Glass Over Iron or Steel: The Best Porcelain Frying Pan

Search for a porcelain frying pan and you get two very different things. Most are enameled cast iron: a heavy iron skillet coated inside and out with a layer of glass, sold by Le Creuset, Staub, Lodge and others. A few are enameled steel, the lighter enamelware that European makers such as Riess in Austria still produce. Makers call that coating porcelain enamel or vitreous enamel, and it has nothing to do with the ceramic nonstick coatings on aluminum pans.

That difference matters at the stove. Enamel will not rust, does not need seasoning and can hold a tomato salsa or a vinegar-spiked guisado without reacting. It is not nonstick, though, and it never becomes nonstick. This guide explains what you are actually buying, compares seven pans from makers that publish their specifications, and says plainly where each one falls short.

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Quick verdict: which porcelain frying pan to buy

Enamel is a glass coating. Expect to cook with a little more fat than you would in a nonstick pan, and the rest of this guide explains why.

Five porcelain-enameled pans side by side

One pick for each kind of cook, with the size, weight and materials each maker, listing or America’s Test Kitchen states. All seven pans are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Weights are from the maker or America’s Test Kitchen where one is published; check the listing for your color and size before you buy.

What “porcelain” means on a frying pan

Porcelain enamel is glass fused to metal. Riess, which has made enamelware in Austria for generations, describes its products as iron fused with silicate glass at 850°C, made from raw materials such as quartz, clay, feldspar, soda and potash. America’s Test Kitchen describes enamel as a glasslike, or vitreous, glaze that starts as a powder and is fired onto cast iron at very high temperatures. Lodge calls the same kind of finish a porcelain enamel and describes the inside of its skillet as matte black porcelain.

The coating seals the metal underneath. ATK explains that this makes an enameled pan rust-proof and nonreactive, so you can simmer acidic foods for a long time, soak the pan and wash it with soap. For a Mexican kitchen that means a chile-tomato salsa can be fried, a pot of calabacitas with tomato can stew, and the pan can sit in the sink overnight without rusting.

What enamel does not do is release food the way a coated pan does. ATK states plainly that an enameled cast-iron skillet is not nonstick and does not become nonstick with use. Oil does not bond to glass the way it bonds to bare iron, so the seasoning that slowly builds on a traditional skillet never forms. Some listings, including Tramontina’s and Made In’s, describe their enamel as nonstick. Read that as “easy to clean,” not as a slick egg pan.

Watch the word in product titles, too. Tramontina sells a “Porcelain Enamel Non Stick” frying pan set whose listing says the porcelain enamel is on the outside and the cooking surface is a reinforced Teflon nonstick coating, and Magefesa sells porcelain-on-steel pans with a double-layer nonstick interior. Those are nonstick pans with an enameled exterior, not the pans in this guide. If an easy-release coating is what you want, our guides to the best nonstick pan without Teflon and to nonstick pan alternatives cover them.

Enameled cast iron or enameled steel

Enameled cast iron is thick and heavy. ATK found that 12-inch models weigh roughly 6 to 8 pounds empty, and that weight is why they hold heat so well when you add cold meat. Enameled steel is far thinner, so it heats faster, weighs less and cools faster. Riess lists a 28 cm steel pan at 1.9 kilograms, about 4.2 pounds. Most of the choice on Amazon is cast iron, and the enameled steel frying pans we could find were out of stock or had nonstick interiors, which is why all seven of our picks are cast iron.

Our picks for the best porcelain frying pan

These seven pans cover the real choices: three French enameled cast iron skillets, 10-inch and 12-inch skillets with lids, a budget Lodge and a low-sided Staub crepe pan. Each pick lists the same eight specifications, gives the source for each one, and names one honest reason to skip it.

How to choose a porcelain-enameled skillet

1. Decide between iron and steel

Enameled cast iron holds heat, so the pan stays hot when cold meat goes in, but a 12-inch pan can weigh 6 to 8 pounds, ATK found. Enameled steel is lighter and quicker to respond, with lower heat limits. If you want to sear, choose iron; if you want a light everyday pan, steel, though we found no enameled steel frying pan to recommend in stock on Amazon when we last checked.

2. Look at the cooking surface, not the rim

A pan sold as 11 inches may have only 9 inches of flat cooking surface. ATK preferred 12-inch pans with at least 10 inches of flat surface, and it suggests a 12-inch skillet for up to six people, a 10-inch skillet for two to four, and an 8- to 9-inch skillet for one or two. Crowd the pan and meat steams instead of browning.

3. Check the handles

These are heavy pans. ATK found a large helper handle essential, and it dropped the hot Staub onto an oven door when that pan’s small helper slipped. Look for a long main handle and a helper you can grip through a thick mitt.

4. Match the heat ratings to how you cook

Most enameled cast iron is rated for the oven to 500°F; Tramontina’s is 450°F and Made In’s is 580°F, per ATK. ATK advises against using enameled pans on a grill or campfire, where direct, very high heat can crack the enamel, and Lodge says the same of its enameled skillet. ATK also warns against thermal shock, so do not pour cold water into a hot pan. For a grill or open fire, a bare cast iron skillet is the better tool.

5. Choose the interior finish and plan the care

Enameled interiors range from rough matte to glossy. ATK found smoother, glossier enamel released stuck food a little more easily and did not snag towels. Whatever the finish, the care is the same: medium heat, plenty of oil or butter, and wooden or silicone tools. ATK says metal tools can be used if you avoid banging the rim or scraping hard, and that soaking the pan or simmering water in it loosens burned-on food.

How we chose these seven pans

We started with what a busy kitchen asks of a frying pan: steady heat for browning, a surface that can handle acidic sauces, and a pan that cleans up fast. We then looked for enameled cast iron and enameled steel skillets sold and in stock on Amazon in the United States, from makers that publish what their pans are made of and how to use them. We checked size, weight, interior, oven limits, induction and care against the Amazon listing and, where we could reach it, the maker’s own site.

For cooking performance we relied on America’s Test Kitchen’s review of enameled cast-iron skillets, which we read in full and which covers six of these seven pans or close variants. We have not cooked with these pans ourselves. Where a listing leaves a gap, as with the crepe pan’s weight, the specifications say “Not stated.” We also left out glazed or enameled pans whose makers give no lead-free statement. Several pans are missing on purpose: the larger Le Creuset and most Staub fry pan sizes were in short supply when we checked, Viking’s enameled skillets were also scarce, Riess’s enameled steel pan was out of stock, and the porcelain-on-steel pans from Magefesa and Tramontina we found have nonstick interiors, so they belong in a different guide.

Porcelain frying pan questions, answered

Is a porcelain frying pan nonstick?

No. ATK says enameled cast iron is not nonstick and does not become nonstick with use, because oil does not bond to the glass coating the way it bonds to bare iron. Pans sold as “porcelain enamel nonstick” usually have a nonstick coating inside and enamel only on the outside.

Is porcelain enamel the same as a ceramic coating?

No. Porcelain enamel is glass fused to iron or steel at high temperature; Riess gives 850°C for its enamel. The ceramic nonstick coatings on aluminum pans are a different, much thinner coating made to release food.

Do porcelain-enameled pans work on induction?

Enameled cast iron and enameled steel are both magnetic, and every pan here is listed for induction or for all cooktops. ATK notes that smoother enameled bottoms can be gentler on glass cooktops, though you should still lift heavy pans rather than drag them.

Can I put a porcelain frying pan in the dishwasher?

Some makers allow it. Le Creuset’s listing and the Staub crepe pan’s listing say dishwasher safe; Lodge recommends hand washing and Tramontina says hand-wash only. ATK notes that some manuals warn the enamel color may fade in the dishwasher, and it recommends washing by hand.

Is a chipped enameled pan still usable?

ATK says a few chips around the rim or fine crazing are fine, but a pan that is losing chunks of enamel from the cooking surface should not be used. It suggests oiling and heating exposed iron so it does not rust, and checking with the maker about the warranty.

Our final word on porcelain frying pans

For every material side by side, from stainless to carbon steel, start with our guide to the best frying pan.

Buy the Le Creuset Signature 10.25-inch if you want the enameled skillet ATK recommends in a size that suits most households, the 12-inch Tramontina if you need more room and a lid, and the Staub skillet if searing is your priority. The Lodge is the budget way into enamel, the Staub crepe pan handles tortillas and crepes, and the 10-inch Tramontina is the small pan with a lid. If you want a pan that gets slicker with use instead, bare cast iron is the answer: see our guide to the best cast iron skillet and, for eggs, the best cast iron egg pan. For slow braises in the same enameled iron, our best Dutch oven guide covers the pots. And when you would rather someone else did the frying, Julia’s is at 5402 N Highway 6 in Houston: call to order.