HEAT DISTRIBUTION .....anything with any depth to it ..e.g (chicken breast ,kiev ..etc ) will cook more evenly in an oven .
you can pan-fry chicken breast for 30 mins and it still might be raw in the middle .especially if you cook it on the bone .
think about it ........you could not cook a whole chicken in a frying pan could you ?
so anything over about an inch thick , i like to cook in the oven
safer ...quicker ...easier ...and tastier .( probably healthier as well ) but with a name like beerbelly i wont worry about that too much......b..b