Because of its wide base, a sauté pan is significantly heavier than the equivalent skillet, often necessitating the addition of a helper handle on the opposite side of the main handle to facilitate lifting and moving. While this weight is no problem when the pan is sitting still on the stovetop or in the oven, the lighter weight of a skillet makes it superior for shaking and stirring to promote even cooking of vegetables or pieces of chopped meat.

The answer to whether French skillets and frying pans are interchangeable is not straightforward as it depends on what you’re cooking.

Cast iron pans heat up slower than steel and aluminum pans, especially if heated up too fast. However, they withstand very high temperatures, distribute the heat evenly, and retain it for longer. Cast iron frying pans can either be bare or coated.

A skillet is a type of pan that is used to cook many types of food. A skillet has a larger and deeper surface than the typical frying pan, and has a different design. Skillets have curved sides that flare outward, making them ideal for sauteing or even stir-frying foods. This style pan is also wonderful for moving ingredients around quickly or tossing them without using a wooden spoon.

Aluminium frying pans are also great for high-heat cooking, and they distribute heat evenly, making them ideal for cooking delicate dishes such as omelettes and pancakes. They are also safe for use on all stovetops, including induction.

Heath Cast Griddle Plates

Choosing a pan definitely doesn’t need to be stressful—and it shouldn’t be. But choosing a great pan definitely takes a bit of research and forethought. First off: what recipes do you actually plan to use it for? If you’re a single cook whose typical weeknight meals consist of single-serving dishes or reheated takeout, a non stick pan is a great affordable, low-fuss option. If seared duck confit, skillet cornbread, and Spanish tortillas sound more like your speed, it may be worth investing in a stainless steel, enameled cast iron, or carbon steel pan in any size.

While there are instances where you can interchange these two pans, for more specific tasks, there aren’t any.

Made from: aluminum, which heats up and cools down quickly, coated in several layers of a nonstick polymer known as PTFE (which is less toxic than Teflon)