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Step 1
Select the size of your frying pan by gauging how much of its surface the food you're cooking will cover. You should use a frying pan large enough so there's room for the food you're cooking to be spread out, as opposed to lumped into a pile, and there should also be room for the food to be stirred, flipped or moved around. But you don't want to use a frying pan so large that there's a lot of empty space not being used. If you're in doubt, try spreading the food out in the pan. If there's not enough room or if there's a lot of unused space, switch to a different pan.
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Step 2
Use non-stick pans to cook omelets and other items that are cooked relatively quickly at high heat. If you're a careless cook and tend to ignore your cooking, you may also want to use non-stick frying pans to make cleanup easier. Non-stick pans are also useful if you're on a low-fat diet, because you don't need to use as much fat to lubricate your cooking.
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Step 3
Select an oval pan, if available, for cooking cuts of fish or long steaks, since they often require a longer pan to fit their extra length.
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Step 4
Use a copper pan (or copper covered with aluminum or stainless steel) to cook thin cuts of meat and other delicate items, like scallops, that require precise timing.
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Step 5
Select cast-iron pans for foods that require even heat for browning, like hash browns and bacon. Cast iron is also a good choice if you need extra iron in your diet, because the iron will actually leach from the frying pan into your food.
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