Tramontina: It came down to a photo finish for the best budget skillet between the Calphalon and this Tramontina pan. The Calphalon edged out Tramontina's capable 10-inch skillet, which costs under $40, with a bit more even heat distribution in the tests I ran.

Material: Material's $125 10-inch sauté pan is a great option if you're looking for a more robust (read, heavier) pan with a lid. It's technically a sauté pan and not a skillet since it has straight sides, and it performed well across the board. 

De Buyer: This legacy French producer makes an excellent 11-inch skillet, but it might be better suited for a professional kitchen. It's heavier than most and costs an impressive $225. This all makes it hard to recommend to the casual home cook. 

Demeyere: This Belgian-made seven-ply skillet was the heaviest of all the pans I tested, despite being just 9 inches across. The 4-pound frying pan heated evenly and seared food well, but that weight coupled with a bloated $270 price tag means it's probably not a great pick for most people.

360 Cookware: This five-ply American-made skillet performed about as well as any other, but at $200, other pans will give you a better value for your money.

Tuxton Home: I don't have much bad to say about this budget-friendly skillet, but it was a little harder to clean than some of the others. The Tuxton home three-ply pan can be had for under $50 and will definitely get the job done.

All-Clad Graphite Core: This All-Clad skillet has a light graphite core, so it might be a good pick for someone who struggles to wield a standard frying pan. That said, it's not cheap -- $200 for a 10-inch -- and it distributes more unevenly than its aluminum-core counterparts.