Non-stick Pans: The Discussion

[paulraphael]

Technically, my nonstick pan has lasted over five years. But I rarely use it, since I hardly ever do egg cookery. I used to use it for flaky fish; then I learned correct sauté technique for fragile proteins and just do all that on stainless now. Things better on non-teflon surfaces. And you can make pan sauces.

I don't believe there's a nonstick surface that can be used daily (even with perfect care) and maintain its performance. People often think they do, but side-by-side comparisons with a new pan are usually night and day. Maybe some innovations have snuck under my radar, but to my knowledge everything is either some flavor of PTFE (with different kinds of technologies and marketing buzzwords bonding it to the pan), or something that's less nonstick that PTFE in the first place.