Non-stick Out! What's in?

Okay, I'm tossing all my beautiful non-stick Caphalon cookware and getting new stainless steel I guess since we only have my mother's two old cast iron fry pans left. What's the consensus? My husband insists on using Pam and that's no good on cast iron or ceramic. Anybody have a good stainless set to recommend?

We have an older version of this set and LOVE it! Short of running it over with a semi it's been pretty much indestructible for years now. A bit pricey, but will likely last the rest of our lives. There is a bit of a learning curve with triply if you've never cooked in it before, especially getting temps right and letting it heat up first before adding oil to make it "non-stick". Hardly anything needs to be cooked on higher than 'medium' or else it will scorch. This is VERY heat-conductive cookware! You also may be able to find a coupon or discount code for 20% off. This stuff goes on sale pretty often.

https://www.surlatable.com/product/...Steel+10+Piece+Set?cat=cat450433_Sur+La+Table

There are few keys to cooking with stainless.
1. Get good pans with HEAVY BOTTOMS. You don't have to buy the big names, but go to Macy's or William Sonoma and look at the pricey pans like Al-Clad to see the thickness of the bottoms so you know what you're looking for.
2. Use the right size pan for what your cooking. For example, if your making two chicken breasts, there should be enough bottom showing that you could shoe horn a 3rd chicken breast in the pan. Why? You want enough bottom to evaporate liquid, but no so much that the pan dries out and burns.
3. Use oil - olive oil or canola oil is fine.
4. Preheat the pan and oil over medium heat until the oil is good and hot BEFORE adding meat or veggies.
5. When cooking meat, if the meat doesn't "give" from the pan when you try to lift it, then it's not ready to be flipped yet. A chicken breast should take about 4-5 min per side on medium heat. If it's burning already, you're burner is too hot. If it's still stuck to the pan, you're burner is too cold, you didn't preheat enough, or didn't use enough oil.
6. When your done cooking, if there are stuck on bits in the pan. Poor a little water in the pan while it is still hot and deglaze. Most of it will come right off.
7. A "Scotch Brite" pad will take care of anything your dishrag doesn't.
8. For eggs and tempura - get a dedicated ceramic nonstick pan just for that. Cooking those in stainless is too hard.

What's wrong with Pam and ceramic cookware?

I use SmarBalance as a non-stick spray.

texsize

Great advice above.

Also, watch the size of the burner that you are using. The burner should be just a bit smaller than the pan, never larger.

As stated above, never use a heat setting above medium. As you are nearing the end of cooking, turn the heat off. The combination of time, and heat build-up within the food and pan pulls the moisture our of the food and increases the likelihood of burning.

Remember, that Grandmother and Great Grandmother didn't have Pam and didn't burn the food.

Cooking is a full time job. Do not multi-task and your food will have much better flavor. Most people, over-cook (over-heat), which forces moisture out right along with the flavor.

We have been returning to butter, with very low water contain and not a ton of it and find that when one keeps the temperature down, it works wonders. FYI: The debate about butter was started by its major competitor years ago. The important thing is do not over use it or any of oils.

I fully admit that the biggest problem us guys have is applying to much Heat! As soon, as I became comfortable with lowering the Heat, the better (greater) the quality of what I was cooking became and issues with burning became near non-existent. What drove it home for me was when I tried cooking bacon at a temperature below medium. Yes, it took a bit longer, but much better flavor, and consistent results. Also, a huge reduction in clear-up around the pan, like near nothing.

I don't know.... It's hard to make bacon bad.

texsize said:

I don't know.... It's hard to make bacon bad.

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That is a true-ism! However, it can be made even more flavor-full.

lplummer52 said:

Okay, I'm tossing all my beautiful non-stick Caphalon cookware and getting new stainless steel I guess since we only have my mother's two old cast iron fry pans left. What's the consensus? My husband insists on using Pam and that's no good on cast iron or ceramic. Anybody have a good stainless set to recommend?

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Even when I didn't have my Companions, I used cast iron a lot. In fact, I had an antique business and would refurbish old pans from as early as the late 1800's.
One of my personal favorites is a large 14" cast iron from the civil war.

When re-seasoned, they are as slick as any non stick pan. You can do the same with stainless pans also...new or old. In fact, re-seasoning a stainless pan takes less time than cast iron.
You can google how to do this or PM me and will guide you through it.

I know that Green Pans are quite popular among some bird owners, however care must be taken in using them as they do scratch easily. If you don't use metal utensils in the pan, it may be possible to prolong the life of them.


I've recently come across Hexclad Stainless Steel pans. They even have a lifetime warranty. They're expensive, but stuff doesn't stick. The only thing is, is that I'm not sure if they are PTFE-free or not. A sales rep said they are PTFE-Free, thought I saw on their website that they are PTFE-Free, but then I saw a post from the company stating it does contain PTFE...


Olive oil and butter are used here. Rarely use any of the spray cans.

Are those copper coated pans ok? Just jumping in to ask! Haha.

I use a well seasoned cast iron pan for things like fried eggs, and it’s more non stick than any skillet I ever had. I bought used stainless steel pans at thrift stores - you can find great ones for next to nothing if you know what to look for. And I do have a ceramic nonstick pan for scrambled eggs where I know I won’t leave them unattended. Costco sells sets of stainless pans that are relatively inexpensive and good. As for oil, depends on temperature. If you are deep frying, olive oil might smoke and burn. You want to use an oil with a smoke point higher than the cooking temp. Grape seed oil has many nutritional advantages and a very high smoke point.

We of course gave away all our teflon pans many years ago, as well as muffin pans, cookie sheets, bundt cake pans, etc etc. We use almost 100$ Revere-ware copper bottom StSt pans and pots. A good pan has a big chunk of aluminum clad in stainless because aluminum heats evenly while a thin stainless pan develops hot spots.