With gentle yet firm pressure, press down on the bacon weight press to flatten the bacon against the cooking surface. This action helps prevent curling and encourages even cooking, resulting in crispy, perfectly cooked bacon.

The details: These pans solve the frustration of food sticking, and they require little oil for cooking. Plus they’re lightweight, easy to clean, and affordable. But they can’t take the high heat of a cast-iron or stainless steel frying pan. “You’re not going to get much of a sear in a nonstick pan,” says Cindy Fisher, who conducted Consumer Reports’ cookware tests.

And they don’t last as long as cast-iron, stainless, or copper frying pans. “Nonstick is going to wear out the fastest,” Nitahara says. “The nonstick coating is fragile, and once you scratch it, it’s hard to flip an egg.”

In our tests of nonstick pans, we cook four eggs in quick succession. An excellent rating means all four eggs easily slid out of the pan. A poor rating indicates that some egg residue was left behind. To test nonstick durability, we rub the pan with steel wool for 2,000 strokes or until the coating has worn through.

Aside from their looks, one of the distinct characteristics of copper pans is the fact that they cool rapidly once removed from the heat. Copper is strong and notoriously conductive, so it makes for long-lasting, high-performance, and incredibly responsive cookware—perfect for jam, caramel, and other delicate sauces, as well as searing and sautéing, as well.

Related: The Best Pots & Pans and What To Do With Them

Enamel pots are a timeless and versatile addition to any kitchen.  Whether you're looking for a small enamel pot for personal use or a large enamel pot for family meals, there are plenty of options.  Enamel pots are known for their durability, insulating, and non-stick properties, making them a popular choice for cooking a variety of dishes.

Aluminum is lightweight but strong and doesn't warp when exposed to high heat. Since they're such good conductors of heat, aluminum frying pans are great for frying and sautéing foods. The main drawback of aluminum is that it reacts with alkaline and acidic foods. This causes corrosion and leads to leaching of the metal into the food, which acquires a metallic taste.

French skillets also come in different sizes, but they are typically much smaller, ranging from 8 to 12 inches.

You may not realize it, but the skillet’s distinctive form makes it an excellent tool for stirring, flipping and sautéing food. As a result, the sauté pan is likely to be the one you use the most in your kitchen.

    Enamel cookware has been a kitchen staple for decades, and for good reason.  Its durability, versatility, and timeless style make it a must-have for any home cook.  Whether you're an experienced cook or just starting out, enamel cookware is a great investment that will last for years to come.

No, most professional chefs do not use non-stick cookware, especially non-stick fry pans. Before knowing why, let’s understand what non-stick cookware is. Non-stick cookware refers to utensils with surfaces from which the food simply slides off.

Typically, a layer of Teflon makes up the non-stick surface of a non-stick fry pan.

Restaurants don’t have non-stick pans as they do not match the basic demands of a busy kitchen. For a chef who has to send a dish out every two minutes, non-stick cookware is not a viable option as it wouldn’t last longer than a week.