I've used a lot of cast iron skillets and assorted other frying pans over the years and have settled on chef-grade Vollrath sauté pans for both camp and home. They are professional grade, inexpensive, rugged as all hell, and clean up super easy.
I like them better than cast iron because I often take a pan with me in a pack for overnights when biking or canoeing. With curved sides, they're also easier for flipping food and sliding meals onto a plate, and stack perfectly with my dishes in the top of my kitchen box.
I first found them when watching the chefs cook at a Carraba's Italian Restaurant. They'd bring out a stack of 10" sauté pans from the back, use one for each meal they were cooking, slide the meal onto a plate, then grab another. I asked the manager what they were using that would take such daily abuse. He said was ordering more soon and would get me a couple.
I liked it so much for cooking and ease of cleaning I got more as gifts for friends who love to cook (they love them), then got an 8" and 12" for myself as well as some of their sauce pans. Been using them ever since and love them. Best all around cookware I've ever owned.
The trick for easy cleaning is get as much food out of it as you can before eating, and don't let them sit and cool with food in them. Put a little water in them while they're still warm or warm them back up a bit after dinner. They just wipe clean after that, seriously. I've found that seasoning them when you first get them, by washing then heating good oil in them, and wiping them down well with warm oil a few times makes a difference, too.
As the post below indicates, I get mine now from webstaurantstore.com - a pro restaurant supply place.
Here's the
10" I use the most, only $14.89.
Here's my 10" and 8" pans. Both have lids with a great heat-free handle, too.
I loaned my 12" Vollrath to a new friend one time. He made pizza in it and scored the hell out of the pan when cutting the pizza. I moaned about it online in a post. Vollrath heard about it and sent me a new one with a domed lid, free of charge.
Ever since that pan came back scored from my friend, my sauté pans have been added to my "don't ask to borrow this" list.
I also have the Partner griddle and love it, too. Seasoned before first use and cleaned regularly the same way as my sauté pans; with a little water left to sit as the griddle cools, it will wipe clean.
Look at the sheen on this beast. That's how it looks every time when I'm done cooking:
..
.
Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.
roaddude.com