And man discovered fire. Since that primitive age, so far raw flesh eater man suddenly learned that the cooked meat was far better than the raw one. Since then different methods of cooking has been inventing, using varieties of recipes, varieties of ingredients and of course varieties of utensils. Utensils and cookware are important things as most of the foods need containers to cook them.
Thanks to cooking shows on TV and recipe books, today cooking fast becomes a craze where everybody wants to try their hand to prepare something new and delicious. To make the effort possible, you need different types of utensils and cookware such as skillet and frying pan.
A skillet and a frying pan are not different from each other as they have the almost same use, but still, they have several differences which make them separate from each other. Let’s find out.
A Skillet
The Features
A skillet is nothing but a kind of saucepan with a long handle and slanted sides. This cookware is not deeper and the surface area of cooking is a little bit lesser than other kinds of pan. But still, you may get some advantages which make this utensil much handy for you. For instance, this type of pan is widely used for quick frying your food so that you can serve some of the food hot with the main meal. Besides, some of the skillets have a lid to cover your food while cooking.
Material
A skillet is commonly made of cast iron, but apart from that, you can find skillet made from aluminum with a non-stick coating and stainless steel. The aluminum-made is not ideal for high temperature but budget friendly. The stainless steel-made is good for commercial use and it is robust and durable too. But the cast iron-made is mostly preferred by many as it is strong and durable enough to provide you the best service at lesser price. Nowadays you can easily find an electric skillet that can be operated using electricity as the requiring heat is generated by the power you provide.
Function
The foods that can be stir-fried, deep fried, or need browning can be cooked in the skillet. Roast, stew, pork chops, potato pancakes, grilled cheese, bacon, hash browned potatoes, soft-shell crabs, and some more foods are prepared perfectly in this type of pan with ease. Frittatas, which are served directly from the pan while having a meal is, needed a skillet to prepare. But one thing you should keep in mind that those who’re new hands must find this cookware little complicated thing to handle.
Also Read: [Best Way] How to Season a Griddle
A Frying Pan
Features
A frying pan commonly used since long past as cookware that has a shorter handle and straight sides. This utensil is deeper enough to meet your purpose and the flat bottom provides more surface area so that you can prepare a lot of foods at one go. Though it doesn’t come with lid as the foods cooked here don’t require moisture but it is mainly used to add color to food. Besides, you can use this cookware for frying, searing, and browning.
Materials
Most of the frying pans are made of a non-stick material Teflon that helps those who are newly trying their hand in cooking to keep their preparation safe from sticking on the pan. Besides, it can cut down the fat from your food as it doesn’t require oil to fry. Apart from that, you may find some other frying pan made from stainless steel and aluminum that is sturdy durable enough for longer use. Moreover, all these materials have tended to pick up heat quickly and may start cooling down as soon as the pan is removed from the oven.
Function
Now it is time to know what kind of items can be fried and cooked in a frying pan. For your kind information, all I can say that you can prepare varieties of foods in a frying pan. Even you can follow different types of cooking techniques using a frying pan. You can cook hamburgers, chicken cutlets, mushrooms in a frying pan.
Also Read: How To Use a Wok On an Electric Stove
Difference Between Skillet and Frying Pan
After following all these vital things of a skillet and a frying pan, the basic difference of these two can be seen easily. But that is not everything, still there is something more to be told about them. Here they are-
Weight
A skillet is lighter than a frying pan and that helps it to toss the food better than a frying pan.
Duration
A skillet is used for frying foods fast but a frying pan is used for cooking foods slowly. It means if you need to prepare some quick fried dishes then you may use skillet ahead of a frying pan.
Technique
The technique that is followed for cooking foods in a skillet is different from the way you cook your foods in a frying pan. A skillet is mainly used for fast cooking technique but in a frying pan you can use different cooking techniques to prepare varieties of recipes. This certainly gives the advantage to the frying pan.
Maintenance
When you come to think about the maintenance of your cookware the first thing you need to know the material that is used to make the thing. If it is made of copper, aluminum then they are certainly tinned to prevent any toxic reaction. In that case, you have to go for tinning your skillet or frying pan now and then to make it clean. If your cookware is made of cast iron or carbon steel then there should be a seasoned coating which should not be removed while cleaning. And if it is stainless steel then you should not be too much think a lot of cleaning of it.
Final Words
Though there are not many difference between skillet and frying pan, still you can see them differently when you’re going to prepare any food. And if you really want the best result out of your preparation always use the right cookware that needs for it.
John DiBella is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, a cooking enthuthiast and a writer. When he’s not writing blogs about home kitchenware, he enjoys hiking, camping, sailing and cooking.