Best Pans for Frying Chicken

Compared with the covered deep skillet above, this is the same iron with an open 12-inch surface and no lid. We reach for it at the shallow end of chicken frying: cutlets and thighs in half an inch of oil, skin-side searing before a stint in the oven, pieces finished at heat that would ruin a coated pan.

The cooking surface arrives sandy and dark, and it takes a few sessions before it turns genuinely slick; early batches of chicken will leave a little behind, and then one day they won't. That's a fair trade for a pan that sears hard, shrugs off metal tongs, and moves from stovetop to oven without complaint.

Two details we're glad are in the box: the silicone handle sleeve, because a cast iron handle at frying temperature is not something to grab bare-handed, and the pan itself, which is forgiving enough to be somebody's first cast iron. Wipe it with a thin coat of oil after washing and it will still be working long after the nonstick in your cabinet has been replaced.

This is the pan for someone who wants the depth of a chicken fryer without lifting cast iron. Six liters of capacity, a tempered glass lid, and a rivetless interior on a pan that weighs a fraction of the Lodge, with a pouring spout on each side so it works left- or right-handed.

The nonstick does the practical work. Dredged chicken releases cleanly, the glass lid lets you watch a batch color without lifting it and losing heat, and cleanup is a rinse and a wipe rather than a seasoning session. The base is rated for gas, electric, and induction, so it works in whatever kitchen it lands in.

Weeknights are where we've gotten the most out of it: a shallow fry for four pieces, the oil poured off through the spout into a jar, and the pan back in the cabinet before the plates are cleared. It's the deep frying pan we hand to people who like fried chicken but not the production of it.

Everything about this pan is the opposite of nonstick, and that's the reason to buy it. Chicken dredged in flour and laid into hot stainless leaves a browned crust bonded to the surface; add a splash of stock and scrape, and that crust becomes gravy. A nonstick pan gives you nothing to scrape.

We rate it the best pan here for pan-fried chicken with pan gravy, and the one to buy if you want a pan you'll never replace. Tri-ply stainless bonded over an aluminum core heats evenly and holds it, and the pan is oven safe to 600°F, so a thick piece can finish in the oven and the whole thing goes to the table with its lid on.

It asks for technique, and it rewards it. A cold pan with cold oil is where sticking starts — preheat, add the fat, wait for the oil to shimmer, and leave the chicken alone until it releases on its own. The 4.7-pound weight and the riveted handle shaped for an underhand grip make that easier than it sounds. If you want fried chicken with no thought about heat management, this is the wrong pan.

For a quick shallow fry on a Tuesday, this is the pan we reach for. Twelve inches of speckled granite nonstick, a stay-cool handle, and a surface that lets breaded cutlets go and then wipes clean before the plates are cleared.

It heats fast and evenly across the base, needs less oil than cast iron to keep chicken from welding to the pan, and is light enough to shake a batch around one-handed. The 12-inch surface fits four decent cutlets without touching, which matters more than any number on the box. No rivets inside means there's nowhere for flour and oil to collect, and that's the detail that makes the easy-cleanup claim true rather than hopeful.

Four quarts and 12 inches make this a skillet, not a fryer: an inch or two of oil and a few pieces, not a whole bird. Treat the coating well — no high heat, no dishwasher, no metal tongs — and it will stay slick a good deal longer than an abused one.

Ten inches across and 2.7 inches up the wall is the whole story of this pan. It holds 3.5 quarts, which is enough oil to shallow-fry or par-fry a couple of pieces at a time, and it takes up less burner and less cabinet than a 12-inch skillet.

At four pounds it's light enough to tip and pour one-handed, and the bakelite handle stays cool while the chicken fries. The stainless base is induction compatible and heats quickly and evenly, and the nonstick surface rinses out without soaking.

The glass lid is the part we underrated. It holds heat and keeps splatter off the stove while you watch the crust color, and the spout on the rim means the oil goes back into a jar instead of down the drain. For two people and a pair of thighs, that's a complete setup in a pan you can lift without thinking.

Our take: it's the deep frying pan for a small kitchen, especially one with an induction hob and not much storage. It does the job a bigger pan does for two people without demanding the room or the muscle.

The helper handle opposite the main one is what separates this skillet from every other 12-inch cast iron here. Loaded with oil and chicken it runs past 8 pounds, and that second grip is the difference between carrying it to the sink with confidence and doing a two-towel shuffle across the kitchen.

The rest is familiar: pre-seasoned iron that sears hard, works on induction, gas, and a campfire, goes into the oven to 500°F, and ships with a silicone sleeve whose hang hole means the cover can stay on while the pan hangs on a rack. The sleeve is the same idea as Lodge's, with that added hole for storage.

Where it lands: this is cast iron for a cook who moves the pan around mid-fry rather than leaving it parked on one burner. You pay for the extra handle in weight, and you get it back every time the pan is full.

Three pans in one box — 8, 9.5, and 11 inches — which is a different proposition from buying one good skillet. The 11-inch takes a batch of chicken pieces, the 9.5-inch handles cutlets for two, and the 8-inch is the one that gets used for a single breast at lunch.

They're thin aluminum with a nonstick coating and riveted bakelite handles, and they heat fast — noticeably faster than the cast iron here — then give that heat up just as quickly. What you get in return is weight you never think about and a surface that releases food with very little oil.

The thinness shows up when you fry chicken. A full pan drops the oil temperature and there isn't much reserve to bring it back, so fry in smaller batches and give the pan a minute between them. That's the habit these pans teach, and it's the right one regardless of what you cook in.

As a first set, or a set for a rental kitchen, it makes more sense than one midrange skillet: three sizes cover weeknight cutlets and a weekend batch, and nothing here is precious. These are pans you'll replace eventually, and by then you'll know exactly which size you actually reach for.