My friend recently purchased a new glass top electric stove and one of the elements is 10 1/2" but none of her pan bottoms are that large so I've been looking to buy a nice one for her as a gift. It can be carbon steel or stainless, maybe cast iron but I'm concerned this may be too heavy.
This size element seems pretty popular but this size pan doesn't, the only one I've found so far is this one. https://www.williams-sonoma.co...CrVwQAvD_BwE#answers

Anyone have any other suggestions?

I have a pair of Stargazer 10.5" cast iron skillets and my sister has one too. We both swear by them. Excellent craftsmanship. Very highly recommended!
https://stargazercastiron.com/...ts/10-5-inch-skillet

And FWIW I use them on my glasstop stove (it has 2 of the large elements, one with a fast boil smaller one inside). Just be careful handling them and you'll be quite safe.

The Stargazer referenced above is among the lightest we have. Probably the lightest. I have to adjust my cooking style because it is not as heavy as some of our others.

I would say it is a nice candidate for what you seek.

Love my Le Creuset…probably my favorite, but is is much heavier.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
I have a pair of Stargazer 10.5" cast iron skillets ....

The problem I'm having is finding one with 11" (at least 10.5") at the base . The one you referenced is 10.5" at the rim. The base on pans is generally at least an inch smaller than the rim, sometimes over 2" smaller.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
I have a pair of Stargazer 10.5" cast iron skillets ....

The problem I'm having is finding one with 11" (at least 10.5") at the base . The one you referenced is 10.5" at the rim. The base on pans is generally at least an inch smaller than the rim, sometimes over 2" smaller.

You're right. I just went and measured the burner size on my glasstop electric. The two biggest burners measure 9.75" and the bottom of my Stargazers come in at 8.5". The interior cooking surface is 8.1." They work just fine too. Never felt the need to exactly match the base of a pan top the burner size. You simply use the burner that best suits your pan or pot. Notice in my pictures the pots in the back row on the smaller burners. That small one quart pot on the back left is smaller than the burner it sits on but they work quite well together.

If the new stove has 10.5" burners, a pan with a somewhat lessor contact area will work just fine. FWIW the Stargazer 12" pan has a 9.4" interior surface so I suspect the bottom contact base is 10" or so.

The "burners" on a glass top stove are just coils that heat the pan with electromagnetic induction. I would not think that it would matter much if the coil were not completely covered by the pan. A little wasteful of power, perhaps, but not dangerous.

flashguy

I was trying to find a frying pan that was at least 11-inches on the bottom and a minimum of 3-inches deep to replace the one I have that is 10-inches across on the bottom and 2 ½ - inches deep. I gave up. I wasn’t going to pay the stupid money for a good quality stainless steel pan and that’s all I could find.

This is an option:
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/e...ALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

One complaint about Lodge is the roughness of the pan. There are a number of Youtube videos detailing the process to smooth and season the pans. I have a couple Lodge items that I smoothed and seasoned, they are workhorses.

Stargazer is great stuff and Lehigh Valley company to boot.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
The "burners" on a glass top stove are just coils that heat the pan with electromagnetic induction. I would not think that it would matter much if the coil were not completely covered by the pan. A little wasteful of power, perhaps, but not dangerous.

flashguy

Some glass cooktops use induction heating. But the majority of them, including mine, have concentric circular I^2 * R heating elements.

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
This is an option:
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/e...ALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

One complaint about Lodge is the roughness of the pan.

That 17" pan is a MONSTER. I have it and it's great, but it is huge and heavy. Great for Paella for 20.

Lodge also makes a 12" carbon steel pan that would probably be perfect. Lodge's carbon steel pans are still affordable to boot, unlike some of the ridiculous prices that boutique manufacturers charge.

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/...c-skillet?sku=L10SK3

This is what I have for big suppers. The dimensions are close to what you're looking for. They have bigger skillets also.
FWIW, I don't touch the surface of the Lodge at all. No sanding or smoothing. Works just fine and basically non stick.

ridewv, you ought to consider the SOLIDTEKNICS US-ION skillets. They’re wrought iron (softer than cast iron) and not too heavy, so they won’t damage a glass cooktop.

They have very smooth surfaces, lightly shot peened to hold the seasoning. They come pre-seasoned, but I always add a couple of layers of oven seasoning.

Unlike steel skillets, the handles are integral with the pan – no rivets or welds. And they’re long, stay-cool handles.

Here’s the 12” skillet. Its bottom diameter is 9.63” across the flat area.
https://solidteknicsusa.com/shop/12inchquenched

SOLIDTEKNICS also makes a 14” skillet that’s 11.3” across the flat area.

Here are dimensions for their whole line (scroll down a bit).
https://solidteknicsusa.com/productdimensions

Thanks Pipe I've not heard of this brand. I wish it were a little taller but this one would work https://solidteknicsusa.com/shop/14inchquenchedbigga

Dimensions
Length: 17.1”, diameter: 14”, height of bowl: 2”, cooking surface: 11.3”, capacity: 4.5Qt

We've got a couple of cast iron skillets and really find no use for them OTHER than for cooking those ribeyes.

For other food (and we have a new glass top Whirlpool) they are just too heavy and I am pretty sure I will drop one on the glass sooner or later.

We prefer a quality aluminum nonstick and really love a carbon steel with quality nonstick we found on TV.

All that blabbering over with, we haven't found a large-as the OP described-skillet that meets our "needs" in those materials described, either.

Bob

I agree and that is my problem with a 14" cast iron pan it'll be heavy for me much less my friend. The one I referenced above, that Pipe suggested, is a lot lighter than traditional cast iron. I also like the opposed handles which makes it easier to carry, store, and fit in an oven.

BTW, that 14” SOLIDTEKNICS pan is available on Amazon, ridewv:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Z...X320Z93MNWRNNQ5DVHRD

We have a 9” flat-bottom non-stick “Vigor” brand that I picked up at a local restaurant supply store.

It is about three years old and gets used very regularly and has held up extremely well (even to my wife’s occasional use of metal spoons and such to stir whatever is cooking in it). The Aluma-Clad bottom distributes the heat quite nicely. The handle stays cool to the touch.

We are quite happy with it and would purchase this brand again.

Looks like they make a 12” (along with other sizes). This website from a random search -

https://www.webstaurantstore.c...PEAQYASABEgJBTvD_BwE

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
BTW, that 14” SOLIDTEKNICS pan is available on Amazon, ridewv:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Z...X320Z93MNWRNNQ5DVHRD

Thanks, I just ordered 3 of them for $235, one for me and one for my SIL
for Xmas.

Carbon Steel has worked well for us - Blu Steel in Seattle

Blu Steel doesn't appear to offer anything as large as a 10" base. I do have a couple steel pans which are lighter than cast iron and heat up faster but I couldn't find a large one, it'd probably need to be 13" to have a 10" bottom.