Stainless steel saucepans - are they really as good as non stick?

[ScreamingBeans]

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but last time I had stainless steel saucepans, things always stuck to them. Yes I followed the instructions and tempered them first, but they were still never as good as non stick.

Does anyone have any and do they really work? Do you just have to spend shedloads of money on the ones that do? I have an induction hob and have been told that I need stainless steel, not aluminium because of something or other.

Please tell me your opinion/ experiences. Cheers.

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Bump

I have a mix. The stainless steel ones work brilliant on our induction hob, they heat up so quickly it’s almost instant! They’re fine for boiling things but if anything involves a sauce then I usually use a non stick pan because sauces do tend to quickly burn on the bottom of the stainless steel ones.

Non stick ones don’t last. My steel saucepans are 15 years old. They work absolutely fine. Stuff sticking to pans is god’s way of telling you you aren’t using enough butter.

I have a set of three bought 25 years ago from john lewis.
I paid £120+. I am a chefs daughter and a chefs sister.
Any with a copper core won't work on induction. Buy cheap, buy twice.
I have a Jame's martin saute pan 28''. Very good too. Salter omelette pan, £25.
I do put them in the dishwasher. My late mother in law used to polish them.

You have to do the water test with stainless steel! Every time.

Only when the water slides around in little balls is the pan hot enough. We do that and don't get stuff sticking.

If the water fizzes it's not hot enough yet.

Love our stainless steel pots and pans. Hate non stick.

Another vote for stainless steel pans. I do buy small non stick frying pans as I’ve never mastered making fried eggs well in other pans! But I have to buy new ones every couple of years! I’ve had my SS saucepans for years!

I bought my stainless steel pots from John Lewis. Nothing sticks to them if used correctly and there's no nonstick coating to end up in uour food. I would check out Homesense/TK Maxx as well. I picked up extras like a stock pot and wok of the same heavy quality as the John Lewis ones.

I don't have steel pans so can't comment on those. But checking you know about the different types of non stick? There is basic non stick (sometimes the price does not reflect the basicness!) which lasts a couple of years. And then there is anodised non stick, which is the BOMB. I've had mine 7 years and use it heavily, and it looks like new.

My SS pans are over 20 years old and look amazing. They’ve been used on both gas and electric hobs.
My non stick ones are only a few years old and they need throwing out because the coating is scratched, marked and flaking.
DM has some perfect SS pans she’s had since we were kids, & we are in our 50’s.

I’ve never had sauces stick to my SS pans though & I’ve never done the water test, I just Chuck stuff in & it’s always been fine.

I think each has it's place. SS for boiling, non-stick for the rest. I recommend Scoville Neverstick, I love love love the range including trays, woks, etc.
I do also love the "not enough butter" quote, so might change my mind after implementing this. 😁

I have non-stick pans but they stopped being non-stick years ago.

I think I would have done better to get steel ones because you can really scrub them clean with wire wool. I spent years not scrubbing my pans because they were “non-stick”. Except they really quite soon became “stick”. The surface rubbed off years ago and I scrub away at them now. I do not buy new ones because one of the main things I have learned in life is that shiny new things relatively soon become grungy old things and you cannot buy glamour by frequently replacing things, you can just be rather wasteful.

They were expensive by the way

Everything sticks, but at least you can stick them in the dishwasher.

I thought chemicals were more likely to leach into the food with non stick pans.

We have a mix of pans. Steel for most things, a couple non stick ones for things that might stick. Saves the non stick ones from getting degraded by dishwasher.

We have a set of le creuset stainless used every day and put through dishwasher or large ones hand washed after a soak - easy to clean that way and they honestly are in perfect condition after 3 years of use

We have this set and a previous set and they're all fab. The frying pans are non stick in this set it's only the saucepans that aren't. But they're dishwasher safe and so far had no issues at all.

Have an ancient set of SS pans and they are indestructible. Have been through literally dozens of non stick frying pans over the years, they just don’t compare.

I have 20 year old ss Le creuset pans. Love them. They are perfect still, stick them in the dishwasher, get bashed about and have absolutley everything cooked in them. It's very hard to get something to stick, you have to really forget about something and just leave it to burn ( which I have actually done given I have a sieve for a brain). Throw in some boiling water, vinegar and bicarb boil for a minute or two and nothing is left stuck on. No need to worry about the utensils you use it damaging the coating, or it wearing off or bits gong in your food. Decent ss pans are in my opinion totally superior.

My late mum swore by her Prestige copper-based stainless pans. I've always been a Le Creuset fan so we agreed to disagree. But hers were easy to clean when she burnt stuff!

Quite sad to have to give them away now.

NewYearTimeToChange · Today 22:11

Have an ancient set of SS pans and they are indestructible. Have been through literally dozens of non stick frying pans over the years, they just don’t compare.
^this. Mine came from John Lewis about 40 years ago. One has a slight ding in it now apart from that they are perfect. Like pp gone through countless non stick frying pans.
When DS was looking for pans I couldn’t believe the price of similar quality pans though.

I'm the same. I bought my pans when DS1 was in his pushchair as I remember balancing a box on the handle going home - he is 35 now!
I have non-stick frying pan and milk pan but have gone through loads

I have stellar s s pans which are now about 30 years old and in daily use. Even the handles are still solid. If anything burns I leave a dishwasher tab in it to soak with hot water and it’s good as new

I also have a set of four ss pans from John Lewis which I bought in 2010 and they are still immaculate, nothing has stuck or burnt and they wash very easily - handwashing or in dishwasher. I paid well over £100 so were an investment but well worth it. They are amazing on my new induction hob. I’m so glad I bought them, I doubt that I will need to replace them, I suspect they will outlive me.

I previously had non stick pans but I was a bit careless when using them and the non stick surface soon got scratched and I probably ended up replacing then every 5 years or so.