Non-stick pans: yay or nay?

[Lookslikerain]

Thrilling thread, I know, but I could use some help, if anyone can.

I need to replace our non-stick pans (frying pans, milk pan and a sauté pan) but I can't decide whether to go non-stick again or try something different. They are starting to lose the non-stick coating. We don't use metal in them; I think it's just their age.

I did some googling on how safe non-stick pans are considered. This turned up links that go from 'very safe' to 'chuck it out NOW'. One link suggested they are fine as long as they aren't heated too hot or for too long, but that it wouldn't take too long on the heat for them to reach that critical temperature. And the stuff that can come off them doesn't sound too good for your health.

Anyway, what do other people have? I'm sure I've heard of ceramic pans. Does anyone have one? Are they any good? Anyone have any thoughts on 'stick' vs 'non-stick'?

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MNHQ

Get good quality stainless steel - non stick is overrated imo. Maybe get a non stick milk pan. At least with ss you can scrub them/ soak them whatever without damaging the surface.

Agree with getting good quality stainless steel. They will last a lifetime. Mine are 20 years old & still perfect. I also have a couple of non- stick ones, but only use them for things like porridge & scrambled eggs.

I have a couple of non-stick friers, but you have to accept that the coating will wear off and they will end up in the bin. This is less painful if they were not expensive.

you can rejuvenate dull non-stick by polishing the inside with half a drop of cooking oil on kitchen roll after washing and before you put them away.

Stainless steel friers or milk pans will always stick and there is nothing you can do about it.

Iron pans, rubbed clean with paper or roll and never washed, will build up a black non-stick patina of burned-on oil, if you can prevent them going into a sink or dishwasher they will last longer than you will.

We've just replaced a 10 year old non-stick set with a new set of non-stick. I can't abide the level of attention it takes to keep stuff like risotto from sticking - stir, stir, stir - and the amount of scrubbing it takes to get stuff off stainless steel pans (I have a couple of those too). The risk is probably negligible - disregard any links on the Daily Mail site that non-stick pans give you cancer for sure. If you've had non-stick before and are thinking about changing, maybe buy one stainless steel one and try it out before investing in a full set. Honestly, I think they are a pain in the arse.

I just bought a large non stick pan/pot with lid from Asda that can go in the dish washer. I love it and it was only £10. I think it might be aluminium?

I do love my le creuset shallow casserole dish which I use for absolutely everything but I did need a bigger pan/pot hence my impulsive Asda purchase. I'm never normally in Asda tbh but popped in whilst picking something up argos next door. They have some great items.

Same here, I was looking at the ceramic non-stick pans this week for the same reason. (They're half price in Sainsbury's at the moment.)

My new non-stick pans are OK in the oven up to 250C too. House of Fraser, in the sale.

This is the range: www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Linea+Excellence+saucepan%2C+18cm/189147937,default,pd.html

It says they don't have non-stick coating, but they are very slippery/non-sticky if you see what I mean. The 2 different sized holes in the pan rim are great for draining veg/rice etc without having to use a colander - I am all about reducing the washing up burden on DH.

I've just got a whole new non stick set from the Ready Steady range. Lovely thick bottomed & does a great job! Am a bit paranoid about non stick so I prefer steel. However some foods 'must' be done on non stick (pan frying fish?) so I have a couple of think bottomed ones that I use sparingly & very carefully so that the coating doesn't chip. I'd vote for stainless steel - so low maintenance!!

I find good quality stainless steel just as good as one non stick thing I had - then I read an article saying throw them out etc like you did and thought well it doesn't give me enough convenience to warrant the small risk this is true anyhow.

This is mine

direct.asda.com/george/george-home/George-Home-Aluminium-28cm-Stockpot/001470589,default,pd.html?cgid=D26M08G08C12

I like the hard anodised pots and pans. I have no idea what that means btw, I just like them.
There's a marvellous full set on Debenhams sale just now for £60!

I cook a lot and I have Analon Circulon non-stick pans which I got 14 years ago and they are still great.

I gave up non-stick aa few years ago, and I am so pleased I did. I cook a lot, and non-stick pans lasted about 18 months for me - and left me feeling inadequate as I was convinced i wasn't looking after them. They just don't last! In my opinion they are the perfect product if you sell them - they need replacing so often! For the user it's a complete scam.

I now only have cast iron pans and stainless steel pans, and I love them. It is harder to clean a cast iron pan (as you can't use soap), but it's worth it, and they get easier to clean with age. The stainless steel pans I just soak if they are really bad, in a bit of bio laundry detergent and hot water, work wonders, no scrubbing required. I also have a wok, not sure what is is, I think steel, but I have had it for 10 years and it has the loveliest black patina, so wonderful to use.

None of the pans I have now were particularily expensive, they were all bought on Amazon based on customer reviews - where the care and maintenance is also wel described.

i don't care for nonstick...I have a crepe pan, and a small skillet that have it on, but on the whole I prefer without....and you can use a proper amount of heat to cook food and get the pan really searingly hot hot hot.

To be honest, it sounds like you're already close to the balance I'm happy with: one non-stick milk pan, one frying pan, everything else stainless/enamel. Like PJ, I think you have to accept that the non-stick won't last forever, but minimising the number of pans you have to keep replacing makes it a lot less painful. And like artistic, I think some things need non-stick (home-made tofu burgers!)

As for safety, you're always going to get doom-mongers, and you're always going to get deniers, but there is a middle ground. I honestly don't want Teflon in my family's food, but I'm more concerned about the crap in our water supplies, and out-gassing from vinyl flooring. If you don't want to ingest non-stick, replace your non-stick pans at the very first sign (visible or by touch) of degradation. If it's intact, it's inert.

Non-stick pans are not for cooking with high heat. Period.
Get some stainless steel pans for high heat frying (i.e. for meat).
To fry meat, make sure the pan is really hot, then put some oil in it and right afterwards the meat. And make sure you use an oil that can deal with high heats, not your virgin olive oil.

Non-stick pans can't deal with high heat. You can go up to about 1/3 of your hob's heat span. Non-stick is not made for dealing with meat, so definitely use something else for that. But you can do veggies, eggs, pancakes etc. in them.
Clean them carefully, dry them and then condition them with oil. If you do that every time your non-stick pans will last years.

As for the dishwasher, non-stick pans and pots do NOT belong in the dishwasher. Even if it says so on the package, the coating WILL come off. Maybe not the first time or the second, but give it a couple months and you will notice a difference to cleaning them by hand.

Can I ask if any of you are worried paranoid like me about eating at other people's houses or restaurants where through ignorance or can't be bothered or accident they are using badly scraped non stick pans. I've seen my friends use these & it turned my stomach to know that I've been eating god cooked in such pans & all my health precautions have been shot!

What do you do about this?

• food not god!!!

I don't really know what people are doing to non stick pans to make them only last 18 months mine were from free cycle a few years back and still perfect. And they are used daily.

i have both and i like the balance. if I'm cooking veg or something like that then non stick is certainly not needed. But for things like porridge and scrambled egg - would be a nightmare without non stick!

Artistic - what are you worried about with other peoples pan? i don't really get it? germs in the scratches? These would all be killed by the heat....

JenniferJen, I think I overheat them. Although I never used them at full heat, I did use them a medium heat, and I don't think they can handle that. According to Hikari01.

I cook scrambled eggs fine in my cast iron pan and my stainless steel pan. I use enough butter and the pans are nicely seasoned.

Artistic is worried about eating teflon, it comes off non-stick pans eventually. I can understand that. Thankfully I don't have any friends/relatives who would use ruined non-stick pans.

Yy to what miss said. Teflon!

I can't get worked up about Teflon personally. I put antiperspirant and cosmetics on every day. I dye my hair every month. I eat plenty of crisps (acrylamide is supposedly carcinogenic). I've had plenty of bbq meat in my lifetime. People didn't know how harmful the sun was when I was growing up, so I spent most of my childhood summers parboiling on the beach because I was fairer skinned than most of my family. There's all the other environmental pollutants we all come into contact with regularly. I'm overweight (cancer risk). My grandparents gave away their aluminium-lined copper pans, terrified of getting dementia - to me and DH in our twenties! Something's got to get you eventually. In the grand scheme of things, I doubt having the occasional meal cooked in a tired non-stick pan is going to have much impact.