All guides

Each guide answers one buying question and shows the figures behind the answer.

3 guides

An empty black cast-iron skillet with long handle and helper handle on white background

How to choose

Which pan to buy first: cast iron, clad stainless or nonstick

Three skillet materials, three jobs. What each one is good at, what the nonstick coating really is, and the magnet test that settles induction.

Updated 11/3/2026 · 8 min

Photo: Evan-Amos · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Enamelled cast-iron pots and pans in brown, blue and orange on a wire shelf

Running costs

Cost per use: what a pan really costs you

Divide the price by the times you will cook on it. A $40 nonstick pan replaced every three years costs $280 over twenty years; a $25 cast iron pan costs $25.

Updated 11/3/2026 · 8 min

Photo: Fowler&fowler · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Two seared pork tenderloins resting in pan juices in a black cast-iron skillet on a hob

Maintenance

Seasoning, cleaning and storing cast iron without the folklore

What seasoning actually is, the manufacturer's own oven temperature and bake time, and how to deal with rust, sticking and a pan that has been left wet.

Updated 11/3/2026 · 8 min

Photo: Taylorderek · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons