Need a new chef/saute pan, stainless steel or non stick?

chipperhead · 28 Jan 2016 at 10:19

I'm after a new chef's/saute pan for for cooking chilli, curry's, sweet & sour type stuff.
I've always had decent non stick pans in the past but I find they always start to stick after a while and eventually fail.
My last one was a Circulon Infinite which is supposed to be decent, even though I followed the instructions, no dishwasher, low to medium heat, silicon utensils etc it still failed.

So I'm thinking of trying an alternative to non stick, however whenever I've used stainless steel in the past, the food has stuck terribly.

Has anyone any experience of using pans other than non stick that they can recommend or for ease is it just a case of accepting non stick will only last a certain time?

Mark M · 28 Jan 2016 at 10:41

I may get frowned upon here but I have a Jamie Oliver Tefal Hot spot wok type frying pan and its been absolutely fantastic and the best non stock pan Ive ever owned. Had it for 5 years now and still going strong.

cheesyboy · 28 Jan 2016 at 10:56

Mark M said:
I may get frowned upon here but I have a Jamie Oliver Tefal Hot spot wok type frying pan and its been absolutely fantastic and the best non stock pan Ive ever owned. Had it for 5 years now and still going strong.

I've got a set of those, including the wok.

The frying pan and a lidded deep frying pan (saute pan?) are both suffering from failing teflon coating. The wok is fine, but hasn't seen much action. They're all ~8 years old, though.

I think that's the nature of non-stick, to be honest. A few years is its lifespan.

oHUTCHYo · 28 Jan 2016 at 11:48

After buying my first batch of stainless steel pans a year ago, I've vowed never to replace them with stainless come replacement time.

Everything sticks. They leave burn marks behind which are difficult to clean. Plus if you live in an area with hardwater, you'll also see a build up of limescale.

I'm going non-stick next time. That said, like others have mentioned also, the lifespan of polytetrafluoroethylene (teflon

) is not good. For short term care, plastic or wood utensils are a must.

Agreed on the Tefal hot spot pans, I have several frying pans and they cook well. I only ever use my cast iron ones for steak. I've read lots of scare stories about non-stick coatings not being healthy at high temperature, but meh.

monkeyspank · 28 Jan 2016 at 12:07

You could try ceramic?

I have had this one for ages with no problems on the non stick side (mine looks different, old style, same manufacturer apparently)
http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-'the-pan'-saute-pan-dia-30cm/p707658

I dropped and broke the lid and they sent me another

ttaskmaster · 28 Jan 2016 at 13:13

I'm using a Circulon pan right now, as well as a Jasper Conran one and a Le Creuset one. The Mrs actually chooses this stuff, I just use it, but since I use it a lot I'm definitely a fan of the first two. Both non-stick, only using plastic or wooden utensils. No problems in dishwasher.

rexehuk · 28 Jan 2016 at 13:27

i've got a new pan recently which is a copper Ernesto.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/28cm...2496!&ef_id=VjkVBgAABV1nGgpN:20160128132629:s

Only cooked one curry in it, but nothing stuck and has a very nice weight to it.

chipperhead · 29 Jan 2016 at 11:32

Thanks for all your advice, discarded the idea of stainless steel.
Any non stick isn't going to last a long time so thought it's pointless spending stacks on one, so in the end went for a Procook Tri-Ply saute pan.
They come with a 25 year guarantee and the customer service gets good reviews so I'll just make sure I keep the receipt safe.