Everyone knows that such a kitchen appliance as a frying pan is necessary to fry meatballs or croutons, cook crispy potatoes and brown meat, bake fish or vegetables in the oven. But any housewife keeps in her cupboard far from one pan, but 4-5 pieces, different in size, style, material of manufacture. And uses all of them!
Types of pans according to functionality
A particular type of pan is used by housewives to cook different types of food. Let's figure them out.
A large skillet is properly called a roasting pan. She has two compact handles, a wide bottom. Made of stainless steel cookware quite thick casting. A feature of this type of pan is the function of the uniform distribution of heat. That is, its body and bottom are heated the same way, and at the same time. A roasting pan is intended for stewing, frying and baking meat, poultry (including whole), vegetables. Well, it turns out and roast. This kind of pan allows you to perfectly cook this or that dish without fear that it will burn in one place and remain half-baked in another. It can be set both on gas and in the oven. In a roasting pan, apples are baked, bread or berries and pieces of fruit are dried on crackers.
For many housewives who love to delight their family with culinary delights, the next variety of the pan, the stewpan, has become an obligatory attribute of the kitchen. Outwardly, it resembles a pan and is needed, first of all, to prepare a dish with sauce or gravy, and quite a lot of liquid is supposed. For example, roast with meat, potatoes and gravy is ideally obtained exactly in a saucepan. Or a sauce with pieces of meat or vegetables. Like a roasting pan, this type of pan is distinguished by a thick bottom and walls, because the food in it is heated and processed evenly. Suitable for open flames and an oven.
The original frying pan, which has a small convex bottom and high walls, is called a little strange - wok. She came into everyday life of culinary specialists with the growing popularity of oriental cuisine. The versatility of the dishes lies in multifunctionality. In it, food is fried, boiled, stewed, used as a deep fryer. The kit, in addition to the cover, includes a special grill. If you put pieces of meat, fish, vegetables on it, you can cook steam dishes. In the eastern cuisine, on a wok, many products are fried at a fast pace at a time. The main rule of use: products in the pan should be stirred often, otherwise they will burn. In such dishes, vegetable and meat stews are ideally obtained . All components of the dish are cut in equal pieces and cooked over high heat.- Another type of pan has its own specificity - crepe maker. It is intended for baking round thin pancakes (shamrocks). It is very shallow, but the bottom is thick so that the dough is baked and does not burn. Since the oil sizzles and sprinkles during frying, the pancake has a long handle - so that the hostess can turn injuries overturning the finished cladding or adding dough.
- A special type of pans is grill. They have a ribbed bottom, the relief of which is clearly visible on the finished products. Food is fried on such dishes with virtually no oil. You can use the grill pan over an open fire. It is heavy thick-walled and thick-bottomed, almost multifunctional.
- The pan is universal. It is large, with a flat bottom and a deep body. Suitable for all occasions: fry cutlets and stew tomato.
- In Georgia, there is another type of pan designed specifically for tobacco chickens. Traditionally, it is thick, cast-iron, the bottom is ribbed. Naturally, each type of cookware is equipped with lids - made of heat-resistant glass or metal.
Production material
Most pans are made of cast iron, as well as on the basis of steel and aluminum components. The first are the most durable, comfortable, the food in them can remain hot for a long time and even languish, as in a stove. Of course, cast iron is heavy, but you can reconcile with such a drawback. Steel utensils perform much worse in the cooking process, although they are lighter in weight. Food in it may burn out or remain damp. When frying, it requires a large amount of fat. Aluminum pans in their own way are good, comfortable, well-established in the kitchen business. But those products whose bottom and walls are thin do not last long. In most modern pans, the bottom and walls are covered with a non-stick composition, and the handles are long.