluminum or iron may leach into your finished product. You may notice a slight metallic taste to spaghetti sauces, or lemon chicken for example. In these cases, you might want to consider a stainless steel or ceramic frying pan instead.

Size

Frying pans come in virtually every imaginable size. If you plan to use the frying pan to cook for a large family, consider one at least 12 inches (25.4 cm) in diameter. Just remember that the larger the pan is, the farther out it reaches from the heat source, which can cause uneven heating. Thus pans larger than a foot across may have hot and "cold" spots. This matters less for oven cooking, but always remember to choose pans with heat resistant handles if you plant to use the frying pan in the oven.

Price

As mentioned above, price range is considerable. If you want a relatively low cost pan, you probably should consider cast iron over aluminum, since it is more durable. Avoid very inexpensive non-stick pans, as they may in the end, cost you more by needing to be replaced more frequently.

If you find top of the line pans a little too expensive, wait for sales at department stores, or look for discontinued styles of high quality pans. One can often purchase an 8-10 inch Calphalon or Circulon frying pan for less than 50 USD, if one keeps track of sales. Several times a year, most departments stores will have home sales that may bring these professional pans into your price range. Special deals on sets of these pans, or on Revereware can also save you money.