Replacing teflon pans?

[Earthy]

What kind of cookware are you using? We want to stay away from teflon and plain aluminum. We currently have hard anodized and they are great. Though I saw a set of Rachael Rays cookware and would like to have that! It's pretty;)

[bunnytracks]

I hve hard inodized teflon cookwear. I want to go to stainless steel but haven't yet.

[Earthy]

I wonder if things would stick more in stainless steel? Do you know if they are easy to clean? Just keeping my options open for some cookware.

[kbabe1968]

Things WILL stick on stainless and you will need to use fat to keep them from sticking. BUT stainless (with sealed copper bottoms) will be the most even conductors of heat. (Like an All Clad set). 18/10 is the best weight.

They go in the dishwasher and clean like a pro.

:)

I have a hard anondized set (Emerilware - not that we bought it for the name). But I have to confess to wishing we had gotten stainless. :( Now, we're stuck with them until they wear out. Not saying I don't like them, I do...we always want what we can't have. LOL!!! :D

[Jackie]

I use cast-iron skillets, I never use my Teflon or Silverstone any more, since I got some old skillets from my MIL. They are just so much easier for me, and you don't have to worry about the finish scraping off into your food. I DO own an electric griddle with a non-stick surface. I really like that!

[Earthy]

Jackie, I thought about getting cast-iron but when I was at the store looking at them they seemed really heavy. Maybe I am just a wimp;) Do you notice any difference when using them in the weight, moving them around and such?

[Jackie]

Yes, they are heavy! But they're also I've grown up on, plus I enjoy camping and cooking over a campfire. I guess I just develop strong arms, lol! Also, the handles get hot, so you need to be careful about that. I saw some silicone things to put on the handles I've considered buying not too long ago!

[JenPooh]

We have some from Wolfgang Puck and they are awesome! Totally recommend them!!!

[timkelmom]

Hey Jen, I wonder if we have the same one's. I bought a set of Wolgang Puck stainless steel cookware from one of the wholesale clubs, can't remember which.

I love them. They are easy to clean and cook beautifully. You do have to grease them really well or things will stick. I use a spray (like Pam) it works great.

I will not use teflon anymore as I have had more than one set peel and they don't seem to last very long.

I hope you find something you really love.

[JenPooh]

I got mine from Sam's I think! They probably are the same! :D

[KrisRV]

got mine from Sams too and love them.. they are great.

[missinseattle]

we use stainless steel and cast iron. The stainless steel set we got is the Members Mark from Sam's Club. No problem with sticking- the key with stainless steel is to not cook on too high of a heat- because you don't need to cook on it so high with stainless steel, same goes for the cast iron.

[KrisRV]

Kim, that is so true, people always want to cook on high, the world is in a hurry...

[MonkeyMamma]

we use stainless steel and cast iron.

So do we.

[Emma's#1fan]

I love cast iron. I grew up using it and prefer it. We still have some usable pots and pans we purchased a while back but I have gradually been adding cast iron to my cupboards. I don't think I have used stainless steel. Does it have to be treated like a stainless steel wok?
Patty

[vantage]

I started out 22 years ago with restarant wearever pots and pans. I later gave away and traded them away to replace them. A few had been ruined, that is the bottoms were warped a bit when my mother in law overheated then doused them in the sink of water urrggh.

I have since collected a nice set of antique griswold and similar cast iron fry pans in various sizes. My other pots are stanless, and I have one large anodized pot that is a 16? wide and about 5 inches deep caphalon pro. I also have a caphalon pro sauce pan that a neighbor gave me recently new in a very old box. I think it is the first one you get in a collectable set like grocery stores have as promos.

I also have and want to replace this year a large stock pot that is white enamle on stanless. the bottom is shot after 21 years and I am afraid that enamle will break loose from it in the near future.

I tend to try to stay away from aluminum for several reasons, and cannot live with any non stick pans in the house. We just do not get along those things and I. I like to stir fry on high heat and use what ever utensiles and we are not compatible.

I love the cast iron and know that if taken care of it will last for ever, and if not , it is pretty forgiving and can be re seasoned.

[Jackie]

In addition to my skillets, I've got two cast iron dutch ovens...one with a flat lid and "feet" for cooking over a fire, and one with a rounded lid (no feet). My mom has a very deep skillet, perfect if you fry chicken (which I do NOT!!!) that I'll get "someday"! I keep telling dh I need a really large skillet, because things don't always fit in my 9" one!

[Earthy]

I didn't think 'hard anodized' was teflon but something else?

Also, isn't stainless steel hard to clean up?

[JenPooh]

Ours isn't. If you reheat the pan/pot on the stove for a couple minutes it loosens the food off a bit and wipes clean! :)

[timkelmom]

I'm with Jen. My stainless is easy clean up. The trick is not to cook on high heat, that is when things stick.

[Earthy]

Drats, now I don't know exactly what kind to look for. Stainless steel, hard anodized or cast iron. They all look good.

[kbabe1968]

Some hard-anondized have a teflon coating - so becareful if you don't want teflon.

Hard-anondized to not all have teflon. They start out as shiny, pretty aluminum. They are then sprayed with a chemical (natural compound, not man created - so it exists in nature). After this acid bath it is baked at varying degrees for several hours...I think it's also re acidized every time it changes heat levels.

The process was on Unwrapped a while ago. It's also been on the "How It's Made" on the Discovery Science Channel. :D

[Earthy]

kbobe1968- How do I know if the Rachel Ray pot & pan set that's hard-anodized is teflon coated or not?

Well, pretty much how do I tell if any pan is teflon? When at the store I haven't found any of them say either way.

[Earthy]

Thank goodness for that Discovery Science! :)

[Ohio Mom]

I use the stainless with the copper bottoms and then for the frying pans, I use T-Fal. I've had them for 14 years and they are still in great shape.

[kbabe1968]

Well...it usually says something about the teflon coating.

There are hard anondized without teflon. For example, I have the Emerilware (not because I love Emeril, BELIEVE ME!). MOST of the pans do not have teflon. BUT the 10" fry pan DOES. So does the omlet pan (8" saute). BUT, what they call the family skillet and the sauce pans DO NOT have the teflon coating.

I recall it saying on the box that they were all hard anondized but the 8" and 10" had a nonstick coating. this was on the side of the box set where they listed the contents. They said it outright which ones were "non" stick.

If you buy stainless...you'd know for sure if one was nonstick b/c the surface would be different.

Now, I do LOVE my emerilware. Talk about great pans. I wish I had stainless only because as my skills have developed I hear they are most versitile and easy to clean. IF you get hard anondized DO NOT PUT in the dishwasher and don't use metal utensils - you do have to treat them the same way as you treat teflon - THAT I didn't know before I bought them. Thats another plus to stainless. Pop em in the dishwasher. Use a metal spatula. Scratch the crud out of them.

:)

[kbabe1968]

Thank goodness for that Discovery Science! :)

AMEN SISTER! I'm learning more now than I ever did in school! LOL :D

[Earthy]

Yikes! I put some of my hard-anodized in the dishwasher!