The last couple I bought were heavy commercial aluminum nonstick pans from Sam's. They are 5-6 years old and it's about time to replace them. I'll go back and get the same ones from Sam's. They are the go to pans for breakfast and such. One is a 8" for when I'm cooking for just me. One is a 12" for cooking for the family.
I also have a couple of cast steel pans. They are perfect for meats and veggies. I swear it seems like cast pans add flavor to the food that a nonstick pan doesn't. They cook a wonderful stir-fry or steak.
The high end Ikea stuff isn't expensive and works pretty well. I don't like spending lots of money on a pan that gets replaced every year or two.
In reply to Not_Emma_Watson :
Could you use that pan to paddle a canoe?
I picked up a the Oxo skillets based on the Cooks Illustrated review. They do eggs and flip things well, and the non-stick has been resilient so far.
I was thinking of this thread the other day while flipping an omelet in my carbon steel skillet.
NOT cast iron, which is great but not slippery (and I don't think I've ever seen one in the right shape for this sort of thing).
You do have to get the polymerized oil built up, and you do need to use oil/butter/ghee, and you have to get the temperature high enough so it doesn't just sit there. It's not as foolproof as a coated skillet.
But it's also not disposable and/or possibly toxic. Where has the "magic" gone when it goes from a nonstick skillet? Probably down the hatch. I don't know what the current crop is nonstickied with, but folks ate an awful lot of Teflon along the way.
Since this thread was posted, I had to get an "emergency nonstick pan" as the one I had lost its coating rather abruptly. I grabbed one of Aldi's house brand ceramic coated pans that they sell from time to time - unfortunately, they're not always there. I was pleasantly surprised - the coating is slicker than Teflon and has held up well so far. Sure, it would be nice if it were a couple mm thicker and had the handle welded on instead of those obnoxious scrambled egg catching rivets. But it's better than what I expected for a sub-$20 frying pan for sure.
93gsxturbo said:
Tough to argue with cast iron. A little oil or grease and there isnt much that is more non-stick. And it lasts a lifetime. Buy once cry once.
This
Buy old cast iron at estate sales.
Read up on aluminum and alzheimer's. Do not buy teflon anything ever.
jwagner (Forum Supporter) said:
The high end Ikea stuff isn't expensive and works pretty well. I don't like spending lots of money on a pan that gets replaced every year or two.
To be fair, if you don't buy cheap pans, they don't have to be replaced every 1-2 years.
I bought my Anolon hard-anodized pans when I moved to OKC 5 years. Still going strong.
Non stick coating doesn't really "wear out." You just consume it.
Racebrick said:
Non stick coating doesn't really "wear out." You just consume it.
Exactly, flourine is not an innocuous element.
When it comes to cookware, there’s nothing as useful as a good nonstick frying pan. Buying nonstick cookware is largely the same as buying literally any other type of cookware.
Non stick pan without teflon review
