On the market you can find a large number of cooking utensils, including pans of different brands. Now even famous chefs like Jamie Oliver advertise pans. You can trust the kitchen craftsmen who are depicted on the product packaging, but it is better to trust the material from which the product is made.
The type of pan you need to choose depending on what you will cook. For example, pans with the lowest walls are designed for pancakes. You can draw on your own vision of cooking in one type of pan or another, or learn which type is for which food (it’s like with forks and etiquette). In addition, different types of devices are used in different cultures for their type of cooking.
But when you choose a material, you must rely on its qualities. Remember that the cheapest pans are not the best. Expensive pans cost more but are a good investment. The frying pan affects the dish that is cooked on it.
The most common and affordable type of frying pan is an aluminum frying pan. Aluminum frying pans are sold in all hypermarkets. They are lightweight and conduct heat well. But aluminum pans don’t cook food characterized as sour because it increases the leaching of toxins into the food. We are talking about all products with an appropriate pH: it is not recommended to fry tomatoes, potatoes, cashews, soy products in an aluminum pan. Slightly acidic foods like eggs and dairy can also be problematic when combined with aluminum. Animal products (meat, eggs, poultry, etc.). P.) are also sour. It is simple to care for an aluminum pan, but if the water in the tap is tough, then its structure will be quickly destroyed.
Another material available on the market for frying pans is cast iron. The material is not expensive, but it is great for dishes that take a long time to cook. Environmentalists love cast iron more than aluminum, which they think is the most toxic (non-stick coatings are also thought to be toxic).
Fans of ecology and a healthy lifestyle also do not recommend using copper pans. Some consider them useful (because many people need copper for the body, because there is little of it in modern diets), while others consider them dangerous (because copper becomes toxic in large quantities). Acidic conditions increase the leaching of toxins from a copper pan, as well as from an aluminum one.
Stainless steel is considered the best material for frying pans. It is also capable of leaching into food, but the alloy is generally more stable so leaching is less likely. Thus, adherents of a healthy lifestyle in the first place put stainless steel. In terms of the degree of harm, aluminum is in the first place, in the second place copper and cast iron belong to the medium variant in terms of the harmfulness of leaching toxins.
Your house should have at least two pans: one small pan for daily cooking and one large pan for cooking meals for a large group (for example, to cook a large amount of pilaf). In special pans, such as a pancake pan, it is much easier to cook a particular dish than in a regular one, so it is recommended to have specialized pans in the house for the dishes that you cook most often.
