I really don’t like nonstick pans. I love my CI and CS pans and my beloved mirror finished SS pan. I do always keep one medium sized nonstick around as they do have their utility. I replace it every two years though as no matter if it’s a cheap as seen on TV one or a fancy name brand, they all loose their nonstick properties with regular use. I had enough and decided to try a non-treated titanium coated pan. I have to say, so far I’m pretty impressed. Nowhere near the performance of a freshly purchased nonstick, but a bit less sticky than SS. Where it’s really shining is with cleanup. It been very easy to wash clean even when there is charring or adherence. I haven’t tried yet, but I think it’s going to be perfect for cold-searing. Has anyone else tried these? Does the nonstick quality fade with microabrasions over time? If so hopefully lasts longer than 2 years?
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Be sure to use a wooden spatula with those because the little bumps will erode plastic spatulas and send those particles right to your testicles.
I use Carbon steel, cast iron & stainless steel. No other gimmicky pans are needed. Learn how to cook & care for these 3 and you will never be unhappy. Plus they can last a lifetime. You can use metal utensils with all of these, so that’s less melty plastic you are throwing away.
So far I’m thinking it’s not a gimmick. Time will tell.
Been using the same SS set for about 18 years so I definitely agree.
Yeah me too. But if you want to cook high acid, or egg, or something quick or you are even a little behind on seasoning and cheese is involved, it really is nice to have a nonstick on hand.
SS is the acid pan. And you can cook and cheese without a problem. It’s a matter of learning the temperature to cook on. SS, carbon steel and cast iron all have different temperatures for the same food item. And the amount of oil varies in each as well.
I may be a bit dense here, but isn’t titanium kind of a bad material for cookware? It has pretty poor thermal conductivity. Wouldn’t something like a nitrated CS be better if non-stick performance/ease of maintenance is what your going for?
Coatings are meant to be very thin. Conductivity isn’t an issue when the heat only has to travel some micrometers.
have you tried carbon steel? really great once you season it and usually pretty cheap compared to other non-stick pans and last forever. only catch is just a bit of maintenance like a cast iron and i generally use stainless if it’s really acidic food like a tomato sauce. though even if it starts to become sticky a coat of oil and throwing it in the oven often repairs it.
i haven’t used a titanium coated pan though, curious if anyone has experience with both?
Yes, all the time. Sorry for the abbreviation. CS
This is probably similar to slightly less nonstick to a really well seasoned CS. I find CS needs a little more attention than Cast iron to really keep it nonstick. Difference here though is that Ti does acid, cleans easier if you do get adherence (no one is perfect), and can even go in dishwasher.
I absolutely adore the generic titanium pans, they’re non stick as long as you get them up to temperature with some oil before adding food, but by far and wide the easiest pans to clean, plus easily replaceable handles (I know that’s an odd complaint, but fuck riveted handles)
When it comes to cleaning, use a chainmail scourer, this avoids any deep scratches, though a regular brush does as well most of the time
And re the pans: hammered is good, hex is better; the honeycomb patterned ones have the best nonstick and easy clean properties by far. (This is an embossed/pressed honeycomb pattern, not a laser etched one)
I did very aggressively scrape my hammered one with a metal spatula when first using it and it didn’t seem to affect it, but I would still avoid doing that too often
Oh I hate rivets too! Have a Ti brand you recommend? Mine is Vocvoi.
they all loose their nonstick properties with regular use.
I try to be as gentle as I can with the bottoms, and that seems to help. I’ve got two that are still good after ~8yrs of use. That said, I usually make soups, stews and water-sautées rather than frying, so that no doubt helps as well.
This one looks really interesting, altho I wonder how it would handle omelet-making.
I try to be as gentle as I can with the bottoms
Giggity
My hands kept getting bruised when I tried to smack that ass, so I had to adapt.
I got a set of 4 pans and 4 pots on my wedding registry 8 years ago. Mid-range for non-sticks, and way cheaper than any other reasonable option would have been at the time. Of course, some get used a lot (usually the smaller ones) while some get used very little, but all of them are still very much non-stick.
It’s also worth noting that, supposedly, by 2015 manufactures stopped using PFOAs in non-stick surfaces. They use other chemicals instead.
It’s interesting to note that several manufacturers filed a lawsuit against Caraway this year, alleging that their advertising claims that today’s non-stick coatings are toxic are incorrect.
So that’s the question. Are these non-stick coatings actually terribe, with chemical companies hiding how dangerous they are (which is very possible)? Or maybe they genuinely do not know that, and the health impaxta are the kind of subtle long-term influences that will take decades to identify solidly? Or maybe… They’re actually safe?
For now mine seem to be functioning properly. I baby them- handwash only, no metal utensils, stovetop-only, do not heat them empty. When I go to my local restaurant supply store, almost all of the pans there are non-stick, which indicates to me that most restaurants are probably using non-stick pans in my area.
So for now I don’t see a reason to throw away my existing cookware and spend a bunch of money on something new. Once they start to stick I’ll look into replacing them and seeing how the technology and market place have evolved.
I do have a couple of cast irons. It is nice to be able to use them in my oven or on my grill. Theoretically it would be nice to use them with metal utensils. But I do not buy metal cooking utensils so that point is moot. And my wife does not use them because they are so heavy. And they are a pain to clean and season.
I’m interested in getting a stainless steel pan of some kind, mostly for searing meat. But they need high-heat to prevent sticking, and I do a lot of stuff with low heat, so I don’t think I would want all of my stuff to be stainless.
Did I just read a blog post? :P
(just kidding, good comment 🙂)Good point about hand-washing, which I also do but forgot to mention above. Also, use of wooden-only utensils. And I specifically avoid silicon since it’s yet another polymer that likely leaches chemicals in to the food.
Good question about the non-stick surface. Traditionally it’s been very dangerous to cook if one has pet parrots in the house, as some chemical in the non-stick formula vaporises and kills ones’ birds tragically quickly.
When these wear out, I’m probably going to replace with cast iron or similar just to avoid the coating.
Allegedly this Ti is dishwasher safe!
As for stainless steel, just heft it.
I believe that if you practice the mastery of “scorching hot and yet not burning”, and the art of “smokeless but still very hot oil”, you too can have a nonstick experience but with more difficulty if wearing pajamas and sorting out the coffee situation.
I really don’t want to be esoteric like the cult of cast iron, but if you hear “copper cladding”, just run for your lives! [as many as you can muster]
Some bottoms like and need rough treatment
