There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Cast iron? Stainless steel? Non-stick? Do you want a fond for gravy? Do you want high thermal capacity to make up for a weak stove top burner output? Non-stick, not if I'm browning something like meat or want a hard sear. Good stainless pans are very similar to cast iron and don't have some of the maintenance issues you have with iron pans however, if you don't know to cook in them they will scorch, burn, and stick to almost anything you cook, with eggs being a classic horror story. Lightweight iron pans (DeBuyer, Mauviel, Mafter, etc.) work very well for many people too and basically split the differences between cast iron and aluminum.
Maybe something else? Copper and aluminum are more responsive to heat changes in your cooktop so, for something like eggs I will generally choose one of those two.
What do you think is the best pan if you had to choose one? "Best pan" really depends on what your cooking. A cast iron Dutch Oven and aluminum skillet are radically different.
Use the right tool for the right job! ;-)