its not just them …. pans come in two varieties :
1 seriously expensive but they usually last longer (im talking about 2-300 for a 8-12 pan set from kitchen aid or le cresuet)
Or cheap and crappy pretty much anything Wal-Mart big lots ect sells that isn’t from variety no 1
Theres no middle ground in quality or price ….
The last pan I bought was one of the copper inside pans. It’s not real copper, but copper colored non-stick surface. It’s actually not a bad little skillet for light duty. I like it because it’s square. Perfect for French toast or grilled cheese. I think I paid less than $20, for it.
FTR, I prefer cast iron for heavy duty cooking.
I had some T-Fal. It was good for a very short time. I can’t find it now, and I recall Shit-Canning some cook wear a while ago, so that must have been it.
Ya know whats sad? We had tfal for a month when we got married. I now have an oddball collection of pots and pans cobbled together from yard sales. All generic, except for the revere ware sauce pans, all better than tfal
I completely disagree, there is a huge middle ground, with occasional finds of high quality for low price.
However all non-stick is temporary, IMO, and should be purchased with the understanding that it is disposable, and as little as possible should be payed, as long as it isn’t absurdly thin and light with unavoidable hotspoting, and no heat capacity.
I’m surprised to see these negative comments, though my only experience with T-Fal is one single frying pan. I’m not an expert on cookware but I do have a number of high quality pots and pans, some of which cost an arm and a leg. But here’s the thing about that T-Fal.
I bought that frying pan well over ten years ago, probably closer to 15, because I happened to see it on sale for about $20 in the kitchenware section of the grocery store and thought, eh, I can always use another frying pan. Given what decent cookware generally costs, $20 is essentially free. Now, probably close to a decade and a half later, fried eggs still slip off the non-stick surface so easily that I only use a spatula to just sort of gently guide them on their way to the plate. The handle is still solid as a rock. The outside bottom is copper-coated and heats really evenly. It has become my go-to frying pan for many common tasks and one of my most frequently used pieces of cookware.
So the comments here mystify me. It might be a case of “they don’t make 'em like they used to”, but here is a review that still rates them well in terms of “value” cookware. I have no idea how impartial that review is. I note, however, that according to the review they are made in China. The one I have was made in France, for what it’s worth.
Count me as another who is mystified by the hate. I have only ever had one T-fal pan, the 12.5 inch professional fry pan. I bought it because it was the top-rated large nonstick skillet according to America’s Test Kitchen. Unlike a lot of what ATK recommends, it was very reasonably priced. I’ve had it for at least two years and use it several times a week. I have no complaints. The only drawback, and it’s minor, is that they don’t make a matching lid.
I used to buy them, and had decent luck with them. I still have one small pan that I use to fry eggs. It heats up quickly with a low flame and is easy to flip the eggs without using a spatula.
There is a middle ground: go to a restaurant supply store instead of a kitchenware store. Restaurants need cheap pans that can be beaten around a lot and still perform. Vollrath and Demeyere are common brands in this arena.
Anything non-stick though is intrinsically disposable. Most restaurants cook primarily in Stainless Steel and reserve non-stick pans for specialty applications like eggs with the understanding that they get thrown out every 6 months.
I just gotta ask based on 25ish year out of date experience as a cook and manager in a restaraunt, where are you thst restaraunts throw out cookware every 6 months? Margins are damn thin in food service and dedicated egg pans are ime treated better than the people. I’ve never even heard of a restaraunt or commercial kitchen replacing pots and pans like you describe
If you’re looking for a good non-stick pan, checkout Oxo. They were the top selection on America’s Test Kitchen (or Cook’s Country. They’re interchangeable to me.) We love ours.
A decidedly former friend came to visit one weekend. I had a couple of cast iron skillets, well-seasoned over a period of 15-20 years. My visitor decided to arise very early and cook breakfast. I awoke to the sound of water running in the kitchen, accompanied by sounds I associated with scouring/scraping/scratching.
What I discovered was that former friend had decided my perfect cast iron cookware was “utterly filthy”, and had to be scrubbed clean with SOS and Brillo soap pads (assisted by Comet cleanser). That ended the weekend.
By the way, this was in 1990 or so. The cast iron has been recovered; the friendship is completely over (“no great loss”).