Focus on frypans.(Product Updates)

As popular chef Emeril Lagasse might put it, cookware manufacturers are trying to "kick it up a notch" when it comes to the performance and sex appeal of those most prosaic of kitchen items, pots and pans.

Lagasse himself figures in the effort, having lent his celebrity cachet to AllClad's new Emerilware collection. T-Fal has introduced the Thermospot line, with a ready-to-cook indicator that promises "Perfect cooking every time." KitchenAid, known for appliances, has entered the cookware field, touting the looks and capabilities of its wares, and knife-maker J.A. Henckels is taking a stab at the market with its Twin Cast line, suggesting that "German engineering" has found a better way to boil water.

Technological tweaks and marketing twists aside, the standards for what constitutes a good pot or pan are fairly simple. The best ones heat evenly, are safe and comfortable to use, and are built to last--qualities that aren't necessarily tied to cost.

WHAT WE TESTED

For this Update, we tested five 12-inch frypans from the makers mentioned above; our Ratings show how they compared with eight previously tested frypans. All the pans have a nonstick cooking surface; nonstick is America's favorite type of cookware, accounting for 76 percent of sales in 1999.While the pans vary in price (from about $25 to $150), all claim to be made mostly of stainless steel, aluminum, or anodized aluminum, the most common pot-and-pan metals. All can be used on gas, electric coil, and electric smoothtop ranges.

We also decided to take another look at the Scanpan Titanium (previously known as the Scanpan 2001+) after receiving reader complaints about the nonstick performance of the line, which scored highly in our last full cookware report in November 1998. Follow-up tests showed that while the Scanpan performed excellently when new, it had far more difficulty than the other pans in releasing a fried egg after being subjected to wear and tear. The Ratings reflect those new results.

Heating evenness is key to a frypan's performance; to measure it, we cooked pan-sized pancakes over a gas flame at about 425[degrees] F and checked them for even browning. All the newly tested pans--the Emerilware,KitchenAid Hi*Density HardAnodized Nonstick, J.A. Henckels Twin Cast, T-Fal Thermospot, and T-Fal Integral--turned out fairly even specimens, as did the previously tested pans.