Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off, let's dispense with the polite fiction that these are meant for cooking. I know they have to market them that way for legal reasons, but honestly, if you're hungry, throw a Hot Pocket in the microwave. If you want to defend your home, reach for a frying pan. I believe you can't have too much protection. I keep a sauté pan strapped to my thigh for conceal-and-carry, a wok in our closet, an omelet pan by the front door, and a waffle iron under my pillow. I may wake up with grid marks on my face, but I don't lose sleep over home invasions. My wife has a 10 inch saucepan. It's a lady's skillet, sure, but it's a solid piece of iron, and she knows how to handle it. We take it to the range regularly--not to cook, mind you, but to develop wrist control. That's the thing about frying pans--if you're going to draw one in anger, you better know how to use it. If the perp gets control, you'll be the one with the dented forehead. As the primary protector of our home, I need to be able to face down any griddle fight. That's why I invested in this 20-inch, 23-pound peacemaker. Just the sight of it will make an assailant crepe his pants. And this cast-iron monster will go through doors. It will lay an intruder out cold. A little backswing, and you'll be washing his face off with Palmolive. Some people say I'm crazy, keeping this much cookware in the house. But as for me, I'd rather have a 23-pound skillet and not need it, than need it and not have it.