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Two-sided Cast Iron Griddle

As the name implies, the frying pan works best at frying, except for deep frying. It’s perfect for stir-frying, searing meat, and shallow frying since it can handle intense heat while allowing steam to escape quickly.

Best for: Delicate proteins like fish and seafood, melting sugar, making candy, and sauces.

The details: Copper frying pans are expensive, but they offer superb heat conductivity. That means they heat up quickly and cool down just as fast, giving you more control when you’re making something you have to monitor closely, like a caramel sauce. “They’re at the opposite end of the spectrum from cast iron,” Nitahara says. “Because it heats up and cools down quickly, you can bring a sauce right to the brink, then remove it from the heat before it breaks from the high heat.”