Ruined Non-Stick Skillet... is it really ruined?

[Crouton]

Hello, I'm new here... long time listener, first time caller.

My 12" Calphalon non-stick skillet finally reached its end-of-life last night. It's one of the "nicer" anodized/stainless Calphalon skillets I picked up at TJ Max a few years ago. I tend not to spend a lot on non-stick cookware since they're inevitable going to scratch. Anyway, the non-stick coating is starting to peel off which makes it useless... but... to me it just seems such a waste to toss out the whole thing just because the non-stick coating has run its course. Can I just peel the entire coating off and keep using the skillet as an "anodized aluminum skillet"? Has anyone ever tried this... and lived to tell about it?

btw, my 8" Lincoln Wear-Ever non-stick skillet I picked up at my local restaurant supply store is still going strong 6 years in with frequent use.

Edited August 28, 2009 by Crouton (log)

[Darienne]

Hello, I'm new here... long time listener, first time caller.

My 12" Calphalon non-stick skillet finally reached its end-of-life last night.  It's one of the "nicer" anodized/stainless Calphalon skillets I picked up at TJ Max a few years ago. I tend not to spend a lot on non-stick cookware since they're inevitable going to scratch. Anyway, the non-stick coating is starting to peel off which makes it useless... but... to me it just seems such a waste to toss out the whole thing just because the non-stick coating has run its course. Can I just peel the entire coating off and keep using the skillet as an "anodized aluminum skillet"?  Has anyone ever tried this... and lived to tell about it?

btw, my 8" Lincoln Wear-Ever non-stick skillet I picked up at my local restaurant supply store is still going strong 6 years in with frequent use.

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If you are going to count the yeas and the nays...throw it out. Period.

[Octaveman]

for the money, it's not worth it. then there's the issue of not getting it all off and you'll be eating stuff you wouldn't want to. You got two years out of a non-stick pan. That's good. go buy another one.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Invest an afternoon and some wet/dry sandpaper and see what you get. It might not be so bad.

When I decided to invest in a nonstick Mauviel copper frypan, I looked into the possibility of recoating, which wouldn't be worth doing with a Calphalon pan, but might be justified with a more expensive pan, and this company at one time offered that service under the business name "Frypan Man"--

http://www.continentalcompanies.com/non-stick-coating.html

I don't know if they are still handling small non-commercial orders, but if I needed that service, that's where I'd look first. My pan still looks pretty good and functions perfectly about 8-9 years later, and I figure I have a few options when the coating wears out eventually. If recoating isn't feasible and there's stainless under the coating, I'll remove the coating. If there's copper under the coating, I can always remove the coating and have it tinned.

[paulraphael]

It should be recycleble, so you don't have to feel all that bad about tossing it.

Another possibility is keeping it around as a wrecked pan, for anything that you're afraid might wreck a pan.

sanding it and turning it into a plain aluminum pan would be fine if you have the time and need a project. wear a dust mask! There's nothing toxic in the nonstick coating, but fine dust, including aluminum dust, will do bad things to your lungs.

If you replace it, the restaurant supply store will be your best friend. Commercial versions cost $25 or less for 10" fry pans. They're less pretty than calphalon, so you won't feel as bad when the inevitable happens again.

[Soup]

At the recommendation of cook's illustrated I bought millenium 12 inch non stick pan from Faberware (I hope I remembering the maker and the series correctly, just too lazy to go down and take a look at it).

A funny think happen after the non-stick stop working about a year and a half after purchase. It built up a nice layer of carbon on it and now (after about 3 years of heavy use) it is this jet black smooth surface that is better than any non-stick or cast iron pay i have. I love this pan. Made pancakes on it this morning and it just rocks. No oil on the pancakes. I don't know how it happened and but did.

[heidih]

At the recommendation of cook's illustrated I bought millenium 12 inch non stick pan from Faberware (I hope I remembering the maker and the series correctly, just too lazy to go down and take a look at it). 

A funny think happen after the non-stick stop working about a year and a half after purchase.  It built up a nice layer of carbon on it and now (after about 3 years of heavy use) it is this jet black smooth surface that is better than any non-stick or cast iron pay i have.  I love this pan.  Made pancakes on it this morning and it just rocks.  No oil on the pancakes.  I don't know how it happened and but did.

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I had a similar thing happen with a "non-stick" skillet. I just went with it.

[Fat Guy]

Quite a few pieces of my cookware are Calphalon nonstick that hasn't had a nonstick coating on it for something like ten years. Presumably, I ate all the nonstick coating. I'm hoping it's out of my body by now. As for the cookware, it works very well indeed as good-quality anodized aluminum.

As Mr. Goldfarb noted, there may be services that will apply new nonstick coatings to pots and pans. It may be worth it for very nice cookware.

Also, even though you bought it at TJ Maxx, you can always try to hit up Calphalon for a replacement. In theory these things are warrantied forever. Several of mine were replaced, some of them multiple times, before I decided just to run coating-free.