The French National Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a bill aimed at restricting the manufacture and sale of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” The MPs, backed by the government, voted to exclude kitchen utensils from the scope of the text.
Thanks to an intense lobbying push, manufacturers of frying pans and saucepans — including the SEB group, which owns Tefal — are exempt from this ban under the proposed law penned by French Green MPs.
Majority groups initially tried to delay the ban on kitchen utensils until 2030 — a timetable refused by the French Green MPs who instead suggested an exemption until 2026.
Stainless steel cookware is cheap, easy to clean, and extremely durable. Nonstick pans are for people who don’t know shit.
It’s not planned obsolescence but something remarkably similar. They can be made for cheaper, go to shit eventually, then they wind up in a landfill while the consumer buys yet another. All wrapped up in slick marketing.
Stainless + cast iron is all you need.
I’d add carbon steel pans as well. They’re the good tradeoff between stainless and cast iron.
I like cast iron mainly for baking (Dutch oven, etc) and carbon steel for pans.
Yeah, I do that too. Cast iron is amazing for stuff like that.
It was on Kickstarter which makes me a bit nervous, but I found a set of carbon steel clad pans from a new company called Strata Cookware. They’re the weight of something like an All-Clad but with a carbon steel top sheet. Pretty excited to try them out.
I prefer to have all 3: stainless, cast iron and carbon steel. Personally I have a carbon steel wok that does double duty as a frying pan.
Cast iron doesn’t like dishwashers though
You’re not wrong, but it only takes 30-60 seconds to clean by hand. Scrub with chainmail and water then a light wash with a non-lye soap like dawn to remove excess oils. The soap isn’t even necessary if you use really hot water then wipe it clean with a rag.
True but needing all kinds of special treatment and equipment just for one pan type is a pain
Once your pan is seasoned it takes so little care. Just give it a fast hand wash like any non stick pan. Dish soaps used to be bad but these days they’re gentle enough to not be a problem.
To me, what is a pain is having to buy a pan every couple years. Or getting a new non stick pan and having roommates use metal on it when I specifically said not to.
The durability of cast iron makes it less fuss, imo.
Yeah the durability is the greatest thing. I can use metal spatulas and scrape away. No need to baby it, it’s literally a hunk of metal. I don’t even give a shit how the seasoning looks anymore, if food doesn’t stick badly it’s all good.
People overdo it to be honest. I just stopped caring and started using dish soap. Zero problems whatsoever. So it’s not more work than a regular pan.
I’ve hit upon the technique of just storing my cast iron pan in the oven. After using it, I wash it gently with dish soap to get the food/oil off, dry it, and put it back in the oven, maybe with a light wipe of oil. That way, it gets seasoned incidentally every time I bake something. It’s super easy, and stays nice and shiny now.
It doesn’t need any special treatment. I season my cast iron pans no more than a few times a year, and usually only because I did something dumb like making tomato sauce in it instead of using the stainless steel pan. There is a minimum skill level, but the bar isn’t high at all.
I don’t even remember the last time I seasoned mine. Definitely not even once a year.
You don’t need any special equipment. Chain mail is useful to have in general though (not just for cast iron), but not mandatory.
There are people who go crazy with cast iron pans, seasoning and whatnot. I have had the same cast iron pan for around 30 years and I washed it by hand like all the other dishes before I had a dishwasher and now I wash it in a dishwasher, it works the same all these years.
Imo pans just take too much space in the dishwasher so I’ll just wash them immediately after use. Takes like 30 seconds because the pan still being hot helps immensely. After drying I like to oil them, just because I like how they look oiled, literally no other reason.
You really do need to make sure that you’re drying it, though. If the dishwasher doesn’t do a good job of drying it, and you don’t hand-dry it, you will rust cast iron. And, yes, you can strip some of the surface off and get a rusted piece of cast iron back into shape, but it’s a pain in the rear. Stainless steel doesn’t care if it sits around with water on it.
Going from non-stick to stainless steel buys me not having to worry about using metal utensils. It’s gonna last a lot longer.
But going from stainless steel to cast iron doesn’t really buy me much. I mean, cast iron tends to be thick, but if you want, you can get thick-walled cooking implements that have a stainless steel surface too.
The only thing I can think of that cast iron buys relative to stainless steel is maybe if someone wants some extra iron added to their food – something that might matter more for women who are menstruating – but if one wants iron supplements, I mean, one can just take iron supplements, and that gives more control than the amount coming out of cookware.
A proper stainless steel frying pan here costs about 100€+, more than a similar sized carbon steel or cast iron would cost
That’s crazy, depending on what you mean by “proper”. However I lucked out getting a full set of nice five ply stainless at a closeout for under $200
I also got a couple cast iron skillets on sale.
Overall, I spent less getting a full set of stainless plus 3 cast iron skillets, than I did on my previous set of non-stick about ten years ago, and these should last much longer. Is it too early to say this is my last set of cookware?
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They’re not really easy to clean, but I’m sure I’m also “cooking wrong”. With that said I only ever use cast iron so I don’t really care
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Oh you put them in the dishwasher? I guess I didn’t think of that
The heavy duty soaps used in dishwasher soap will strip the seasoned layer off your pans. Then you will need to re-season them. Some people like to make seasoning your pans into an extreme ritual that can be tedious. But if you’ve got stuff so hardcore stuck to your pan that a little soaking doesn’t solve the problem then your seasoned layer is screwed anyways. So you might as well let the dishwasher do the hard work for you.
Love being able to use steel wool on my wok without worry
I fucking hate nonstick pans. I’m currently renting a condo on vacation and all the cookware is nonstick. I’m not willing to trade cancer for the minor inconvenience of my food to not stick to my pan. Not to mention, since it’s a rental condo, and a hundred random people have used it, they are all scratched to shit. I’m low key tempted to go to Ross mid trip for a stainless pan.
To avoid stuff sticking to stainless steel, is the secret heating up the oily pan to a high temperature before adding the ingredients?
Not quite that simple, but
Actually, you heat the pan without oil first - this is important. To test the temp, you can add a splash of water. The perfect temp is when the water pools together and bounces around. Once the pan is nice and hot, add oil. Let it get hot - use med-high heat. From there it is non-stick and you can adjust to your cooking temp. If you are dealing with really sticky food, you can throw out that initial hot oil, then add some fresh oil, bring it just to cooking temp and add your food. It sounds slightly complicated and takes a little practice, but if you do this, your stainless steel pans will work better than non-stick pans. Also, for deep cleaning your pans, you can soak with spent lemons or oranges and rinds. Can also add baking soda for extra cleaning power. For the outside of your pans, use barkeeper’s friend once a year. Incorporate all this and you have excellent buy it for life stainless steel pans.
Any tips for eggs? I can’t keep eggs from sticking to save my life when using stainless, even with generous oil and/or butter.
Moar butter
Add water and poach
Turn down the heat
Try the methods I explained and play with the temps. You may need to get it hotter before the oil, or after you put the oil in. Try getting the oil super hot, tossing it and then putting in new oil and getting that hot. Try messing with the temps each time until you figure it out. Once you do, you’ll get a feel for it and have way less trouble. The thickness of your pan plays into how quickly it will heat. I do this same method for my wok but since it’s so thin and less conductive, it instantly heats.
Are you struggling with fried eggs or scrambled?
Hmm, yeah I’ll have to experiment. Fried eggs I’ve mostly got, but scrambled just ends up leaving a thin stuck mess every time.
Don’t give up! Fried eggs are much easier. I’ve got mine on lock. I’ll sometimes do the double oil trick with scrambled eggs. I cook mine low and slow, which I think is a little more difficult to get the oil just right. When I do a faster cook and constantly move them, I’ve had better results.
I find it much easier to cook scrambled eggs in a well-seasoned carbon steel or cast iron pan. You can do it in stainless, but it’s definitely more finicky.
as someone who’d worked in the restaurant industry i second this.
Yeah, I mean, I don’t have any objection to use of nonstick cookware, but seriously, as long as you put some oil on the pan and don’t let what you’re cooking burn, it really isn’t that big of a deal.
And if you use steel cookware, you don’t have to worry about avoiding metal utensils that might damage nonstick cookware.