We like stainless steel non-stick saucepans.
In the past I have had non-stick saucepans that lasted for years. Last 2 sets have started giving up after about 30 months each.
Anyone know of any that do last?
Experience of lifetime guarantees is that they are worthless. Manufacturers claim anything similar is a vast upgrade and ask for more for the upgrade than you can buy them for elsewhere.
Ive never had a non stick cooking utensil that lasted more than a year with its non stick intact.
These days we run pure stainless and use stainless scrubbing pads to clean them.
even when frying: there non stick is more a question of pre heeating the pan and using the right oil..
Pro kitchens don't use non-stick do they ?
Pro kitchens probably don't use supermarket bacon full of salty water and rusk flour either ;-)
Our Le Creuset non stick pans are still as good as new from about 1985. We only use wooden and plastic utensils with them and no dishwasher.
Bob
Usenet Nutter presented the following explanation :
We use cast iron pans for such use. The naturally build up a patina which is non-stick, if used and cleaned carefully.
And pro kitchens have plongeurs to do the scrubbing.
Owain
Getting non-stick coating to adhere to stainless steel for more than a couple of years must be almost impossible. Stainless steel itself has some non-stick qualities, especially when polished, so getting anything to stick to it in the long term would be asking an awful lot of the coating technology.
I have had two sets of non-stick stainless saucepans and they both lasted about three years. I have just replaced them with a set of Tefal non-stick hard anodised alloy pans. I chose Tefal because my two much-abused Tefal alloy frying pans have lasted for seven and nine years - the latter one had less use - and I have just replaced them with hard anodised versions, also from Tefal, giving a matching set.
So basically, I have given up on non-stick stainless steel pans because I don't think the technology to make them last is currently available.
In message , Invisible Man wrote
The trick is to get very heavy pans - stainless or cast iron and not to use a fierce heat. Heavy pans will initially take longer to heat but it will be an even heating with no hot spots. It probably the hot spots on cheaper pans that cause the food to stick and/or any coating to fail.
-- Alan news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk
Prestige copper bottomed stainless last fine, come clean fine, copper spreads heat fine.
If you dont burn the food to a char, sticking isnt a big problem. But oddly many people continue to do just that
NT
Two of ours the copper came adrift -- replaced under warranty.
I notice one has the copper 'bubbling' now, after at least 20 years.
I bought mine around 1985. As good as new really.
The Prestige aluminium bottomed ones I have are 27 yo now. No none stick and easy to clean.,
js.b1 wibbled on Monday 14 December 2009 00:30
Can't answer for SS. The best non stick I've had to date have been Meyer Analon. Those have suffered hideous abuse by others but have managed to last about 5 years. For the first 3 years, they were fantastic - the most absolutely non stick coating I've come across. The frying pan got dishwashed so that died (being ali) but the pans have mostly suffered from scratching (wrong tools used).
Now I've beated into everyone the importance of looking after these things, I'm going to try one of the Meyer Circulon Infinite range next, out of interest - supposed to be dishwasher proof.
We still have some 1950's aluminium saucepans. They are not non-stick, but they clean just fine if left to soak overnight before cleaning is attempted. The bakelite handles mean they can't go in the DW though, so SWMBO has to do them by hand. Her choice, I've offered to replace them with SS many times. She likes the way she can bash spuds and swede to bits in them with a steel masher and not worry about the scratches!
R.
Possibly or the use on an electric hob with bang/bang control. The mean temperature is what you want but the peaks just after the element switches off are way higher and with a decent thickness sauce (so it doesn't convect) that temperature is above the burn point.
These days I can't see why electric hobs still use bang/bang control and not a fully proportional one, with feedback from the ring so that it runs flat out to reach temperature then modulates down to the setting.
Coating failure is partly down to excessive heat but they do have to get blooming hot or the use of non-soft tools, wood or plastic *only* in non-stick pans.
In message , Tim W writes
We have been using Meyer Circulon for a few years and they are very, very good provided that you look after them and use the correct utensils (they don't go in the dishwasher).
The set where one is failing afer 30 months are steel elite circulon. Previous ones that failed after 15 months were Silverstone Stainless Steel. They do go through the dishwasher. We only buy dishwasher safe. Always use plastic or wood utensils.
I have a set of (Meyer I think) teflon coated aluminium pans I bought in 1985 with glass lids - popular at the time, and the shop display had a hammer for you to try breaking the lid with. The coating is still perfect in all of them in spite of lots of use, although the handles started deterorating in the dishwasher about 10 years ago. They still get occasional use.
Replaced them with set of Stellar SS pans 10 years ago. Only the frying pan is teflon coated, and that's still fine. Nothing seems to stick in the others anyway.
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