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I've had a pretty terrible experience trying to buy non stick skillets over the years on Amazon with most of even the top rated items coming with huge issues li

I've had a pretty terrible experience trying to buy non stick skillets over the years on Amazon with most of even the top rated items coming with huge issues like warping on the first use, not being very non stick, flaking etc. I almost wonder if its counterfeit or if manufacturers just cutting corners on what used to be a good product? Either way reviews become almost useless when you don't know which version you will be getting. I've found Amazon works much better for items without potential latent quality issues like DVDs, books, or products that are just binary work/don't work.

hirundo 8y ago
I bought this non-stick pan on Amazon and it was one of my best purchases of last year. The trick with non-sticks is to buy cheap enough cookware to affordably replace regularly as they wear out. My previous non-stick pan cost four times as much, wore out, and is now just hanging from a rack, looking fabulous. With the new one, I plan to toss it in another year and buy another. https://www.amazon.com/Tramontina-80114-535DS-Professional-Restaurant/dp/B009HBKQ16 https://www.amazon.com/Tramontina-80114-535DS-Professional-R...
- thatfrenchguy 8y ago
  I’ve had the same tefal skillet for 5 years bought at target for less than 20 bucks and it’s stoll going fine...
  - hirundo 8y ago
    Of course it makes a big difference how often you use it. I use mine about 12x per week. You?
    - thatfrenchguy 8y ago
      Around the same, ~9 times a week (once every weekday and twice every weekend day). Maybe I just got lucky with the one I bought :-)
- mturmon 8y ago
  Second shout out to that particular item, which I bought July 17, 2017, and have used about once a day in the 18 months since, on a gas stove. One of the best nonstick skillets I have owned. Even heat distribution, and no issues with peeling coating. Strong construction, but as lightweight as it could be given that. (I’m superstitious, and generally hand wash.)
  - treis 8y ago
    Thirded. I scramble eggs in it most days and put it in the dishwasher. Nothing ever sticks. I've only had it for 8 months but it still works like new.
- jrgaston 8y ago
  Kind of wasteful, no? I prefer to buy stuff that lasts, even if it costs more.
  - hirundo 8y ago
    I have spent lots more for non-stick pans that were supposed to last. My last one was a Le Creuset for $120. The previous one was a Calphalon for about the same. Both wore out in about two years, and only lasted that long because I didn't want to give up on such an investment. My current $30 pan has lasted about a year with a slicker surface than any of the others, so it's already a better value. I'm willing to fall for some credible marketing that convinces me I could spend a few hundred on a non-stick pan I could hand down to the grand kids, as with cast iron. But it doesn't seem to exist at the moment. Given the additional soap and water, I wonder if it would be greener to scrape and scrub my eggs off of a sticky pan instead. It'd be better exercise.
    - toufiqbarhamov 8y ago
      Actually a properly seasoned cast iron pan is about as non-stick as it gets, but it’s heavy and people worry about dealing with it. For getting crusty stuff off pans though, nothing beats a thick layer of bicarbonate of soda, sprayed liberally all over with white vinegar and left for 5 minutes. Very little doesn’t wipe right off after that! Mostly though I agree with your point that it makes little sense to spend big money on an omelette pan. The coating is going to be pitted within a year or two, and that’s that. A good guide to how you should buy these things is found in the restaurant industry which does what you do now; buy them and toss them. That also leads to the best advic I can give here... buy your pots and pans from restaurant surplus stores or closing sales! I bought half a dozen omelette pans from one of those for $35 bucks, and I just swap them out every two years.
      - hirundo 8y ago
        > Actually a properly seasoned cast iron pan is about as non-stick as it gets I've spent a lifetime hearing this and not being able to achieve anything close to it on cast iron. Either it's false or a skill that's beyond me. Either way I've quit worrying about advanced semi mythic forms of cast iron seasoning and just use non-stick. I use a very seasoned cast iron pan regularly to sear meat ... and a little piece of chainmail to scrape off the clingons.
- p1necone 8y ago
  I don't see the point in non stick cookware. A simple stainless steel skillet with some oil in it will perform just as well and last longer for most uses (and you still need to add oil to a non stick skillet to get proper browning anyway, but it pools because of the non stick coating and doesn't work as well). And a seasoned carbon steel or cast iron pan will be non stick for when you're cooking fragile stuff like eggs or fish, as well as being far superior for searing meat and allowing you to use metal utensils. Not to mention all of those alternatives will likely allow you to raise the temperature much higher without damaging the pan than you would with a non stick one. The worst I've seen recently is non stick saucepans! Why on earth would that tradeoff be worth it?
  - hirundo 8y ago
    > A simple stainless steel skillet with some oil in it will perform just as well. I've got a stainless skillet. Every single time I fry eggs like that, without > 1T of fat per egg, it burns to the bottom. So you must have a better technique. I'm willing to switch to a more forgiving option rather than keep scraping off my mistakes. Every time.
    - p1necone 8y ago
      Make sure the pan is pretty hot before you put the eggs in, if it's too cold they will probably stick even with lots of oil. Also, don't be afraid to use however much fat you need, it's not like you're actually going to eat it all - there's probably only going to be about 1/2 teaspoon of it left on the egg after cooking regardless of how much you put in the pan and that's (probably?) pretty negligible health-wise.
      - hirundo 8y ago
        If the pan is hotter than medium heat butter will burn. Does not using non-stick mean you don't cook in butter?
        4ad 8y ago

hirundo 8y ago

I bought this non-stick pan on Amazon and it was one of my best purchases of last year. The trick with non-sticks is to buy cheap enough cookware to affordably replace regularly as they wear out. My previous non-stick pan cost four times as much, wore out, and is now just hanging from a rack, looking fabulous. With the new one, I plan to toss it in another year and buy another. https://www.amazon.com/Tramontina-80114-535DS-Professional-Restaurant/dp/B009HBKQ16 https://www.amazon.com/Tramontina-80114-535DS-Professional-R...

thatfrenchguy 8y ago
I’ve had the same tefal skillet for 5 years bought at target for less than 20 bucks and it’s stoll going fine...
- hirundo 8y ago
  Of course it makes a big difference how often you use it. I use mine about 12x per week. You?
  - thatfrenchguy 8y ago
    Around the same, ~9 times a week (once every weekday and twice every weekend day). Maybe I just got lucky with the one I bought :-)
mturmon 8y ago
Second shout out to that particular item, which I bought July 17, 2017, and have used about once a day in the 18 months since, on a gas stove. One of the best nonstick skillets I have owned. Even heat distribution, and no issues with peeling coating. Strong construction, but as lightweight as it could be given that. (I’m superstitious, and generally hand wash.)
- treis 8y ago
  Thirded. I scramble eggs in it most days and put it in the dishwasher. Nothing ever sticks. I've only had it for 8 months but it still works like new.
jrgaston 8y ago
Kind of wasteful, no? I prefer to buy stuff that lasts, even if it costs more.
- hirundo 8y ago
  I have spent lots more for non-stick pans that were supposed to last. My last one was a Le Creuset for $120. The previous one was a Calphalon for about the same. Both wore out in about two years, and only lasted that long because I didn't want to give up on such an investment. My current $30 pan has lasted about a year with a slicker surface than any of the others, so it's already a better value. I'm willing to fall for some credible marketing that convinces me I could spend a few hundred on a non-stick pan I could hand down to the grand kids, as with cast iron. But it doesn't seem to exist at the moment. Given the additional soap and water, I wonder if it would be greener to scrape and scrub my eggs off of a sticky pan instead. It'd be better exercise.
  - toufiqbarhamov 8y ago
    Actually a properly seasoned cast iron pan is about as non-stick as it gets, but it’s heavy and people worry about dealing with it. For getting crusty stuff off pans though, nothing beats a thick layer of bicarbonate of soda, sprayed liberally all over with white vinegar and left for 5 minutes. Very little doesn’t wipe right off after that! Mostly though I agree with your point that it makes little sense to spend big money on an omelette pan. The coating is going to be pitted within a year or two, and that’s that. A good guide to how you should buy these things is found in the restaurant industry which does what you do now; buy them and toss them. That also leads to the best advic I can give here... buy your pots and pans from restaurant surplus stores or closing sales! I bought half a dozen omelette pans from one of those for $35 bucks, and I just swap them out every two years.
    - hirundo 8y ago
      > Actually a properly seasoned cast iron pan is about as non-stick as it gets I've spent a lifetime hearing this and not being able to achieve anything close to it on cast iron. Either it's false or a skill that's beyond me. Either way I've quit worrying about advanced semi mythic forms of cast iron seasoning and just use non-stick. I use a very seasoned cast iron pan regularly to sear meat ... and a little piece of chainmail to scrape off the clingons.
p1necone 8y ago
I don't see the point in non stick cookware. A simple stainless steel skillet with some oil in it will perform just as well and last longer for most uses (and you still need to add oil to a non stick skillet to get proper browning anyway, but it pools because of the non stick coating and doesn't work as well). And a seasoned carbon steel or cast iron pan will be non stick for when you're cooking fragile stuff like eggs or fish, as well as being far superior for searing meat and allowing you to use metal utensils. Not to mention all of those alternatives will likely allow you to raise the temperature much higher without damaging the pan than you would with a non stick one. The worst I've seen recently is non stick saucepans! Why on earth would that tradeoff be worth it?
- hirundo 8y ago
  > A simple stainless steel skillet with some oil in it will perform just as well. I've got a stainless skillet. Every single time I fry eggs like that, without > 1T of fat per egg, it burns to the bottom. So you must have a better technique. I'm willing to switch to a more forgiving option rather than keep scraping off my mistakes. Every time.
  - p1necone 8y ago
    Make sure the pan is pretty hot before you put the eggs in, if it's too cold they will probably stick even with lots of oil. Also, don't be afraid to use however much fat you need, it's not like you're actually going to eat it all - there's probably only going to be about 1/2 teaspoon of it left on the egg after cooking regardless of how much you put in the pan and that's (probably?) pretty negligible health-wise.
    - hirundo 8y ago
      If the pan is hotter than medium heat butter will burn. Does not using non-stick mean you don't cook in butter?
      - 4ad 8y ago