Frying pans

Which frying pans cook well? We tested non-stick models that are also suitable for induction cooktops.

To make our recommended list, frying pans must be very good at heating evenly and very durable. But they also need to be safe to use — we don’t recommend frying pans with a stainless-steel handle because they can get dangerously hot during cooking.

Overall scores breakdown

Overall score includes:

Performance (60%)

We cook pancakes to assess the evenness of cooking (50% of the Performance score) and non-stick-ability (50%).

Note: For products from our previous test, scores are not displayed for Evenness and Non-stick-ability. These scores are equally weighted within the Performance score.

Durability (30%)

A mechanical arm scrubs each frying pan 10,000 times and the damage is recorded.

Ease of use (10%)

As well as assessing how easy the pan is to clean, we consider if it’s also balanced, with a comfortable handle.

We also check the flatness of each pan’s base. If the base turns concave (like a wine bottle base) when it’s heated, the food could run to the sides of the pan.

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