Do you have and like Cuisinart cookware?
I like cast iron, but my husband likes to cook with non-stick. Is Cuisinart fairly decent or should we look at another brand? Any details regarding quality and longevity, stove-to-oven are welcome. Thanks!
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I disagree with a couple of other things. Firstly, there are varieties of non-stick coatings, and not all of them have been implicated as potential health problems. For example: ceramics (often inexpensive but apparently don't hold up well) and the ceramic-titanium in Scanpan (which is pricey, but I have some and have been impressed; you can use metal utensils with it). I don't know anything about the All Clad non-sticks and don't see anything immediately on their website.
Secondly, it's not the chipping away that's the problem. It's the fumes they emit when heated. That's a problem that might be easily solved by proper use, ventilation, and maybe the infrared thermometer Jan Weber recommends. But, of course, it's even more easily solved by making a different choice of pan.
Good luck! Thanks for starting the conversation.
https://food52.com/hotline/search?q=non+stick
About browning - that's a good basic tip I forgot to mention. If you want your food to brown when frying or sauteeing, don't move it around in the pan. Using enough fat will allow for a consistent browning as well as there won't be patches where the heat-transfer is uneven.
My advice is unless you husband cooks a lot of pancakes (in which case you might invest in a griddle pan) you should have him try stainless steel. I guarantee he'll be impressed.
It's weird because I have an electric stainless steel pancake griddle that works great, but I think it's because I can see exactly what temperature it is at all times. We also have had great success with ceramic covered cast iron. Thanks for your insight. I'd love to get him off the non-sticks.
The reason why items like fried potatoes and such might be sticking is for two reasons - first is that you may not be using enough fat when you cook. With a stainless pan, using just cooking spray is simply not enough - you need to use a decent amount of oil, butter, or (especially with potatoes) duck fat. Another possibility is that you could have the flame up too high. Modern multi-layer stainless pans are so well conductive to heat that if you have a gas hob, you might only need to turn it to the medium setting to get temps of 300F or higher and above on your pan in less than 4 minutes. If you feel uncomfortable estimating the temperature of your pans, I would recommend investing in an infrared thermometer. They're much cheaper now than they used to be, and they are perfect for getting an accurate instant reading on the surface of your pans and pots when on the heat. This way you'll know if the pan is too hot or not hot enough and will prevent over or undercooking, which also is a reason for food sticking and burning.