I have a 15 inch diameter iron "fry" plan and I want to cook a frittata for a crowd in it. Advice please on how many eggs it will hold.

Need to make an frittata for a big crowd so I want to use the biggest pan I have. But I don't know whether to double or triple recipes since none of the recipes on the site advise the cook which size pan to make a frittata in. Bottom line: in a 15 inch iron pan, (At least 2.5 inches on the sides), how many eggs would it hold (with filling)

EllnMllr
  • Posted by: EllnMllr
  • September 17, 2015
  • 8005 views
  • 6 Comments

6 Comments

Nancy
Nancy September 18, 2015
The capacity of your 15" diameter pan is approximately 7 quarts. If you leave 1-2 quart for air space and to move things around, that still gives you 5-6 quart volume for your party frittata. So maybe as many as 2-3 dozen eggs plus other fillings (vegetable, protein).
 
Monita
Monita September 17, 2015
A 10" iron skillet can hold a frittata with 8-10 eggs (with fillings) so I think your pan could hold 12-15 eggs
 
EllnMllr
EllnMllr September 17, 2015
Sounds right, but wouldn't a 15 inch skillet hold TWICE as much as a 10 inch one?
 
Nancy
Nancy September 17, 2015
EllnMllr you're right about the pans.
volume of 10" fry-pan, assuming your 2.5" high sides, is 196.25 cu in.
volume of 15" fry-pan, assuming same height, is 441.56 cu in,
therefore second pan can hold 2.25x volume as first pan.
 

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702551
702551 September 18, 2015
It is unwise to make the assumption that the sides are the same height. For typical cast iron skillets (Lodge, Wagner), the side height is relatively proportional to the diameter. The smaller pans are typically shorter. I have three cast iron skillets of various diameters and they are of different heights.

Notably, my 10" skillet has sides only 1.75" high, not 2.5."

A 10" skillet that is 1.75" tall has a 12.29 cubic inch capacity.

A 15" skillet that is 2.5" tall has a 21.50 cubic inch capacity.

Thus, Monita is correct. The 15" skillet should be able to accommodate about 14-15 eggs.
 
702551
702551 September 19, 2015
Oops, my math is bad. If the skillets have the same side height, then EllnMllr is right.

However, if the skillet sides are different heights, then the volume difference would be even greater.

10" skillet w/1.75" side = 137 cubic inches
15" skillet w/2.5" side = 441 cubic inches

You should be able to get about 28 eggs into the taller & wider skillet.
 
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