I’ve mentioned before … I have 2 All-Clad nonstick frying pans, have used over 10 years and they are still nonstick. I’m careful to never use metal in them.
once upon a time, in a Forum far far away . . .
a user posted they had non-stick pans that lasted years and years - and they used them every other month or so . . . .
I have one nice Italian ceramic pan that’s rated to 600f, although I don’t quite believe the rating. I use it maybe once a year on regular heat for acidity stuff and the occasional pan fried noodles. I had a couple of ceramic pans but they crapped out in a year. I’m under no illusion ceramic will last or that it’s as safe as advertised. Certainly safer than Teflon, which you can see peel but there’s a tradition of saying it’s safe and then….whoops, it’s not! Yeah, I know, I know, I really should believe industry because they ALWAYS have the public’s best interest at hand!!! 
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seriously my Kuhn Rikon mini omelette pan (which came free with my pressure cooker), my Greenpan wok, and my inherited Scanpan large frying are flawless, getting regular use - not daily, but at least weekly, for many years.
Exact same experiences here. The one advantage I’ll give the Calphalon is that is doesn’t peel when it’s gone to hell and you can still use it, like CI, or CA(?)
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That’s an interesting point now that you mention it - other brands seem to peel, chip, flake (despite never never having been touched by metal), but you’re right about Calphalon being the only brand I had that fails by just basically thinning then fading away.
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I’ve had good to great luck with Greenpans over the past several years. (Somewhat less so with a more recent batch I purchased that have a black finish, that seems to be going downhill more quickly than usual with the gray finish ones.) The trick is to regularly clean them with baking soda. This cuts through the polymerized oil, which is often spread in such a thin layer that you can’t even see it. I’ve had a couple of these pans last as long as 3 years of use several times a week, as long as I kept up with the cleaning.
You need one nonstick pan for fish for when there can be zero chance of it sticking for presentation purposes.
Otherwise, your batterie should be built around regular stainless steel. Disk-bottom, food service pans are fine. Just learn to heat one up. Most people have a lousy vent hood and never really get a pan as hot as it is supposed to be because of smoke and steam. What should be a quick sear, cooks too slowly and too deeply, etc., etc. One strategy is to work outside on a portable butane stove and get a pan really hot to see what cooking is actually supposed to be like. Overheat it even, know your boundaries both high and low. If you’re worried about ‘hurting’ your cookware don’t spend so much money. You can’t serve dinner guests a saute’ pan. The food is what is important.
There are plenty of YouTube videos showing cooks using SS pans and heating them properly and product not sticking -eggs included. No need to bore you with links. Do a search.
Can you season stainless steel pans, like cast iron or carbon steel?
I checked, and Mr. Google and Ms. Reddit discourage it. SS isn’t porous enough for the seasoning to stick and it wouldn’t last very long.
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Just get it hot and don’t drop a protein on it that’s sitting at 34*F.
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Another sticking omelet yesterday. F*ck it, I returned the Greenpans to Costco today.
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This is the pan I use to make omelets … I’ve had it about 10 years … I use some butter, of course. No sticking at all.
T-fal Experience Nonstick Fry Pan 8 Inch, Induction Compatible, Oven Safe 400F, Cookware, Non Stick Frying Pan, Skillet, Cooking, Kitchen, Egg Pan, Pots and Pans, Home, Dishwasher Safe, Black
$34 on Amazon
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I never put any pans in the dishwasher.
I’m sure I didn’t pay $34 10 years ago but I feel I’ve gotten good value for what I spent. This is for a 3-egg omelet.
We have the same plates!!
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Last week I purchased a STRATA pan and remembered your questions in this thread. This might be of interest to you. It’s a pan with a carbon steel cooking surface, aluminum core, and stainless outer cladding, which is supposed to deliver the best of all three: Durability and heat retention from the stainless, extremely even heating from the aluminum, and somewhat nonstick from the carbon steel. I’ve only cooked with it a couple of times so far but I’m pretty impressed. Will see how “nonstick” it actually gets as the seasoning builds up a bit more. (My carbon steel wok is pretty decent here but it took probably three years to get there.) Only downside of the STRATA pan so far is that the handle is oddly shaped and IMO not super comfortable.
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I look forward to reports as it seasons. I use a plain CS crepe pan. I cook eggs with very small bits of butter or oil. After the pan cools, i just wipe it, firmly enough to minimize whatever fat lingers. Every now and then something may stick a bit, enough that the wipe is not quite enough. Then I use water, no soap, and a dish cloth. I then dry it on the stovetop. It became pretty much nonstick very quickly with this approach. Good luck with the Strata!
Interesting. I always use a bit of dish soap every time I cook with my wok, and then follow up cleaning with a thin layer of new oil. I’ve always assumed that the no soap thing was a myth, and I think that as long as you don’t scrub hard with a rough sponge or chore boy type thing, it’s fine. Or maybe I assumed wrong and that’s why it took me years to build up full seasoning. (I only cook with the wok every few weeks, which is what I currently attribute to that…)
I think as long as your soap does not contain lye or anything acidic, it is ok. The reason I use the hard wipe is that leaving even unheated oil on will degrade the slickness if it is on too thick. At least that is my experience.
