Frying pan

Came here to say what @dutchy101 said!

We’ve got the large and medium sizes and they’re absolutely brilliant. We’ve got an old Le Creuset and honestly the M&S is on par for a fraction of the cost.

Nice and weighty, decent gauge steel and the coating is none of this flake-off rubbish. Also very easy to clean and maintain.

As a secondary recommendation, we’ve had an ‘Our Place’ pan for about a year. I was sceptical as it’s a new brand and looked trendy to me but it’s turned out to be very very good. Unbelievable coating and I really enjoy cooking in it.

Also currently on offer:

https://fromourplace.co.uk/products/always-essential-cooking-pan

dfk41

The ‘Always’ pan.

Honestly it’s a surprise to me as I’m a bit of a traditionalist and like my Le Creuset for how solid/hard-wearing they are etc but it’s a really, really great pan. We bought one for my Mum last Christmas and she also raves about it.

I haven’t read into what non-stick coating they use but it’s like magic. Before this if we were doing sauces/stocks/chilli/dahls etc we’d never do them in a frying pan, always in a pot or saucepan but the ‘Always’ seems to work for everything.

It is so easy to clean too, again down to the coating I think. Ours looks good as new after a year of daily use.

I’ve bought two at the full price and wouldn’t hesitate to buy another.

EDIT!

I forgot to say it can’t go in the oven so if you need a pan that can, this isn’t it and I’d go with the M&S!

Also, there seems to be a lot of bad reviews online. Perhaps we bought the only 2 good ones or people don’t know how to treat their pans? I’d be the first to say if I thought they were cr*p!

I’ve been using Circulon Infinite frying pans for three years. I have three, 7 inch, 9 inch and 12 inch. They are superb, the non stick is like magic - I usually add a drop of oil but fatty stuff like bacon needs none and they wash well - mine look like new.

Until I overheated one of them coupe of months ago - left it on an induction hob at full power to heat and forgot for a few minutes - it was as hot as the sun by the time I remembered - it didn’t work well after that.

They have a “lifetime warranty” so thought I’d see if they would replace - filed in the online warranty form, I had no proof of purchase but just had to add two photos of the pan. Got a reply next morning saying a replacement was in the post and it turned up the next day.

I would absolutely recommend - https://circulon.uk.com/collections/black-friday-event-bakeware-cookware-offers/products/infinite-nonstick-induction-frying-pan-twin-pack

Our favourite is a copper bottomed stainless steel bought from Sainsbury’s at least a decade ago. It doesn’t stick very often and goes in the oven. Also have a couple of Circulon Steelshield frying pans. So far they are proving very effective. I’m not keen on aluminium pans.

jrling Systemic I have tried all sorts of non-stick frying pans over the years and whilst the more expensive ones do last ‘non-stick’ for longer, they always eventually degrade to become ‘stick’. And I ‘baby’ them by never overheating them which can destroy the non-stick coating in one easy move. The fried egg test as you say is the best way of telling if non-stick property is still there.
In the end, I stumbled across Ikea’s stainless steel ‘Sensuell’ range - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/sensuell-frying-pan-stainless-steel-grey-60324544/ - although not cheap (but certainly not pricey in UK), the build quality is excellent. It feels like it too, with substantial weight and thick multi-layer construction. Because of that, they hold their heat well and when up to temperature only require a low heat to keep the contents cooking and very evenly across the surface of the pan.
I have 24cm & 28cm sizes which cover most bases.
Even though they are plain stainless steel, I find leaving them to soak in hot water for a while, any baked on food comes off easily with no effort.
I reckon they will outlast me

We use an Ikea frying pan which is SS and can take some amount of heat, I use it for cooking steaks outside on a propane burner, definitely the best frying pan for cooking stuff that needs caramelised or plenty of heat, the pan blackens with the heat but it’s easy enough to clean it when it cools down.

We’ve a Le Creustet (sp) griddle pan which cost about £80 and it’s good but you can’t get the heat into it like the Ikea one plus the smoke that comes off the pan is unreal and that’s even with no oil in the pan just using the fat on the steak so there’s no way I’d attempt to cook them inside in the kitchen.

I’ve tried other cast iron frying pans, ie cheap ones and they’re all the same you just can’t get the heat into them although sometimes that’s because I’m using them outside and the temperature is cold.

My wife bought a huge 30″ (I think) Ikea non stick frying pan but that is a bit hit and miss with fried eggs as in when I turn them in the pan the yolks burst but the SS Ikea pan is great for eggs but you need to control the heat so used inside on an induction hob bit hit and miss though with fried eggs ie bursting the yolk when you turn them, I can’t stand white runny eggs which is why I turn them in order to cook the white part.

In saying that my mother used to use a knife and flick hot fat/oil onto the egg’ surface to cook the whites. Personally I prefer not to use loads of oil or fat like some people use to cook fried eggs.

Carry on😀