[QUESTION] nonstick cookware?

catalyst@lemmy.world

I’ve had this problem with scrambled eggs and cast iron. Two things help for me. One is letting the eggs set a bit before I commence scrambling. And the second comes down to choice of spatula. I find that a thin metal “turner” spatula does a much better job at cleanly separating the egg from the pan.

Alexander Daychilde

Sorry to avoid your specific question, but just a little comment that I’ve found the enamel/ceramic coated cookware to hold up extremely well and work well for me.

But I cook my eggs on a nonstick griddle I have - cheap from Walmart, like $15.

In general, if your eggs are sticking, you are not letting the pan heat up before you cook (typically non–nonstick metal pans/skillets need this), or you’re just not using enough fat/oil. It doesn’t take a whole lot, but you do need some.

worhui@lemmy.world

Electric is certainly a challenge when coming from a gas burner. You need to be more patient with it.

It takes longer to come to heat and longer to cool down. It sounds like your pan it too hot when cooking eggs. It’s gonna take you some practice to know when the right burner point is and how long it takes your pan to heat up.

I can’t give you advice on a specific non-stick pan though. I use stainless steel but on gas. It takes 5-10 min to reach an even heat over the whole pan. Once the whole pan reaches heat just a little oil keeps eggs from sticking.

uncommoncorvid

budget right now would probably be no more than $150/pan, and with good care at least a year’s worth of cooking. i was raised well enough to not use metal utensils on coated pans so at least that will aid in the life of the pan

just_another_person@lemmy.world

You are insane.

Here’s one of the “new” and “safe” studies right here:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28913736/

Look up any other previous versions. Cancer all the way down.

FauxPseudo

I typically coon on 18/8 stainless fir typical pots and pans stuff. 50+ years old. Literally the stuff I grew up learning to cook on. I had to replace a few handles but otherwise the stuff looks brand new, despite countless decades of stuff getting burned in them when stuff did stick.

When something needs high sustained heat I have cast iron. Cast iron when properly seasoned is non stick but it’s heavy and you can’t quickly adjust the heat level. So not great for delicates like eggs.

I have a dedicated ceramic coated aluminum pan for eggs. Nothing but eggs. No metal utensils. No dishwasher. Just eggs. It gives instant feedback on temp changes, absolutely zero fat is needed to prevent eggs from sticking (but use it anyway for flavor). It’s light weight for quick flips and folds on omelets.

And I have a carbon steel wok that I also scramble eggs in when doing fried rice. Lots of oil needed because they do want to stick no matter how fast you move because of the high heat.

stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca

Unpopular opinion, but all nonstick cookware has a limited lifespan, get something inexpensive and Teflon and expect to replace it away every couple years. For the most part do your cooking in stainless steel, carbon steel, or cast iron cookware which are all fairly nonstick of you have good technique and save the Teflon for more challenging foods or when you can’t be bothered to wait for a pan to heat properly.

MetalSlugX

Go read the thing you posted. Kindly do not reply to me.

xep@discuss.online

Stainless Steel, Carbon Steel and Cast Iron have been mentioned, but also look at Nitrided Iron pans. They don’t rust and are as durable as cast iron!

just_another_person@lemmy.world

You are a crazy person

scoobford

Carbon steel is a great option, it’s basically cast iron but lighter. If you can’t be bothered to maintain the seasoning, nitrided steel is also an option.

Be very wary of any nonstick coatings like Teflon, they’re basically all poisonous to either you or the planet.

VibeSurgeon

Did you even read the abstract of the thing you linked?

Sophocles

Your problem might be not pre-heating the pan long enough (this goes for cast iron, stainless, and carbon steel). For eggs made in pans with these materials, you need to let it sit on the heat for a bit; not too hot to obliterate the egg, but hot enough to evenly heat the pan. The pan should have some oil/fat in it as well.

In layman’s terms, the science behind this is that these metals have little microscopic “pores” that open wider when heated. When the pan is cold, they are smaller and latch onto the food. Heating up the metal opens up these “pores” and allows the oil to lubricate the metal much better.

You might want to invest in a 3-ply stainless steel pan ( which basically means aluminum encased in steel). The steel protects the aluminum, and the aluminum distributes heat evenly to the whole pan to facilitate the above process. As long as you pre-heat the pan and add enough oil or butter, not even eggs will stick. I personally use a Viking stainless steel pan, but I’ve also heard that Made-In makes some good ones too. Cuisinart also is a cheaper option

DominusOfMegadeus

The beauty of those carbon steel options is that you can use metal utensils with them!

teft

I use ceramic coated cookware. Nothing really sticks to it. Farberware should be fairly cheap for a set. Im not really a fan of cast iron mainly for the weight. I don’t like feeling like i’ve just done a full set at gold’s gym every time i cook scrambled eggs.

rbwells@lemmy.world

I am on team cast iron, nonstick coatings always seem to be problematic. Cast iron gets better and better with time, and I cook with fats, so it works for me. Buy once use forever, other pans have come and gone but my cast iron is still here and my kids argue about who will get it when I die.

But as I’m sure others have already noted, technique makes a big difference too - oil into hot pan, food into hot oil and not moving the food at the beginning helps it release.

? Offline

I have found that cast iron is quite easy to get nonstick. It isn’t as good as teflon but it does get functionally close, to the point where I don’t have any kind of sticking trouble with my cast iron. Give it one oven season when you first get it then just cook with it like normal. Don’t cook food particularly sensitive to sticking until you’ve cooked with it a few times, a month of regular usage should be more than enough. If you’re worried about sticking, use extra oil, has never done me wrong.

evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world

It isn’t as good as teflon but it does get functionally close

Finally someone phrasing it right. Cast iron can’t possibly get as good as Teflon because even a perfect layer of seasoning can’t compete on a chemical level. It absolutely gets good enough, though.

evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world

You already have a lot of good responses, but one thing I haven’t seen mentioned is that you can cook on parchment paper. It’s obviously not a method for scrambled eggs, but something delicate like fish can just be put on parchment paper in a pan. Alternatively, you can fully wrap it in parchment.

buddahriffic@lemmy.world

Seconding this. Heat the pan first, I’ll wet my hands and throw some water droplets on the pan, once they sizzle, I know it’s hot enough.

Then heat the oil. It doesn’t take very long, especially on an induction burner. I consider it hot enough when the oil becomes more fluid, almost like water. Then add your foods, not too quickly (or the heat might drop to a steam), but not too slowly either. Pay close attention, as you need to thread a needle between hot enough to fry/sautee but not hot enough to burn. You’ll probably burn some food in the process of learning this, and then again once you feel comfortable with it enough to try to multitask.

On that note, unless you have to wait for a very long cooking time, prep all your ingredients before you start cooking anything. Ideally, you should be able to just drop the ingredients in when it’s time to do so. Put them in bowls that represent the stage they are in and then you can concentrate on the timings, temperature, and techniques.

I say all of that because I barely ever burnt anything until I learned that I was actually only steaming things I thought I was sauteeing, and I learned that by learning how to use heat to reduce food sticking.

Another thing to be aware of is when to deglaze stuff that sticks to the bottom anyways (it’ll still happen, just not catastrophically where the thing sticks more to the bottom than to itself and falls apart) and when to give up on a burnt mess. So far, I think it’s based on the colour (black is charcoal, which you want to limit, brown is caramelized, which is chemically modified but usually not a bad effect on the food, other colours are just that food sticking on the bottom, and will still tastr like that food but maybe with a crispy/crunchy texture from the bottom part), but I’m still learning this one myself.

Edit: one advantage of stainless steel pots/pans is that you can use stainless steel wool on them. It will scratch the finish, but those scratches won’t ruin the pans or make them release dangerous chemicals into your food. They just reveal more stainless steel.

Wandering Adventure Party

[QUESTION] nonstick cookware?