The egg is our benchmark for every type of pan here. In reviews of a worn-out pan, it often comes down to the egg: it sticks so badly that only scrambled eggs remain.
When does an egg stick in a 20 cm pan?
On a non-stick coating, an egg releases until that layer wears out. In this size, that layer is standard, as with SCANPAN, or ceramic, as with the HexaCook with its honeycomb of stainless steel.
Without a coating, it works the other way around. A carbon steel pan only releases an egg well after it has been seasoned. The product description for the De Buyer Frying Pan Mineral B Element ø 20 cm assumes five to ten cooking sessions before it is fully seasoned.
Is a 20 cm pan too small?
Our pan expert finds 20 cm sufficient for those who cook alone, and the product pages that mention a number of people keep it to one or two. According to him, you can't fit three burgers at once in such a pan. Larger frying pans of 24 cm have more cooking surface. For a larger household, the question is more about what size frying pan you need than which 20 cm pan.
Regarding what does fit in a 20 cm pan, the product texts that mention it are almost unanimous. It concerns one or two eggs, an omelet, one piece of meat or fish, or vegetables as a side dish.
The small frying pans also include pans of 16 and 18 cm, and advice on a small pan for induction.
Which 20 cm pan can go in the oven or the dishwasher?
With the same type of coating, one 20 cm pan can go in the oven while another cannot. They also differ regarding the dishwasher.
The Cookinglife Frying Pan HexaCook ø 20 cm has a PFAS-free ceramic coating in a honeycomb of stainless steel. It can go in the oven up to 200 °C, and also in the dishwasher, although hand washing is advised. The Sola Frying Pan Stonehenge ø 20 cm also cooks on a PFAS-free ceramic coating, and it can go in the dishwasher with the same advice. Whether it can go in the oven is not mentioned: according to its product page, it is only for the stovetop.
The other three ceramic pans cannot go in the oven. The Sola Frying Pan Ceramic Deluxe ø 20 cm also has a PFAS-free ceramic coating and can go in the dishwasher, with hand washing as advice. The Beka Frying Pan Mandala Cast Iron ø 20 cm has that PFAS-free ceramic coating on cast iron, and it cannot go in the dishwasher. For the Beka Frying Pan Energy R ø 20 cm, also ceramic and PFAS-free, only hand washing is mentioned for cleaning.
The SCANPAN Frying Pan Classic Induction ø 20 cm has a standard non-stick coating, which is not listed as PFAS-free. It can go in the oven up to 250 °C and is dishwasher safe.
The Beka Frying Pan Maestro 5-Ply ø 20 cm has no non-stick coating: it is made of stainless steel and aluminum in five layers. The Blackwell Frying Pan Carbon Steel ø 20 cm is also without a coating, made of 2 mm sheet steel. The Maestro can go in the oven up to about 200 °C and is also dishwasher safe, while the Blackwell can go up to 220 °C in the oven but not in the dishwasher.
The HexaCook, SCANPAN Classic Induction, and Maestro 5-Ply can go in both the oven and the dishwasher.
Which 20 cm pan do you take for which task?
Here are our recommendations in 20 cm, and why we choose them:
Sola Frying Pan Stonehenge ø 20 cm
Cookinglife Frying Pan HexaCook ø 20 cm
The SCANPAN Frying Pan Classic Induction ø 20 cm withstands 250 °C in the oven, so you can finish an omelet or chicken breast in the same pan after the stovetop. Its standard non-stick coating is not described as PFAS-free, and it costs significantly more than the ceramic pans of 20 cm.
SCANPAN Frying Pan Classic Induction ø 20 cm
The Beka Frying Pan Maestro 5-Ply ø 20 cm is made of stainless steel without a non-stick coating, for those who prefer to cook on metal rather than on a coating. It is dishwasher safe, and according to the product description, its straight walls increase the usable cooking surface.
Beka Frying Pan Maestro 5-Ply ø 20 cm
For a first frying pan, we recommend a pan with a coating, just as in our advice on the best frying pan.
