Nothing feels better than cooking with a good nonstick pan. It fries your eggs and let it slide out a couple of minutes later. Plus, your stir-fries and sauteed vegetables move around the skillet with ease without sticking or leaving behind burnt bits.
This cookware is a go-to for several fast-cooking and delicate foods, from pancakes and omelets to quesadillas and pan-seared salmon. However, choosing the right one can be challenging considering hundreds of options on the market, and several factors to bear in mind when making a choice.
To make your decision process a lot easier, we’ve gathered the top 6 best nonstick pans by America’s Test Kitchen out there and included a buying guide to ensure you make a smart decision.
Best Non Stick Pan America’s Test Kitchen – Top 6 Reviews by Consumer Reports
Anolon Advanced Hard-Anodized Nonstick Frying Pan
This model features a premium nonstick skillet to ensure that this utensil is safe to use, release food effortlessly, snappy to clean and last longer. This frying pan is a heavy-duty model featuring a hard-anodized construction, making this model capable of delivering even and quick heat distribution.
This way, Anolon Advanced Hard-Anodized Nonstick Frying Pan gets rid of hot spots, which tends to burn foods. This nonstick fry pan offers a large cooking space to cook enough servings. It also comes with a convenient Anolon SureGrip helper handle to make moving this frying pan from a kitchen station to another with ease.
Furthermore, this 14-inch skillet is oven safe to 400 degrees F, including the helper handle. This model is designed for long-lasting performance, convenience, and durability. And, it’s backed by a lifetime warranty to protect customer’s investment.
Pros:
- Triple-layer premium coating construction
- Even heat distribution
- SureGrip handles for ease use.
- Superior durability
Cons:
- Some models wrapped under normal conditions
Scanpan 12-1/2-Inch Fry Pan
If you are looking for a model that deglazes, sears, braises, and browns perfectly, then Scanpan 12-1/2-Inch Fry Pan might be the right option for you. This model offers excellent nonstick performance, making sure that this product is metal-utensil safe and easy to use.
Further, Scanpan 12-1/2-Inch Fry Pan is compatible with an oven and safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This pan features five layers of interlock wave-like layers and hard particles to reinforce the nonstick property.
More so, this unit requires less oil, which makes it possible to cook healthily. It features a distinct textured surface sporting haptic technology to create incredible food release and supports searing.
The Stratanium is said to be harder than steel, which ensures that this unit browns and sear incredibly and enables hassle-free cleaning, thanks to its dishwasher-safe design. Plus, it features a limited lifetime warranty for further assurance.
Pros:
- Ideal for deglazing, searing, and braising
- Oven-safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
- Metal-utensil and dishwasher safe
- Healthier cooking and quick heat up
Cons:
- Gets sticky after a couple of months
Swiss Diamond 11-inch Nonstick Fry Pan
With three out of six layers containing up to 240,000 real diamond crystals, the Swiss Diamond 11-inch Nonstick Fry Pan is one of the most durable nonstick fry pans on the market. Other layers feature a magnetic base coating, alloy aluminum, and plasma coating, making this unit versatile and rugged.
Here’s more, Swiss Diamond 11-inch Nonstick Fry Pan is oven safe up to 500 degrees F and compatible with all cookers. Plus, its PFOA-free construction ensures that your meals are healthy.
Besides, its unparalleled nonstick coating ensures this unit uses less oil for more health benefits. Also, this unit is hassle-free to clean since it’s dishwasher safe. Lastly, this best 11-inch nonstick pan delivers better searing and browning.
Another thing up this unit’s sleeves is its cool handles offering a comfortable grip. On top of that, it includes a see-through tempered glass lid with a knob doubling as a steam vent.
Pros:
- Uses less oil for healthy cooking
- Ergonomic handle
- Superior browning
- Patented diamond-reinforced coating
Cons:
- On the pricey side
Scanpan 8-Inch Fry Pan
Another spot, another frying pan from Scanpan. This model features five layers with wave-like layers and hard particles interlocked for reinforcing the nonstick layer. According to the manufacturer, the stratanium nonstick delivers impressive durability compared to other surfaces.
That’s not all: this unit features a revolutionary nonstick surface with a unique texture using haptic for an impressive food release. Plus, it makes this pan effortless to clean and provide better browning and searing results.
What’s more, this unit uses little or no oil to deglaze, braise, and sear for unsurpassed cooking performance. This cookware is PFOA-free, which makes it safe and sustainable. Besides, the surface is metal utensil safe and dishwasher compatible. And, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty for extra confidence.
Aside from its durability, this fry pan cooks with no oil for healthier meals. Scanpan 8-Inch Fry Pan is oven friendly up to 500 degrees F.
Pros:
- Ideal for deglazing, searing, braising, and browning
- Limited lifetime warranty
- nonstick coating
- Available in different sizes
Cons:
- The design lacks rivet heads
Swiss Diamond 8-inch Nonstick Fry Pan
The Swiss Diamond Nonstick fry pan features several layers with the core sporting cast aluminum for excellent heat distribution. This unit is designed never to warp and has a plasma coating to get rid of oxidation and bond firmly with the brand’s proprietary nonstick coating.
That’s not all: each piece rocks the brand’s nonstick diamond-reinforced coating to improve durability and boost cooking performance. It offers easy food release every time.
What’s more? This fry pan contains about 240,000 real diamond crystals for a long-lasting nonstick surface. Its extra-thick, cast aluminum body, comes with flat bases that won’t spin, wrap or tip while cooking. For extra protection, Swiss Diamond Nonstick Fry Pan has premium rivet-free cooking space to eliminate bacteria accumulating.
Pros:
- Oven-safe up to 500 degrees F.
- Tempered glass lids with adjustable steam vent
- Patented diamond-reinforced nonstick coating
- Even heat distribution
Cons:
- Warranty is often not honored
Cuisinart 622-20 Chef’s Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 8-Inch Open Skillet
When it comes to the best and most sought after pan, Cuisinart 622-20 Chef’s Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 8-Inch Open Skillet takes the lead. While this pan is on the heavier side, it has a tilted contour handle for proper balance. This ensures that the skillet is sitting properly on your stovetop without any challenges.
This pan features tall, sloped edges that make flipping eggs slightly challenging. Nevertheless, this model delivers outstanding performance. Cuisinart 622-20 Chef’s Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 8-Inch Open Skillet preheat snappily and browns your pancake perfectly.
All in all, this cookware is crafted using hard-anodized aluminum. This material is nonporous, dense, and wear-resistant, giving users insight into this unit’s durability level. Unlike most stainless steel variants, this hard-anodized aluminum brings professional performance without compromising durability to any countertop.
What’s more, this model is backed by a limited lifetime warranty to offer customer peace of mind. Unfortunately, this decent warranty is not too generous, and only covers defects due to craftsmanship, which means any damage done to the nonstick coating won’t be covered.
Taking about the model’s nonstick coating, Cuisinart 622-20 Chef’s Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 8-Inch Open Skillet comes with Quantanium nonstick for easy cleanup, quick food release, and healthy non-fat cooking.
Pros:
- Unparallel heat distribution
- Quantanium nonstick interior coating
- Highly wear-resistant, dense, and nonporous
- Suitable for slow cooking
Cons:
- Flipping can be tricky.
How To Purchase The Best Nonstick Pan
Obviously, a good-quality nonstick pan will likely come with a hefty price tag, which means purchasing one can be an expensive investment. Therefore, it’s essential to do your homework right to ensure you end up splurging on the perfect pan to meet your cooking needs.
So, here are some critical factors to considering before shopping for your next nonstick pan:
Cookware compatibility
It’s essential to check the compatibility of a nonstick fry pan with your cooktop. Take an instance, pans with flat bottoms are the common ones best used for smooth top ranges.
On the flip, the round-bottom variant requires a special vented ring on your burner for supporting the wok. Similarly, if you’ve got an induction cooktop, you should consider the best nonstick pan with magnetic properties.
Size
This is another important factor to consider when it comes to pinning down the right option for you. The fry pan to splurge on should be able to make enough serving for the number of people you need to feed most times.
In general, there are different size options, from 8-inches to 12.6-inches. The 8-inch frying pan works best for 1 or 2 people, 10-model for 2 to 4 people, and the 12-inch pan should make plenty of meals enough for 4 to 6 people.
Chemical composition
The best nonstick pan should come with a cooking surface that is free from chemicals or toxins. It’s vital to ensure that the surface should not include PTFE, which has already been banned from use during our cookware manufacturing.
Similarly, for healthy meals, the surface should be free from PFOA, which is a glue used to fix the pan’s coating. This chemical is very harmful and activates at extremely high temperatures.
Thus, consider the chemical components of the nonstick pan before purchasing.
Quality
In our opinion, it’s best to opt for a superior quality nonstick pan to ensure that you get the much-needed features such as heat distribution but also to ensure long-lasting performance.
Conclusion
For those who love to cook, you need the best nonstick pan to handle your cooking needs. The right option should offer impressive durability and be able to withstand lots of misuses, accidentally or not.
A nonstick frying pan can be a great investment since its use always gets relevant. Nonetheless, models with unparalleled nonstick functionality are easier to clean and deliver outstanding food release.
But with our list, you should end up with the right one. But, if you still have trouble making a choice, check out our buying guide to ensure you make a smart decision.
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