What types of frying pans are there and what are they used for?

When choosing a frying pan for the kitchen, many focus on their needs, comparing them with the widely used options for this utensil. To put it simply: people choose from what they know. That is why today I propose to expand my knowledge by becoming more familiar with the variety of these kitchen utensils.

Popular six

This group includes options that every housewife knows about. The list includes:

• Classic frying pan - universal round-shaped dishes with a flat bottom and high walls. Good for almost anything. Usually, only two of these station wagons of different diameters “live” in the kitchen.

• brazier — it has a thicker bottom with walls and short heat-resistant handles, which makes it suitable for both the burner and the oven. Thanks to the even distribution of heat, this cookware makes it convenient to cook juicy dishes with a golden brown crust.

• Grill easy to recognize by its ribbed bottom. When cooking food in such a frying pan, you can even do without oil. And this is an invaluable plus for those who prefer to extract the maximum benefit from their dishes, spending a minimum of time on it.

• Saucepan - a thick-walled hybrid of a frying pan and a saucepan in which you can cook absolutely everything, from first courses to dessert. However, it is difficult to give it a good crust. Food should be simmered or stewed in a saucepan.

• Wok - an Asian analogue of a roasting pan, ideally suited for lightning-fast cooking.The characteristic shape of high, thick walls, more like a hemisphere, and a relatively small bottom are an excellent solution for an open fire. Therefore, it is best to fry and stew in such a frying pan on a gas stove.

• Pancake maker, which is easy to recognize by its thick bottom and low sides - the best solution for potato pancakes, pancakes or omelettes. It heats up well and holds the temperature well. Low walls do not interfere with turning delicate food, and the long handle protects against possible burns.

All these options have only one thing in common - a rounded shape and a flat bottom. However, there are also completely outlandish options.

Exotic pans

I won’t dwell on oval fish dishes or a grill complete with a heavy lid. I’d better move on to getting acquainted with more interesting kitchen utensils! This includes:

• Escargotierre - a frying pan for cooking snails. Its distinctive feature is the depressions at the bottom, thanks to which the shells of mollusks can be positioned so that juice does not flow out of them.

• Tazhin - thick-walled ceramic or cast iron cookware, complemented by a cone-shaped lid. This configuration guarantees optimal steam circulation for quick cooking of delicate dishes of meat, fish or vegetables.

• Kazan. Technically, it can be considered a frying pan too!
• Makiyakinabe - square or rectangular dishes for making rolls. Depending on the characteristics of the form, it can be called differently. The square one is kanto, the short and wide one is nagoya, and the long and narrow one is kansai.

I would also like to highlight the frying pan with partitions. She, like the previous version, comes from Japan. The only way this option differs from the classic one is the rollers that prevent the dishes from mixing.A convenient solution if you need to prepare breakfast for the whole family at the same time, whose members prefer to eat different treats.