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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.