Nonstick Skillets

From Season 9: The Crunchiest Pork Chops Ever

We’ve always recommended buying inexpensive nonstick skillets, because with regular use the nonstick coating inevitably scratches, chips off, or becomes ineffective. Why spend big bucks on a pan that will only last a year or two? Since our testing of inexpensive 12-inch nonstick skillets in 2006, several new pans have come on the market.

We rounded up 8 models priced under $60 and pitted them against our gold standard, the $135 nonstick skillet from All-Clad, to see how they measure up.

Into the Fire

We sautéed onions and carrots, cooked thin fillets of sole, made omelets, and fried eggs (with no added fat) in each pan. We found that they all did an acceptable job cooking and releasing these foods. There were noticeable differences in sauté speed, but most home cooks know if their cookware runs a bit fast or slow and adjust accordingly; we did not factor sauté speed into our scoring.

Real Size

Each skillet measures 12 inches from lip-to-lip, but we found plenty of differences in the usable cooking space. The actual flat cooking surface ranged from 9 inches (in four pans) to 10 1/2 inches, which can make all the difference when you need room to sear an extra pork chop or piece of chicken. Volume capacity ranged from a shade below 13 cups to 19-plus cups. Unless the pans were too heavy for some users, we think bigger is better. Testers also preferred pans with flared sides (which made maneuvering food easier).

Get a Grip

Our testers preferred handles made entirely of metal, which are securely riveted to the pan and can withstand higher temperatures in the oven. Three pans' handles consist of metal and heat-resistant silicone, but their heat resistance is limited to 400 degrees (per manufacturers’ recommendations). A skillet handle should also be comfortable, sturdy, and balanced, and it should stay cool during cooking. Finally, all testers disliked the helper handles on two of the skillets, which made the pans cumbersome to use on a stove filled with other pots and pans.

Staying Power

To gauge durability, we cooked 12-egg frittatas while doing several things that manufacturers specifically forbid in each pan: broiling, cutting with a sharp knife, removing the slices with a metal pie server, and washing with an abrasive metal scrubber. Two pans made it through these tests with only minimal scratching, while others were quite beat up.

Summing Up

The $135 All-Clad is still the best pan out there, but some of the cheaper pans performed nearly as well. You can buy four of our winning pan (and get change back) for the cost of the All-Clad. We also recommend another pan for the strong-armed cook.