When is it preferable to use a stainless steel pan over a non-stick pan?

Nonstick pans are so helpful in the kitchen that if you buy the best ones, they can be your friends for everything you cook and so you are correct, it is hard to use a traditional pan if you can do the same with a nonstick. Teflon® branded pans are the top of the line in nonstick cookware as this company created nonstick cooking and have experimented for more than 50 years to develop coatings that are durable enough for browning, cooking food evenly, and easy cleanup.

Browning in a nonstick pan occurs more slowly than a stainless pan because you cook on lower heat. What creates browning in any pan is when food heats up to a certain temperature and brings out its sugars, giving that browned look you see. There can even be browned bits in a nonstick pan.

If food is sticking to your pans with Teflon® nonstick coating, most likely they are not Teflon® brand. Teflon® is a brand of DuPont™, the inventor of nonstick cooking, it is not a generic name for nonsticks. If something is sticking to a nonstick pan, that means it has been compromised and that can happen also to your Teflon® brand pan. A barrier of food has lodged into the pan’s microscopic spaces. Usually this happens when you use a nonstick cooking oil spray. Nonstick cooking oil sprays are not a friend of nonstick cookware so do not use them. Best not to use metal utensils on a nonstick pan unless it specifically says the coating is durable enough to handle anything besides wood or silicon. Most of DuPont™ Teflon®’s coatings are metal-utensil safe. You tried cleaning the compromised pan correctly and even easier is to wash well a few times with soap and water. Some pans get so caked with the cooking oil spray that they never come clean and you need to replace your pan.

Hope all this helps and I have answered all your nonstick concerns. For more info and recipes visit Carefree Cooking magazine at: http://www2.dupont.com/Teflon/en_US/carefree_cooki...

Gail Greco

Chef/Editor of Carefree Cooking Magazine at www.Teflon.com/recipes

You do things like electric mixing in a bowl not a Teflan pan. I find that non-stick pans lose their surfaces eventually unless you only use them for boiling water for eggs or potatoes. I prefer iron skillets for most flying and sautéing and you can scrub them as hard as you want. I also prefer stainless steel to non-stick or the French style pans with the orange outside and cream colored coating which is very thick and does come off unless you chip it. The main thing is to watch the pot and not burn things and I must admit that I have blown up eggs or burnt rice by being too far away on the computer and by the time I smell it 3 rooms away the damage is done. But despite that if you watch what you are cooking and don't burn things then the pans last longer.

Electric Steel Pan

Obviously stainless steel. As you say non-stick's garbage after a whilst. As a minimum with chrome steel should you burn something you need to use a excellent ancient scouring pad on it and it would come up like new. Take my recommendation as any individual who's been around a while and purchase the excellent first-rate cookware that you could find the money for. It should last years longer than any cheap set.

There is only one or two reason to use an electric mixer In the pan. Mashed potatoes would be one.

But I like that I can stick my stainless steel in the oven. I can scub it and I don;t have to worry about the nonstick coating coming off into my food.

Short and sweet,I went away from

Teflon years ago.

I went back to stainless cookware and oldfashion cast-iron frying pans..

I use pam with a little oil of your chice

The trick is to get the oil really hot before adding the food.

Should a sstuck-onmess happen, I add some water and a little 409,

bring it back to a boil and turn,turn off the heat and let it cool.

It cleans really easy for me.Good luck

You know, it really does depend on what you're cooking, and how you want it to come out. I must admit that for the most part, the only thing I use my one non-stick pan for is eggs, and reheating things. Sometimes I use it for sauteing things like veggies for pizza topping.

The rest of the time, I go to my well-seasoned cast iron skillets (for that great browning you get with cast iron) or my stainless steel cookware. I have a few vintage enamel bakeware pieces too, and they behave like non-stick!

By the way, it's really easy to clean stainless (and enamel) by spraying with oven cleaner and letting them sit in the sink for a bit - anything stuck on comes off very easily.

What I've been using for the last 8 years. You can't tell ANY wear whatsoever. They're non-stick both INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. They clean up like no tomorrow ;))

http://shop.anolon.com/anolon-advanced-cookware.ht...

Here's their spiel about it, pretty impressive:

Metal utensil safe Anolon Advanced is made of heavy gauge hard-anodized aluminum for efficient, even heat distribution. Anolon SureGrip® handles, a combination of stainless steel and silicone rubber, provide a confident yet soft grip and are oven safe to 400°F. DuPont’s Autograph® 2 nonstick surface inside and out is ideal for easy cleanup and is restaurant tested by pro chefs. The break-resistant tempered glass lids allow you to monitor food while it cooks, without losing moisture or nutrients.

I don't own anything non stick, though I could use a fry pan. Stainless does everything and lasts forever, you just have to cook properly. Your sticky messes are because you are too hot.

very easy to remember, for stainless you want to use it for the 3 B's. browning, boiling, braising. as for the non stick..anything that may stick so generally we use it when we making eggs.