Over my years I’ve owned many types of non-stick pans. Judge me as you see fit, but I’ve owned Teflon, stainless steel, ceramic, and cast iron pans, but none of them seem to stay “non-stick” for more than a few years. I’ve had the best luck with cast iron, but my wife doesn’t like to use them because they’re heavy. I hand wash them all with soap and water, but they all seem to lose their ability to shed off what I cook in them. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good non-stick pan?
EDIT: It seems like the consensus is on cast iron, or ceramic steel. I just looked it up, and there are “slim” cast iron pans, so maybe that’ll be a happy medium. Thanks for all the anecdotes and suggestions folks.
It is very likely that you aren’t retaining enough heat while cooking if stuff sticks. The heavier it is the longer it needs to warm up, and lighter pans need more continual heat since they don’t retain as much.
Try spending a few extra minutes warming up the pan at a slightly lower heat. When you add food make sure it doesn’t need to come back up to temp slowly, that is a sign it lost too much heat and cold pans are sticky.
I use ceramic and cast iron and stuff only sticks when I try to rush getting the pan up to temp.