Finding - or building - a better nonstick skillet

My current nonstick skillet is having its coating wear out, so it's time to shop for a replacement. Unfortunately, skillets seem to follow two options:

1. Cast iron skillets, which are great for uniform heaing, but hard to clean and can keep the flavor of whatever you cooked in them last. There was one time I tried going from cooking spicy Mexican food to a giant chocolate chip cookie in the same skillet and hadn't fully removed the tomato and chilli taste - ewww.

2. Nonstick coated skillets that are made of metal that's way too thin for proper heat distribution and home defense use. And it can be hard to get any advance information on how well the coating lasts. For some reason, they always like to advertise how light weight these things are, as if I'll be trying to flick them to flip a pancake.

I have a decent iron skillet, but a nonstick one has its place, too.

So, what I'd like to get is a heavy casting - preferably aluminum or copper, iron would be OK, but thick like a cast iron pan rather than stamped from thin sheet metal - with a nonstick coating. I haven't seen anything like that on the market; anyone have any leads?

If no such items exist ready made, I'm seriously thinking about getting a cast iron skillet that hasn't been pre-seasoned and sending it to an industrial coatings place to have it Teflon or ceramic coated. Has anyone on the forum tried something like that? If so, how much did it cost, and how did it turn out?

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Go to Sam's Club. Get the Members Mark commercial skillet in the size of your choice. Very thick aluminum. Stays flat when heated. Distributes heat very well. Durable nonstick coating. Available in 8" to 14". I have the 8", 10" and 14" My only complaint about them is the rubber handle tends to slide. I recommend gluing them in place. 

I've had good luck with teflon coated stainless steel skillets.  The tricky part is actually finding them.

Here's one:  https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/cuisinart-reg-chef-39-s-classic-pro-nonstick-skillet/3331578

I make fried eggs nearly every morning (wah wah wah I know I know, must be rough Robbie). We've tried all the gimmicky non-sticks you can find. 

Finally my wife bought the All-clad one for an eye watering amount of money. But the non-stick is warranteed for 5 years, and I've used it now just about every morning for over a year (and we throw it in the dishwasher to clean) and it still rocks. 

I hate to say it but I'm a fan. It makes me mad to spend a lot of money on a tool, but it makes me way more mad to throw out a tool that doesn't work well after only a year or two. 

I have had my GreenPans for about 3 years and LOVE them.  You know how they show an egg sliding around the pan on a new skillet, so you buy one, and three months later it doesn't do that anymore?  So far my Green Pans have remained slick as snot on an ice cube.

They are not the most durable.  They're ceramic, but they don't like metal utensils.  I did notice a wee scratch in one after using a butter knife to cut a frittata.

 Homepage | Greenpan

I also have some AllClad, including a non-stick teflon saucepan.  I love the AllClad, but the non-stick is nothing special.  I use the AllClad stuff I have for things that don't need non-stick; omelettes, searing steaks, baking roasts, brazing, etc.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/frugalcooking.com/better-than-cast-iron-carbon-steel/

I have a nitride hardened steel pan. Its great. Cooks like cast iron, cleans nonstick.

every time

Me making 3 eggs sunny side up:  these eggs are stuck to the non-stick pan and I broke my yolks getting them out. 

Wife: did you spray the pan with the Trader Joe's coconut oil?

Me: no, it's a non-stick pan.  Why would I do that?   

first world problems 

I'm getting in the habit of heading to the local restaurant supply store when I need something for the kitchen. Especially if it is something that I use often, or a spatula (not a pancake flipper, but a batter scraper). 

That said, my FIL has some of those GreenPans from Costco and he's used it every day for 3+ years for eggs. Seems to be holding up extremely well, and it has to be safer than Teflon. I think using plastic turners greatly helps longevity. 

Those nitride hardened ones look interesting. I'll have to look out for them. 

Also, whatever you use... Don't forget to use some grease. It is non stick, but it still needs butter/bacon fat/canola oil/something else. 

Teflon pans are like tires, they wear out and you need to replace them periodically.  Fortunately they cost a lot less than tires do. :)

You won't find any that are heavy as a cast iron pan, but the "Tramontina" pans that I use are pretty decent.  No matter what anyone says, IMHO you need both.  You won't be searing any steaks in a teflon pan, and trying to fry eggs in a cast iron pan is just an exercise in frustration, no matter how good the cure is.

I suspect that a custom teflon coating on a cast iron pan will not last any longer than a commercial pan does, and is likely to cost a lot more.

One of the keys to owning a non-stick pan is that you have to hand wash it.  DON'T throw it in the dishwasher!  For whatever reason that makes the non-stick coating less... non-sticky (is that a word?  maybe more sticky?).  You don't need to buy super expensive pans, but you should definitely avoid the really cheap ones (coating wears out fast) and the really thin ones (doesn't spread heat well, overheats spots, then coating wears out fast).  I think maybe tramontina might make some good but affordable pans, or just get a thick but mid priced pan from one of the big box stores.  Also, don't scratch the F out of them with metal spatulas.  No non-stick coating will stand up to that for very long.  Oxo makes some nice plastic spatulas for not too much.  

In reply to JBinMD :

I take my non stick right to the sink when done and use the spray function of my faucet to clean the pan while it's hot. Cleans right up, no soap, no abrasive. Wipe with a towel and done.

I'm a cast iron guy but my nephew is slowing converting me to a high carbon skillet guy.  All the advantages of cast iron like seasoning and easy to clean but without the weight.

I use some Cuisinart skillets that are at least a decade old. I can fry eggs and just slide 'em out. Cleans up with a wipe of a cloth.

Interesting.  I love how easy it is to clean my cast iron pan.   95% of the time I just spray a dab of water/oil mix in it, wipe it with a paper towel or napkin.  If I have roasted chicken in the oven or something I might take it over to the sink, but even then it wipes out super easy.  No soap, no scrubbing, no scraping.

It is damn heavy though.

This is the first I have heard of high carbon skillets.  I need to do more research on them in case I decide I need a 2nd pan in my kitchen.

An alternative to cast iron, good, polished stainless.  And then season it.

I was considering going to town on a cast iron pan to polish it to a mirror finish before seasoning it, and then I saw some people who were seasoning stainless.  It's pretty amazing how eggs don't stick to it.

Clean it like cast iron, other than putting an extra spray of oil on it for storage.

I also have a non stick All Clad that I use for omelettes, which is awesome.

Interesting topic. We have two CI fry pans and, while I like them, they are just so stinkin heavy! I was cooking a dish in the oven, and the 12" pan, plus the pan full of food was too much for my wife to get out of the oven. It took me two hands! Something lighter is great. The nitrid hardened steel sounds great.

According to CooksIllustrated (America's Test Kitchen), they recommend the OXO brand, "Good Grips" line for a nonstick pan. 

For nonstick we have Calphalon Commercial Nonstick which is lifetime warranted. The coatings usually last about 7or 8 years of 4x-5x a week use, and when they do wear out you send it back and they send you a new one.  The pans are nice thick aluminum. 

You have to be careful because like all high-end brands they have a cheaper commodity line too. These don't have the lifetime warranty and are not as heavily built. 

BTW, another choice like cast iron is carbon steel- and I'm starting to see a lot of them come seasoned.  They are really cheap for even good one.

WonkoTheSane (FS) said:

According to CooksIllustrated (America's Test Kitchen), they recommend the OXO brand, "Good Grips" line for a nonstick pan. 

They also point out that the ceramic coated "non-stick" are not all that great.  Should help keep some choices out.

I do know I hate those buttons that hold the handle on.  Cleaning the eggs out around those things make me cringe every time

Thanks to everyone who responded! I'm guessing I may have had the idea stick around after seeing an industrial nonstick ceramic coating intended to repel iron slag. It was tough enough you could scrape any slag that stuck to it off with a screwdriver without scratching the coating. No idea if eggs would have stuck to it or if it would have leached poison into the food, though. :)

I run tramontina pro line for my job stick. It's commercial grade stuff I get at costco. Basically the same as the members mark from sam's, but the handle is red. Every pro chef I've ever known swears by them under the simple understanding that E36 M3 wears out.