The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: socaso on September 03, 2020, 11:09:03 AM
-
Most of our pots and pans are high quality stainless steel and we very likely will never have to replace them. In fact, a couple were even inherited from my grandmother after she passed so they've already been in use for decades.
But the non stick pan! Oh god I buy one every year to year and a half. It's driving me crazy and it's not the expense, it's the waste! I probably spend ~$30 each time so that's not breaking the bank but I can't stand to throw away the old pan each time. I've looked at more expensive models and I hesitate because I don't know if they will last. The non stick coating always breaks down. I would happily pay more (a good bit more) just to know that I didn't have to replace one again and create more waste.
Before anyone says it, we are very careful about washing the non stick, we don't use scrubby sponges on the surface. We hand wash every time. It's just that we use it almost every day and often more than once a day.
So does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
-
Same boat. I'm considering going nonstick free though. I still have 2 small nonstick frying pans that will last a little longer. I threw out the medium sized nonstick pan a few months ago. I have a large carbon steel wok and a cast iron skillet. I'm considering a small-medium carbon steel wok/pan in lieu of the nonstick pan. My cast iron isn't seasoned well enough to handle eggs though.
-
Same boat. I'm considering going nonstick free though. I still have 2 small nonstick frying pans that will last a little longer. I threw out the medium sized nonstick pan a few months ago. I have a large carbon steel wok and a cast iron skillet. I'm considering a small-medium carbon steel wok/pan in lieu of the nonstick pan. My cast iron isn't seasoned well enough to handle eggs though.
The eggs are what get me. We cook eggs all the time in all kinds of ways. You can't scramble well or fry at all in a cast iron pan.
I saw this on Kickstarter and thought about doing it. It's not that much more than what I currently spend. But I do worry that it won't last as long as they say.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/misenkitchen/misen-carbon-steel?ref=discovery&term=cast%20iron%20pan
-
Cast iron is the best non stick I have found. Two tricks on getting a good seasoning, make sure it is CLEAN, and you are probably using too much oil/grease/lard when seasoning. I use Crisco for seasoning and a very light coating after cleaning. I clean with hot water, dry on the stove, then coat with Crisco. I cook eggs in mine at least 3 time a week, including over easy frying.
-
I've definitely over-oiled in the past and it leaves a sticky mess. I recently switched to dabbing a silicone brush into coconut oil and then brushing the pan.
-
I saw this on Kickstarter and thought about doing it. It's not that much more than what I currently spend. But I do worry that it won't last as long as they say.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/misenkitchen/misen-carbon-steel?ref=discovery&term=cast%20iron%20pan
What's the difference between this pan and other carbon steel pans though?
America's Test Kitchen's recommendation is cheaper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suTmUX4Vbk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suTmUX4Vbk)
-
Another vote for cast iron. I don't scramble eggs all that much but I do over-easy fairly often and it works well. As far as seasoning, the best way to do that is to cook with it all the time. On the rare occasion I need to season, I just wipe a very thing layer of Crisco or veggie oil on with a paper towel and run it through a heat cycle.
-
The most inconvenient part of using cast iron is that I have to cover my fire alarm with a shower cap every time use it.
-
I make scrambled eggs on stainless steel saucepan. They come out very well just like how Gordon Ramsay makes it.
-
Over the last 5 or 6 years, my Mom (not knowing what to get for me - admittedly I'm a difficult person to shop for) has bee slowly replacing my kitchen with high-end stuff, nearly all of it purchased on "clearance" at stores like Williams-Sonoma.
The first pan she bought for me was an All-Clad 10" Non-Stick skillet and after 5 years now, it's still in excellent condition. It's seen lots of love, too (we do use the rough side of a 2-sided sponge, and it's had a few metal utensils accidentally scratch the surface). I'd say it gets used at least daily.
Recently, she bought me some more All-Clad (she was off the pots/pans train for a couple years), and the new stuff is just as good or even better than the older.
If I were re-buying my kitchen, I'd obviously grab a few more stainless pieces, but who can say 'no' to free high-end cookware?
But perhaps the best piece of nonstick cookware I own is a stupid little 7" T-Fal pan that nothing will stick to. Probably not incredibly healthy to cook with admittedly, but I got it for a quarter at a yard sale in college and it's been through the dishwasher, bent, dinged, scratched, scrubbed, and generally put through hell. Nothing (and I mean, nothing) will stick to it.
-
T-Fal 12" has been our go-to for a while. The one Wirecutter recommends. I bought it for $14 on Amazon during Black Friday 2019 and we've liked it a lot. Sign up for the Wirecutter daily deal email.
We have stainless steel and cast iron but the T-Fal 12" gets a lot of love from us.
-
Non-stick blows. Even the good non-stick pans are disposable garbage. I'm a huge cast iron fan. It just cooks better. I think it is actually easier to take care of than non-stick because you don't have to baby it.
-
I like
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GWG0T2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
-
Cast iron improves with age, but it can take a while, and it’s too darned heavy for me.
I usually have a small nonstick pan for eggs. I never pay very much. My current one has that ceramic coating and was $4.50 at the thrift store and seemed to be brand new. The crucial thing is only to use plastic or wooden utensils if you want no stick to last for a while.
-
To me, nonstick pans are an exception to the "Vimes Boots" rule: the cheaper ones are actually less expensive in the long run.
My suggestion is to get the absolute cheapest non-stick pan you can find. High-quality or low-quality, it's going to get destroyed no matter how gently you treat it. So it's actually cheaper to just keep replacing a cheap one.
-
I have pampered chef non stick pans that were given as a gift and they have lasted 6-7 years now with no issues. The key to getting them to last is to not fry things in them with oil. We mainly use the non stick spray cans. I use a cast iron pan for frying with oil.
We had a non stick griddle for bacon and the finish was totally destroyed after a year or two.
-
I'm with Mr. Bond up there. For the classic fried egg I just use one of my ancient stainless Revereware frying pans (OK, they are copper clad on the bottom) and a bit of nice olive oil.
Other than that, it's perfect 5-minute "boiled" eggs in the Instant Pot.
-
I saw this on Kickstarter and thought about doing it. It's not that much more than what I currently spend. But I do worry that it won't last as long as they say.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/misenkitchen/misen-carbon-steel?ref=discovery&term=cast%20iron%20pan
What's the difference between this pan and other carbon steel pans though?
America's Test Kitchen's recommendation is cheaper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suTmUX4Vbk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suTmUX4Vbk)
The kickstarter model is lightweight. I don't have any carbon steel pans but it seems they are usually rather heavy.
-
To me, nonstick pans are an exception to the "Vimes Boots" rule: the cheaper ones are actually less expensive in the long run.
My suggestion is to get the absolute cheapest non-stick pan you can find. High-quality or low-quality, it's going to get destroyed no matter how gently you treat it. So it's actually cheaper to just keep replacing a cheap one.
I went by that logic for years but this year I have been working hard to reduce waste in my home and the once a year replacement of the non stick is starting to really bother me. As I said above, it's not just about the money, it's about the waste. If I could buy one pan for $100 that would last me the rest of my life (let's say that's 40 years) that would still be cheaper than replacing the pan at a cost of $30 per year ($30x40 years = $1200) and would keep 40 pans out of the landfill. Even if the pans were $15 (the cheapest I've ever found them) it would still be $600 over time and the same number of pans in the landfill. And if the pan could be passed on to someone else after I'm gone then even more future pans are being kept out of the landfill.
-
I just use my stainless steel pans for eggs.
-
To me, nonstick pans are an exception to the "Vimes Boots" rule: the cheaper ones are actually less expensive in the long run.
My suggestion is to get the absolute cheapest non-stick pan you can find. High-quality or low-quality, it's going to get destroyed no matter how gently you treat it. So it's actually cheaper to just keep replacing a cheap one.
I went by that logic for years but this year I have been working hard to reduce waste in my home and the once a year replacement of the non stick is starting to really bother me. As I said above, it's not just about the money, it's about the waste. If I could buy one pan for $100 that would last me the rest of my life (let's say that's 40 years) that would still be cheaper than replacing the pan at a cost of $30 per year ($30x40 years = $1200) and would keep 40 pans out of the landfill. Even if the pans were $15 (the cheapest I've ever found them) it would still be $600 over time and the same number of pans in the landfill. And if the pan could be passed on to someone else after I'm gone then even more future pans are being kept out of the landfill.
I think that if you are very careful with the utensils you use, you won't replace them as often. Lets say you spend $10 every 4 years - that's $100 over the rest of your life. I agree that it's annoying and wasteful to have to replace that pan at all, but the alternative is to accept less perfect eggs. It's not that big a sacrifice.
-
Another vote for cast iron. You just have to learn about seasoning them, but it's not hard once you know what you're doing.
I cook scrambled eggs all the time in cast iron, but I'm not a chef. Could somebody go into more detail about what makes it difficult to make chef-level scrambled eggs on cast iron?
-
Seriously, it’s not hard to make scrambled eggs on cast iron, but your cleanup may be messier.
I learned to cook before Teflon was common, so it’s totally possible to make omelets and crêpes on stainless, but you need plenty of butter and fairly high temps.
An eggy pan needs to be soaked in cold water, not hot.