In conclusion, black cast iron griddles and grill pans offer versatile cooking options for a wide range of culinary creations. Whether used in home kitchens or professional settings, these culinary tools enhance cooking techniques, impart unique flavors, and create visually appealing dishes, making them valuable additions to any culinary repertoire.

 Dutch ovens are usually made of cast iron, aluminum, or ceramic.  Cast iron Dutch ovens are known for their excellent heat retention and distribution, making them ideal for slow cooking and braising.  Aluminum Dutch ovens are lightweight and perfect for camping or outdoor cooking.  Ceramic Dutch ovens are great for baking and roasting because Dutch ovens provide even heat distribution and are oven-safe.

The sloped shape and light weight of skillets make them perfect for quick cooking and stir-fries.

There are a variety of non-stick coatings a frying pan can have, such as a standard PTFE non-stick coating to manufacturer-specific coatings. Read on to learn more about the different types of non-stick coatings a pan can have, ranging from good to best.

This design allows the pan to accommodate a greater amount of fluid and food, and the slightly sloped ones make it easier to toss and flip your food.

As for the skillet, you’ll get the option of a larger cooking surface with more cooking volume due to its slightly deeper depth. This makes it easier to cook large cuts of meat and batches of food.

To determine a frying pan's size, measure the pan's diameter from rim to rim. A frying pan's advertised size is not the diameter of the cooking surface, and due to the tapered design of a frying pan, that diameter will always be around 2 smaller.

However, as cookware diameters are measured at the opening (i.e., from side to side of the top), a 12-inch skillet means roughly 10-inches of real cooking surface. Any food that leans on the curved edges is not in direct contact with the heat and won’t cook as quickly as food on the bottom surface. However, the wide opening and relatively light weight of skillets makes them very easy to maneuver so food can be quickly shifted inside. 

Best for: Scrambled or fried eggs, pancakes, fish, grilled cheese, and any other food that has a high probability of sticking to a typical pan. With nonstick skillets, these foods slide easily from frying pan to plate.

Frying pans date back to ancient Mesopotamia and also Rome and Ancient Greece.