Unbending bowed non-stick pans.

[Ian Stirling]

Having several non-stick frying pans that could double as bowls when upside down, and little to lose, I tried an experiment.

Taking a steel 1" plate, a small hammer (1" flat face) a thich towel, and the pans.

I took the towel, placed over the pan which was laid on top of the steel. Now, raising the hammer approximately 12", I made around 20 strikes going from the center outwards in a spiral pattern.

I then looked to see if I'd made any difference in the approximately

1/4" bow (over 10") diameter.

I was rather surprised to find that the pan was now almost entirely flat, with very little curve. Repeated this on a smaller pan, with good results.

A firm surface that's harder than the frying pan is a must, I happened to have some steel plate lying around. A bit of granite plate, or even a flat concrete floor should do just as well.

[Loose Cannon]

Did all the banging loosen up any of the non-stick coating? That stuff is supposed to be cancerous. Throw the damned non-stick pans out and get a good 'Made in USA' iron frying pan. Properly seasoned, they are almost non-stick and you don't have to worry about ingesting the chemical coating.

[NorMinn]

Anodized aluminum is just about as good, if not better than Teflon. I love aa, and never had anything stick that didn't come out after a little soaking in hot water. Toss the Teflon.

[Ian Stirling]

Nope. The fumes from overheated teflon are nasty. (Not AIUI carcinogenic.)

I see no reason to import cast iron pans from the colonies anyway.

[Ian Stirling]

Nope. The fumes from overheated teflon are nasty. (Not AIUI carcinogenic.)

It's a cheap fix that takes 10 seconds to do.

I see no reason to import cast iron pans from the colonies anyway. :)