I use a plastic spatula and I hand-wash the pan. Usually I put whatever I’m cooking on low, put the lid on, set the timer and come back in 10 minutes to stir. Repeat until done.
For some reason, my pans seem to only last about 6 months. After that, they lose their non-sticky-ness. I can still *use *them, but now it is more of a pain to cook.
Now, I suspect it is because I buy low-end pans. (I just bought T-Fal Specialty 5-Quart Nonstick Jumbo Cooker with Glass Lid, Black, from Amazon)
I don’t mind spending more, but I’m reluctant to spend a lot of money on a pan that will wear out in 6 months - so it is kind of circular.
If I spend the money, can I get a pan that lasts? And what would that pan be? Or am I doing something else wrong?
I recently got a good anodized aluminum pan because I was tired of the non-stick wearing off. the theory is that The Teflonish stuff gets trapped in the Anodized metal and doesn’t wear off as easily as molecules that are just jammed onto a rough surface. Many brands say you can use metal in them without an issue, although I don’t.
We got this baby a couple of years ago, and it still retains its nonstick properties. It’s quite heavy, and stuff slides out of it like butter. Also, my food doesn’t get burned - if overheated, the burned stuff ends up on the bottom of the pan, and is very easily removable upon washing. This is the easiest cleaning pan I’ve ever owned. My only warning is that it gets very hot and liquids evaporate rapidly, including oil.
This is the only Calphalon I have but based on this experience I would buy any of those products in a heartbeat.
The most I’ve ever had a nonstick last is a few years, and that was an All-Clad that cost me around $130. Maybe they’re making them better now - the one olivesmarch4th links is intriguing - but I’ve gone to buying the cheap ones and replacing them when they go bad (about once a year for me). The best quality/price ratio I’ve found is at GFS.
For the record, I’m a nut about cooking tools, so if there was a high-price one I could buy once and it would last forever, I’d do it in a heartbeat, regardless of cost. But I haven’t found that one yet.
I get my non-stick pans at restaurant supply stores. Here’s the one I’ve had for about three years. I’m happy with it, and It’s still in good shape, but I don’t use it that often, so I’ll not claim that it’s proven exceptionally durable. It’s stainless steel with a big aluminum disk on the bottom, and it still looks almost like new. It’s heavy, though – which I like; it buffers and retains heat nicely. It’s much nicer than the cheapo non-stick you find in department stores, and still pretty inexpensive, which are the features I look for in Teflon pans.
I pay about $30 for an everyday non-stick pan. They last a long time as long as you don’t put them in the dishwasher or scratch them, and periodically treat them with a bit of oil. Get the ones with a heavy bottom, as the really cheap ones just don’t last.
Non-stick doesn’t last forever, but even cheap versions should last more than 6 months. (Still, if you are using the same pan every day, you could be on par – see below.) Do you use real fats, or non-stick spray? The sprays will ruin non-stick (and other cookware) pretty fast.
I have a set of Circulon pans that I like a lot. I was wary about the ridges, but no problems. I got a set of three from Amazon and they weren’t terribly expensive.
TFal isn’t all that bad; in fact Cook’s Illustrated has recommended a TFal as their top choice for a non-stick frying pan.
I’m curious about this. Aren’t the sprays just oil of some sort along with a gas in a pressurized container? Why would they ruin a pan more than any other form of oil?
I second this idea. The one I have is a fairly heavy cast aluminum one with a riveted on rubber grip handle. It’s ugly as sin, but its handle is solidly attached (always a crapshoot with cheap non-stick pans) and the pan itself is heavy enough to spread out the heat enough not to have hot spots (also a crapshoot with cheap pans).
Even though I have mostly All-Clad stainless cookware, I’d never buy their non-stick pans, because non-stick surfaces eventually wear through and get nicked up, no matter how careful you are. Better to get a cheaper but quality non-stick pan, take care of it, and throw it away when it’s worn out.
Seconding the Green Pan. Supposed to be less “toxic” (jury may still be deliberating) but clean up is amazing. It has also produced the World’s Fluffiest Omelet. Some negative reports of losing its non-stick capabilities with overly high heat or in the dishwasher but since I don’t do that so so far so good.
I have a nice anodized aluminum pan that’s lasted several years now, but the one I’d recommend is by Swiss Diamond. Anything by them, really. My flatmate just moved out with her’s and I’m missing it!
Because they contain other things besides oil (lecithin, among other things) which creates a sticky mess on pans of any type, but is especially bad for non-stick pans.
Mazola used to make a spray that did not contain lecithin which worked well and left no residue, but that’s been discontinued. You could, of course, get one of those fill-it-yourself misters/sprayers for oil, but I’ve never run across one that worked really well. I did recently buy a disposable spray bottle of olive oil from Filippo Berio that has just oil in it … haven’t tried it yet though.**
I believe in Alton’s dictum that nonstick cookware is disposable, so I buy the 3-for-$18 set at Costco when I need new pans. They last 5-6 years for me, so it’s completely worth it.
I have two Kitchenaid skillets (similar to this one, doesn’t look like they make the exact ones I have any more), a 10-inch and a 12-inch. I’ve had them for at least 5 years, use them once or twice a week, and they look as good as new (and I even put them in the dishwasher quite often). They are fairly heavy.
The makers of Teflon disagree. Some folks say that soy lecithin (I have no idea what “other things” might include) burns off just fine, some say it builds up a residue on the outside of nonstick pans if they are not cleaned properly. I tend to doubt that it’s particularly bad for regular nonstick use.
It may be terrible, but I’ve had trouble finding any evidence.
I’m a firm believer in cast iron. Properly seasoned and regularly oiled it will be completely nonstick and virtually indestructible. They cook great and will last forever. Plus you can always scrub it down to bare metal and re-season if the need ever arises, something you can’t do with a Teflon-coated pan (well I suppose you could, but not by yourself and it’s probably expensive).
I got an All-Clad Stainless w/d5 frying pan on sale at Williams-Sonoma and have been absolutely thrilled with it. While not officially non-stick, it cleans up like a dream (AND can go in the dishwasher). When I get some $$, I’m going to replace my whole rag-tag, pathetic Calphalon anodized odd-lots and dead non-stick collection.
Khadaji, I fear for your health. It sounds very much like you’re getting that pan (those pans) way too hot way too quickly.
It wasn’t too long ago (a year ago, maybe less?) that materials scientists published results of a study showing that, when submitted to high temperatures, the coating (graphite?) used on most non-stick pans tends to break down and become something horribly unhealthy. Rather than pull decades worth of product and thereby suggest some sort of acknowledgement of liability, the cookware industry put out a bunch of articles saying basically “If you’re cooking properly, that’s not a problem – and cooking properly for us means heating up your pan slowly and keeping the pan at medium or medium-high heat, maximum.”
I happened to have acquired a couple non-stick pans just before that health warning made the news and when I researched the matter I saw all sorts of warnings on cooking-oriented discussion boards. Much of it was about how dangerous those little flakes of burnt coating might be when they mix into your food. I strongly encourage you to hunt for such on-line discussions and do some thorough reading.
Now, if I use them at all (Hey, they cost me a ton of checkout stamps and a whole penny each!) I heat the non-stick pans slowly and don’t let the stove control go above medium. That, unfortunately, means chicken or fish take a long long long long time to cook properly and pork or beef simply require a different pan. My wife simply refuses to use the non-stick skillets at all.
More often than not, I use either a stainless-steel skillet or a cast iron skillet. Both can take the rapid heating and high temperatures, and the cast-iron even provides a higher temperature (though it takes longer to get it up to cooking readiness) for when you want to sear a piece of meat to hold the juices in. The cast-iron requires a bit more attention afterward (for clean-up and sealing/curing), but the results are much better when I’m in a mood to be picky about them.
—G!
I Ride to Live and sometimes Live to Ride.
Eat to Live, don’t Live to Eat