Non-stick vs CI vs Blue Carbon vs SS

(CI = Cast Iron, SS = Stainless Steel.)

I really like to cook fried eggs and cheese in non-stick.

For the last few years (4 or 5?) I’ve been buying a $15 to $30 non-stick skillet, and using it till it starts to stick.
Toss it and get another.

Treating them as throwaway cost-of-cooking, for $5/month, I get a great non-stick experience. (I’m genetically LBYM, so getting to viewing these as throwaway, was difficult!)

Let me describe “non-stick”. I put a TBSP EVOO in the pan, heat briefly on medium heat, drop an egg on it, cover, cook til white is firm and yolk barely jiggles.
Non-stick means the egg slides loosely around in the pan, and out of the pan onto a plate, no utensil needed.
Same with cheese. Oil the pan, put some cheese in the pan, heat til cheese starts to bubble, add an egg, loosely break egg yolk and stir into the hot cheese. The mixture slides loosely/easily around in the pan and out of the pan onto a plate.
Clean-up is wiping with a paper towel.
Or, no clean-up required.

I’ve tried circulon, analon, t-fal, "stone/granite/speckled, golfball-like divots, anodized AL, ceramic, cheap ($15), expensive ($30), etc.
WRT non-stick, the make and coating does not seem to matter. The “non-stick” character: $15 last 3-5 months, $30 lasts 4-6 months. $20, $25… last similar length of time.

I most recently got a Ninja Foodi Never Stick. The claim is use any utensil (metal is ok). Blah blah blah.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ninja-Foodi-NeverStick-Essential-…
It cost $30, I expect the non-stick to last… 6 months.

I have experience with various stainless steel, and with All-Clad SS. Keep stirring, medium or maybe medium-high heat … it’s fine.
SS is good for sauce pans, stock pans, etc. Clean-up requires effort.
Skillets… the different brands/qualities of SS is stick and burn.

I have an old, slick/smooth CI skillet that seems properly seasoned. A couple times per year, I’ll smear a light coat of oil on it, and season it. This supposedly maintains and “improves” the non-stick character of the patina.
It is “sorta” non-stick. It sticks more than non-stick, but less than SS.
If I oil it, put some cheese and egg in and cook as described… it “sorta sticks”.
If I don’t watch it… it’ll burn and stick.
Clean-up requires some effort.

I much prefer the true non-stick experience.

I had a wok thing, that developed the “non-stick” patina similar to the CI skillet, and similar to the skillet was merely “sorta” non-stick.

@PSU and anyone else, what is your experience with the Blue Carbon as non-stick?
And CI, seasoned to its non-stick character.
Is it truly non-stick as described above? Do eggs slide easily around in the pan and out onto the plate?
Or is it “sorta”?

Or, am I just doing CI wrong?

:alien:
ralph

Remember the joke about why to use oil to cook kale, so it’ll slide out of the pan into the trash more easily?
Maybe use a new non-stick pan, too?

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It all comes down to personal choices, avoiding aluminum was an early decision, anodized aluminum may be safer as far as any dementia concerns, but I think avoiding acidic foods in aluminum was the best thought… So for some things, we have tossed, then come back to Circulon, a hard finish, seems to hold up well.

But my own choice has been cast iron for a long time for the earlier days when I was doing an omelet daily, a pat of real butter, added fork beat eggs, maybe with egg whites added, onto chopped up Spam, or just 3 eggs, cheddar, and a bunch of jalapeños, let it go a little bit, fold it closed, and maybe another flip… Well, that was a bit much, so lately I dropped back to just a bit of real butter, a couple/three eggs, fork beaten, by the time I reach for the plate and a silicon spatula, shift the mix from one side to the other, and one flip, it’s done… load the plate, a little pepper and I’m outta there… Rare stickiness and only if DW has sautéed veggies in the pan… Never soap, just a simple rinse, it’s ready for the next time… https://ibb.co/dKd5zrx

Tried stainless, always sticky, gone…

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Do you need a gas stove for cast iron?

Maybe not, but we went to gas long ago, natural gas is used here or our kitchen stove, clothes dryer, furnace and a fireplace insert I added many years ago, it’s the more economical choice here in Sonoma County, CA. It responds to changes quicker, and doesn’t spin that meter like Elec would… I’m still wired for an electric stove, but it’s turned off at the breaker panel. Same with the old dryer outlet, I used to use an extension cord off it to power my welder, but have since added another outlet neat the garage door so I can weld outside in the driveway if needed…

Anyway NG is just handier… Today there are also induction stovetops but I think this pans need to be flat. Not sure cast iron would be so good on glass topped stoves either…

SG Do you need a gas stove for cast iron?

I’ve successfully cooked in CI on gas and electric coil burners.

I’ve not used it on induction or the flat(glass) cook tops. I assume CI would work on those heat sources, too.
Hopefully someone can shed more light?

:sun_with_face:
ralph

I make two eggs over easy about once a week in these. One to start, and the second one to flip into. I preheat the pans and put about a teaspoon of real butter (covers entire surface of the 5.5" pan) in each and it takes me 30 seconds to cook the first side. Then flip the eggs into the second pan for about 10 seconds, then slide them both on to a plate.

I’ve had these for about 3-4 years and they are still non-stick for me. No dishwasher, I prefer handwashing and maybe that’s what keeps them non-stick (who knows). They look and work like brand new and they both still have a nice shine on them.

I really like them a lot, and would not hesitate to buy them again when that time comes.

https://www.amazon.com/Gotham-Nonstick-Titanium-Ceramic-Coat…

YMMV,
Troy

Epicourous likes the Zwilling Madura Plus.

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/best-nonstick-pan-t…

They do not discuss the lifetime of any of the pans in the article specifically but give tips for caring for the pans.

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Our CI works fine on our electric glass cooktop. I use stainless steel scrubbers, steel wool for pots and pans, on both my CI and SS and cleanup is relatively effortless.

I bought some sort of teflon non-stick pan, the best they had at BBBY, about a year ago. Religiously use wood or silicon only for eggs, cheese steaky things.

Everything else, hard core cast iron. Seasoned with canola, sponge with water if the seasoning fails. If the seasoning is perfect, which is the case at least 75% of the time, just wipe with a paper towel.

Fave breakfast: I started baking sourdough in 2016 when the artisan bread lady hit $12/loaf. Now I can do it in my sleep. A slice of fresh sourdough toast buttered with avocado, slice of costco smoked salmon on that, a fried egg cooked in browned butter so hot and fast in the CI pan, the white gets crispy before the yolk gets hard.

We have a calphalon steamer, but it’ll be curb alerted if/when out induction range arrives. We ordered it June '21, expecting August '21 delivery, then they said November '21, then they said April '22, now they’re saying Sept '22.

If/when it gets here, it’ll be all CI and anything else with enough ferrous content.

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Do you need a gas stove for cast iron?

Absolutely not. We use CI on gas, electric, in the oven, in the traeger, over an infrared burner, and it’ll work great on the induction range we hope to see this year.

Aluminum won’t work on the induction range; only pots/pans with substantial steel in the bottom.

CA is banning gas in new construction, so I’d anticipate a lot of new concepts in pots/pans as induction use increases.

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Induction cooktops use alternating magnetic fields, as I recall. So anything ferric will work. Steel and cast iron. Aluminum wouldn’t work.

1poorguy

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Ceramic or cast iron (needs to be well seasoned–once you do it in the first place, it’s easy to wash and maintain). I wouldn’t use a chemical-coated pan (teflon).

I have a small cheap ceramic frying pan (big enough for 2-3 scrambled eggs or 1 over easy) I bought years ago at a discount store and a bigger Green Pan I bought at Target a couple of years ago. Easy to clean.

You can use cast iron on an induction burner, but ceramic on aluminum can’t be used on it.

Cast iron when I used to use the counter top.

But now it’s microwave or the Instant pot. Don’t remember the last time I used the cook top.

Oven for pizza and baking occasionally. If I could bake in the Instant pot…

Grill (charcoal) on weekends only esp when the kids and grand kids stop by.

When we did still fry, we did not have much luck with non-stick, but we never spent a lot on pans anyway. Only I had the patience to use the CI right, so I was the cook. (First observation: most people use way too much heat. Sticking eggs means you are cooking too hot. Butter or Pam and low heat did not result in sticking food for me. CI cleanup was mostly wipe and put away. YMMV

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Let me describe “non-stick”. I put a TBSP EVOO in the pan, heat briefly on medium heat, drop an egg on it, cover, cook til white is firm and yolk barely jiggles.

Maybe one reason your pans are not staying “non-stick” for long is that you may not be adequately heating your pan. Heating it briefly on medium pan may mean the pan is not up to temperature. With a little oil in a properly heated pan, just about any pan is non-stick.

@PSU and anyone else, what is your experience with the Blue Carbon as non-stick?

The other day I just linked to the first carbon steel pan when I did a search. Some makers says their carbon steel pans are blue steel and others are black steel. Just different treatments to a carbon steel pan. My carbon steel pan is nonstick due to me seasoning it about 5 times before its first use, cleaning it with just hot water and a sponge, and using a small amount of oil every time I cook. My only problem is that it can get too hot and cook an egg too fast if I don’t control the heat from the stovetop.

More info on carbon steel.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/carbon-steel-vs-cast-iron-pans…
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/9589-carbon-steel-v…

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If/when it gets here, it’ll be all CI and anything else with enough ferrous content.

Carbon steel has more ferrous content than cast iron.

PSU

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Really? Cast iron is…well…iron. By definition that is ferrous.

Carbon steel has carbon in it. A small percentage, but it’s there. So it is less than 100% iron (ferrous).

Unless I’m missing something…

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Carbon steel has carbon in it. A small percentage, but it’s there. So it is less than 100% iron (ferrous).
Cast iron has a small percentage of carbon in it as well.

Carbon steel is ~99% iron, cast iron is ~97% iron.

Carbon steel has more ferrous content than cast iron.

Carbon steel is ~99% iron, cast iron is ~97% iron.

Viewed from another angle, since cast iron pans are significantly thicker and heavier, pans made from it could be said to have even more ferrous content. :sunglasses:

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Hi RHinCT,

“since cast iron pans are significantly thicker and heavier, pans made from it could be said to have even more ferrous content. 8-)”

From a non-humorous view, CI is slower to heat and retains heat longer. Mass …

I tried a small test:

I put our CI cornbread skillet on our induction CT with a little bit of water and a did the same with an iron skillet about the same size.

The iron started boiling much quicker than the CI did.

Not totally scientific but the difference was quite noticeable.

I suspect the lower amount of mass to be heated by the same level heat source.

Gene
All holdings and some statistics on my Fool profile page
http://my.fool.com/profile/gdett2/info.aspx

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The iron started boiling much quicker than the CI did.

As you say, the lower mass makes the difference. I can’t be bothered with the fiddling required for cast iron (though I have some) and thin iron (never tried it).

My primary pan is an all-clad, a layer of aluminum sandwiched between outer layers of stainless steel. I put some butter down before cooking hamburgers. Not non-stick, but I have no problem flipping or removing food with the right tool. Yes, I have to scrape and scour a bit, so what.

The rest that I generally use are stainless steel with a thick layer of aluminum exposed on the bottom. The aluminum is not perfectly flat, or the glass stove top isn’t, so contact is not perfect. When I boil water I will turn the pot occasionally so that it makes best contact at new parts of the burner. If I ever go with induction that will stop being an issue.