Carbon steel for the win. Most brands are safe at much hotter temps than your oven will get.
I’ve been using Scanpan for 15+ years. Ceramic and they have a lifetime warranty, which they honor. I have to ship the pans to them for replacement, which costs a few bucks, but I batch them and it’s not bad. And I get back new pans and new lids: they don’t want the lids. This means I have more lids than I need, but that’s hardly a problem.
Even when new, ceramic isn’t quite as non-stick as Teflon and friends, but it stays more so much longer through extended use. So the curve of non-stickness doesn’t start as high, but the slope is flatter.
Get cast-iron pans. Yes, they do need to be seasoned, but after they are, all you need for burnt-on food is this: Sprinkle baking soda on the crusty area, boil some water with a little vinegar in it, and pour it in. The foaming action usually takes up the crud, and if it doesn’t work, a second application may be needed.
p.s. I would recommend mineral oil, or grapeseed oil, for seasoning, because they have high smoke points and minimal flavor.
I use flaxseed oil because it’s a drying oil. That is, it hardens to form a tough film when exposed to air. Heating speeds the process.
Flaxseed oil is the same as linseed oil, but don’t use linseed oil from a paint store. It will have things added to it that you don’t want in your food. Use only culinary grade flaxseed oil, which you can get from Amazon. There are flaxseed oil capsules, but I’m sure it would be easier and cheaper to buy a small bottle of it.
My pressure cooker (which doubles as an air fryer) says not to use any sort of cooking spray, because they generally contain lecithin, an emulsifier that it says can break apart the lining. If you want to use oil, you’re supposed to just rub on actual oil.
My non-stick pancake maker, on the other hand, specifically says to use the spray. The non-stick portion seems fairly similar.
My non-stick pans never said either way, but I spray them. I’ve never found a non-stick pan that is completely non-stick for eggs, at minimum.
There’s at least one well-known high-end brand that now offers a lifetime warranty on nonstick cookware, though I’ve forgotten the details.
That said, I’ve moved on from nonstick entirely, I use cast iron on my gas cooktop and carbon steel on my glass-top electric stove. Properly seasoned, both are nonstick enough and easy to maintain. Yes, they do require a bit of oil when cooking, but that’s part of what gives food better flavor and texture. I haven’t needed, or wanted, a Teflon pan in years. Whenever I cook on one while traveling, it actually feels unnatural, and cooking with no oil at all tends to give inferior results, in my opinion.
Both cast iron and carbon steel are great long-term options: they’re easy to master, improve with use, and can last a lifetime. The only caveat is that carbon steel can warp if overheated, while cast iron is more forgiving and usually a cheaper entry point. Just note that acidic foods (like tomato sauce) can eat away at the seasoning if simmered for long periods, so for those dishes I switch to stainless steel instead.
Upthread someone mentioned that the Scanpan brand has a lifetime warranty, so I Googled for it. First of all, their pans are over a hundred bucks each, so they’re not cheap. And then the warranty is “against manufacturer’s defects.” Would wearing of the coating count? Who knows, because they reserve “the right to determine if the product has been used in a manner that would violate the warranty.”
After years of using crappy mediocre pans for cooking, I bought a set of Hexclad pans on sale at Costco a few months ago (the brand that Gordon Ramsey hawks and is part owner of).
They’re a hybrid of ceramic and stainless steel. There’s a pattern of little stainless steel ‘bumps’ that helps protect the ceramic part from getting scratched. They’re not quite as non-stick as a brand new teflon pan, but with a little butter or oil they’re plenty non-stick enough for me. They also have fantastic heat transfer properties-- browning meat is a breeze with these pans. They’re supposed to be ‘indestructible’ and come with a lifetime warranty. Super easy to clean. So far, I’ve been very happy with my purchase. Not cheap, but worth it, I think.
I am not able to use these heavy cast iron kitchen frying pans so I gave them all away to people who could appreciate them.
I rarely even use any cookware these day other than a microwave. I buy cheap non stick pans which I might use 4 or 5 times a year and replace as needed.
For non-stick, I’m a big fan of Tramontina:
Tramontina is the brand of non-stick skillet recommended by the Wirecutter section of the New York Times.