The geometry of a pan can affect how easily moisture is driven off of food, and how rapidly a sauce will reduce. It's often claimed that the sloped sides of a skillet help moisture exuded by cooking meats evaporate more rapidly, allowing you to sear more efficiently. And this is true, but only given the same cooking area. In other words, a 12-inch skillet with a 10-inch cooking area will sear foods more efficiently than a 10-inch sauté pan. The corollary to this, of course, is that, given an equal amount of food that needs searing over super-high heat (some steaks, for example), the large surface area of a sauté pan does not offer any significant advantages over a skillet—you'll still have to cook in just as many batches.

If you were to buy only one of these skillets, it should be stainless steel. Stainless steel is your everyday hero. There's a reason why stainless steel cookware sets are so coveted. It can cook everything and doesn't need any special treatment. No time to wash? It's ok to leave stainless steel soaking in water.

Once you've decided which frying pan material you need, the next step is to figure out the pan size. Frying pans come in different sizes, with 8-, 10-, and 12-inch being the most popular sizes across the industry. The smaller the pan size is, the faster it heats up and evenly distributes the heat, but the faster it will lose its heat. While it may seem like a larger pan size is always better, some foods, such as eggs, benefit from cooking in a smaller, more contained space. We have listed the most common commercial frying pan sizes below and what they are best for:

    When using a cast iron griddle on an electric stove, it's important to make sure the skillet is properly seasoned.  Seasoning your cast iron griddle creates a non-stick surface and prevents rust.  To season the cast iron griddle, coat the cooking surface with a thin layer of vegetable oil and heat on the stove until it starts to smoke.  Repeat this process a few times and your cast iron griddle is ready to use.