Pans, how many do you need?

PipneyJane

Pans? I have a lot of pans. We have an 11-inch cast iron skillet which gets used almost every day, a 5 litre green enamelled pot which gets used regularly, an oval Le Creuset pan (ditto), a couple of woks, etc. (I collect Le Creuset.)

My advice? Don't give away your pans until you've worked out which ones you do use and which ones you don't. If you a replacing your pans, make sure you buy ones that at least match the size and features of the ones you are replacing. A good non-stick surface is "silverstone" which tolerates the harshest treatment (my SIL just attacked her silverstone lined frying pan with a spoon to scrape off something. It now looks as good as new). Pans that can be used on top of the hob and in the oven will get twice the use of those that can't.

When I first set up my kitchen, I bought one of those 5-pan sets. I will not be doing that again. They're fine if there is only one of you but otherwise everything will constantly be boiling over (the largest pot won't be big enough to boil spaghetti and if you use that for pasta what do you make the sauce in?). You need big pans and they don't come in sets. Even making a classic tomato sauce needs a deep pan or you'll be cleaning splashes out of the grouting for months.

freyasmum

I have:

One large frying pan, one (LC) omelette pan, one large saucepan, one medium saucepan and one preserving pan (which is handy because I like to make jams and also because when I cook chilli/bolognese/lasagne/mousakka it tends to 'outgrow' my biggest normal-sized pan ). I also have a Le Creuset griddle pan, which is in no way essential but it's nice to have because I can start to cook a breakfast on the hob and then transfer to the grill/oven if I want.

I will in time switch it all over to the Le Creuset cookware which I love because 1) I have an induction hob and not all pans work on it, and 2) I can transfer straight from the hob to the oven to the table 3) It's pretty and multi-tasking. It is not cheap though! And it is heeeaaaavy.

nickyhutch

Oops, 2 griddle pans too.

angeltreats

This is actually quite embarrassing, I didn't realise how many pans I had until I saw this thread and decided to count them all. Bear in mind that there are only two of us.

- 4 Circulon pans in varying sizes, including a milk pan
- 1 big stainless steel pressure cooker (mine is similar to this - incidentally the one I linked to here is a bargain!)
- 1 large stainless steel pan
- 1 Stellar sauce pot (mine has a lid) which is incredibly useful for all sorts of stuff
- 2 Le Creuset-style cast iron casseroles (one from Aldi, one from Robert Dyas, both just as good as the real deal)
- 1 big cast iron griddle that fits over two cooker rings (flat one side, ridged on the other - and this one on Amazon is also a huge bargain!)
- 1 large square non-stick griddle pan from Lidl which gets used when I haven't got two rings to spare for the big griddle
- 1 stainless steel jam maslin which also gets used for huge batches of soup, for example
- 1 Circulon medium sized frying pan
- 1 cheapo Wilkinson large non-stick frying pan that I bought in an emergency and absolutely love
- 1 small (8" I think) frying pan which is mostly used for omelettes
- 1 small enamelled cast iron frying pan which doesn't get used that much but is nice because it can go in the oven (think tarte tatin...)
- 1 non-stick stir fry pan that I got free with a magazine subscription and absolutely love and wish I could find another one the same for when this one wears out
- 1 Tefal non-stick stir fry pan that I don't really like and have no idea why I still have it as I've not used it in years (charity shop next weekend I think)
- 1 big carbon steel wok, which was inexpensive but which I have very carefully seasoned over a long period (mine is completely black) and my DH is not allowed under pain of death to put any detergent anywhere near it and which I absolutely adore
- 1 carbon steel paella pan - see wok above (I love it so much it hangs on my kitchen wall! Mine is a bit smaller than the one in the link)
- 1 white stoneware tagine, plus a heat diffuser so I can use it on the hob
- 1 cheap little crepe pan from Sainsburys
- 1 stainless steel pasta pot
- 1 three tier stainless steel steamer which I should get rid of as I only ever use it when I want to boil spuds and cook carrots at the same time
- 1 stainless steel fish kettle
- 3 Pyroflam casserole things which Santa brought me last year and are incredibly useful and versatile

Oh dear... I had no idea my pan habit was quite as bad as that In my defence though, I do use most of them fairly regularly, apart from the steamer, the Tefal stir fry pan and the fish kettle (which is really a special occasion type of thing anyway).

In terms of what's actually necessary for the average household, I would say a set of three pans in varying sizes (I would really recommend Circulon if you like non stick, otherwise decent, heavy-based stainless steel, and make sure that at least one big one will also go in the oven) plus a good non-stick frying pan. Add a wok if you have enough to spend, although I have no idea about woks that work on induction hobs.

attentionseeker1

3 Circulon saucepans, 2 Circulon skillets of different sizes, a giant stock pot, an old Tefal frying pan and an old Tefal saute pan. They all get used!