After a bunch of failures, I bought a Blue Diamond skillet at Whatamart in January. We're moderately careful, but not a single mark on it so far. Bought a second, covered one off Amazon. Want a saucepan, but those seem only to be sold in sets. I clean them with a blue Scotchbrite sponge.
The BD pans have metal handles, so can go into the oven to finish off steaks (don't forget the potholder!). Supposedly, they also are free of harmful chemicals.
Looking to replace a couple non stick pans. Anyone have good experience with quality/durable non stick pans? Not interested in cast iron so this isn’t what this thread is for.
I have three of these and have found them to hold up very well if you use plastic-coated or wooden utensils. I hand wash them. PFOA-free.
As this thread has moved about, I'll ask about carbon steel skillets?
AsI said above, I’ve given up altogether on non-stick. Carbon steel works fine if you take care of them. Cheap, and last a life time. Much easier (lighter) than cast iron. I’ve been happy with the Volrath pans.
I was in the industrial roller and coating business for the last 15 years before I retired and the short answer is that there isn't such a thing as non-stick long term. Those non-stick coverings are a clear usually silicone based top coat over a much harder non-wear coating, in our case usually tungsten carbide. Your pan just like an industrial release coated roller works great when it is brand new, then one day your food or my Bounce fabric softener or Post-it Note glue starts to build up and you say what happened? What you are seeing is the smooth hard underneath surface, but the transparent top coating is wearing away. We could extend the release characteristics on a roll surface by making the surface more rough so that the contact area would be reduced, but you can't do that with a pan.
Your best bet is to find a pan manufacturer with a lifetime guarantee and then keep sending your old pan that sticks back to them to get a new pan. Their "lifetime guarantee" might not be your or their lifetime, but the pan's non-stick lifetime and yours will die in a not too distant future.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
After a bunch of failures, I bought a Blue Diamond skillet at Whatamart in January. We're moderately careful, but not a single mark on it so far. Bought a second, covered one off Amazon. Want a saucepan, but those seem only to be sold in sets. I clean them with a blue Scotchbrite sponge.
The BD pans have metal handles, so can go into the oven to finish off steaks (don't forget the potholder!). Supposedly, they also are free of harmful chemicals.
This is my experience as well.
Not a real member - just an ordinary guy who appreciates being able to hang around and say something once in awhile.
Happily Trapped In the Past (Thanks, Joe)
Not only a less than minimally educated person, but stupid and out of touch as well.
[quote=StoneCutter]Not sure what the hell happened with my Copper Chef, but after 3 months, every time I tried to fry an egg, I ended up with scrambled eggs. Everyone on here said they've had good luck with them, but mine was a piece of schit.
9 months ago, I bought a Cuisinart. So far, so good. It's still like new.
And again, my experience as well.
Not a real member - just an ordinary guy who appreciates being able to hang around and say something once in awhile.
Happily Trapped In the Past (Thanks, Joe)
Not only a less than minimally educated person, but stupid and out of touch as well.
We always figured that silicone had a safe working temperature of up to 500 degrees F. I never used my pyrometer on the bottom of the wife's pan, but I suspect that a stove top burner and the bottom of the pan could exceed that temperature if you weren't careful and you could be ingesting your pan's coating along with your fried egg if the temperature got too hot. That pan's coating should have FDA approval (but does it?) and our company never jumped through all the hoops to get that so we would only do the industrial stuff, but the process is the same. Strength wise silicone is pretty soft and an abrasive cleaning pad will destroy it faster than just a wet sponge.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
Something I started noticing while researching consumer level nonstick cookware looking into replacing ours was nowadays a good many different brands are basically the same products with some minor differences, most of which just cosmetic -- handles, sizes, rolled or straight edge, brand logo, etc. -- especially noticeable in the matte black anodized exterior coating lines. We received a set of Emeril branded black anodized nonstick cookware as a Christmas gift a few years back (had to trash the skillets last year) and I was amazed at the number of brands marketed that overall were pretty much the same.
My personal best experience with a brand of mid price consumer level cookware was with the old USA manufactured "Revere" brand stainless steel with no nonstick coating in both their copper clad bottom and extra thickness steel solid base lines.
Looking to replace a couple non stick pans. Anyone have good experience with quality/durable non stick pans? Not interested in cast iron so this isn’t what this thread is for.
I have one of these. Actually, I have 3 in different sizes. Calphalon Unison Slide Non-stick is the type. Any Calphalon Non-stick is good and will last a long time.
Am on my third non-stick skillet, a thick bottomed T-Fal, and like it. Quick and easy when I want quick and easy.
IME and from what a chef told me, the thicker the metal under the non-stick coating, the better.
I don't expect a non-stick to last more than a few years with women in the house. I burned up my first one. Can't recall the brand but loved it. Got distracted and over heated it. Second one was a granite finish, worked well for five or six years. Now have a large T-Fal with an extra thick bottom. Got a glass lid that fits it at a second hand store. One notch above medium is the max I use for heat.
Love cast iron but have different uses/applications.
Re women and non-stick: women, knives and granite counters are a parallel combo. Love the gal more than the skillet or the knives.
Looking to replace a couple non stick pans. Anyone have good experience with quality/durable non stick pans? Not interested in cast iron so this isn’t what this thread is for.
I have one of these. Actually, I have 3 in different sizes. Calphalon Unison Slide Non-stick is the type. Any Calphalon Non-stick is good and will last a long time.
