Skip to main content
EN CHEnglish

What is the best cookware? How to choose a pan.

Cooking can become a dream with durable quality pans that offer even heat distribution, are easy to use and keep their good looks after years of washing and rinsing. But which pan is suitable for my cooking style? What size pans do I need? Check out different pan types below and find the right one(s) for you.

Four pans of different styles and materials are placed on a brown surface with different kinds of vegetables around them.
Four pans of different styles and materials are placed on a brown surface with different kinds of vegetables around them.

Frying pan

A traditional frying pan, or fry pan, has a flat bottom with relatively low and slightly sloped sides, allowing for oils and sauces to spread evenly across the bottom of the pan. You may have come across the term ‘skillet pan’ in place of ‘frying pan’. The words are often used interchangeably but note that in some cases a skillet can mean a deeper frying pan with a larger cooking surface, and that some chefs are more likely to use the term ‘skillet’ for uncoated pans in stainless/carbon steel or cast iron.

A frying pan is a kitchen staple, the one you can’t do without. You can use a frying pan for almost anything: stir-fry, sauté, bake, roast, or shallow fry. The main difference is the material (you can read more about that in our materials guide). Think about which dishes you cook the most and buy the pan that best suits your cooking style.

See all frying pans
An IKEA 365+ frying pan in stainless steel with non-stick coating on a TILLREDA portable induction hob has a fried egg in it.
See all frying pans

Wok pan

With its roots in Asian cuisines, a wok is designed for anything from stir-frying to deep-frying. It has a fairly small frying area at the bottom, allowing the liquids to gather in the centre and high walls that heat up quickly and retain the heat, ensuring even and fast cooking. You can swirl the food you’re cooking without accidental sloshing and it’s easy to pour food with a lot of liquid out of the wok into a serving dish.

A wok pan allows you to sear and toss the food, giving noodles and veggies a perfect surface. It’s great if you cook with lots of different ingredients that all cook fairly fast. Choose the size that best fits your needs. The wok will heat up almost instantly, so it’s great for a quick meal.

See all woks
A MIDDAGSMAT wok in stainless steel with a non-stick coating, placed on HEAT pot stands, has vegetables and noodles inside.
See all woks

What size pan do I need?

Before buying a pan, consider these things: What type of cooking do I usually do and for how many people? How much storage space do I have — can I fit a large pan, or should I pick two smaller sized? Also, check that the pans are about the same size as your hobs, for even heating.

Servings cm (inch) Description
1-220 cm (7 ¾“)A small pan to fry an omelette to perfection or sauté a side dish of veggies.
2-324 cm (9“)A medium pan to make a meal for a family of three, or two hearty servings.
3-428 cm (11“)A larger pan for a family dinner or when in need of a little more frying space.
5-832 cm (13“)An extra large pan to cook a lot at once, for a big family or lots of guests.

Grill pan

A grill pan is a frying pan with raised ridges on the surface, creating the distinct charred marks and smoky caramelised flavours that you get from a barbecue – especially if the pan is made of cast iron. The ridges also serve the purpose of letting any extra fat that’s cooked out of your food drip off. If you love the smoked taste from an outdoors grill but don’t have access to one, a stove-top grill pan is your go-to cookware.

Pan seared steak, pork chops, salmon or scallops — mouthwatering recipes that a grill pan can handle with ease. Pan-fried chicken, potatoes or asparagus work great, too, and you can achieve a caramelised surface on peaches or pineapples. If you like a charred, smoked taste to your dishes, a grill pan delivers what a standard frying pan can’t.

See all grill pans
A VARDAGEN grill pan made of cast iron has grilled cheese and pieces of melon inside and there’s a salad bowl next to it.
See all grill pans

Sauté pan

A hybrid between a saucepan and a frying pan, a sauté pan has a similar size as a frying pan, but the sides are more vertical and taller. The diameter of a pan is measured across the top and not the bottom, which means that a sauté pan, with its straight sides, has an effective cooking area that is bigger than that of a frying pan of equivalent size. This allows you to cook more food at the same time, with even heat distribution. A sauté pan often comes with a lid which is practical if the food needs to simmer.

A sauté pan can be used for sautéing, poaching, braising and deep frying. Its large cooking surface makes it ideal for recipes that require you to stir ingredients for a long time, for dishes with a lot of thick liquid, or when you need to cook a lot of food at once. They’re great for reducing sauces and gravies, cooking risottos, and sauteing vegetables. If you’re regularly cooking for a bigger family or often having friends over, go for a large sauté pan.

See all sauté pans
There’s creamy risotto in an IKEA 365+ sauté pan in stainless steel and three FÄRGKLAR deep plates with risotto next to it.
See all sauté pans