Overview
Whether you fancy yourself a gourmet chef, or you acknowledge that you’re just a wannabe with dreams of being on MasterChef, you know the importance of a good set of non-stick cookware to make it easier to get things done in the kitchen. Although most professional chefs use stainless steel cookware and then various oils, butters, and fats to keep food from sticking, it’s just not something that’s feasible for daily use in the home. Non-stick cookware helps us keep the fat content down, but still getting a good flavor from foods and making the cooking and clean up process a whole lot easier.
Which Non Stick Cookware Is Best?
There is a lot of debate as to which cookware is currently the best on the market. It really comes down to just a few factors. Of course you want your non-stick pans to not stick, and this is the primary consideration, but a secondary concern that has gotten more and more prevalent in recent years is that of health issues. More and more consumers are choosing pans that are made with non-toxic substances, and are even willing to put up with a little stickiness in order to get it.
We’ve gone over some of the most popular non-stick cookware on the market, and thoroughly reviewed it based on performance, user satisfaction, safety concerns, and price vs. value. We’ve condensed these reviews here for you so that you can quickly get an idea of what your options are. For more in-depth coverage be sure to read the expanded review for a product that catches your attention.
Orgreenic Recap
Orgreenic pans are one of the most hotly contested items on our site. It seems like there’s two camps on this one, one side that likes them and says that they work, and another side that detests them and says that they don’t. It might be easy to think that they both can’t be right, but it could be that they are. Depending on a host of factors, including cooking styles, whether the pans were properly prepped before using them, and whether they are in fact authentic Orgreenic cookware.
Definitely take the time to go through our full review, and then peruse the comments at the bottom to help you make the right determination on whether to try them or not.
See our full review of Orgreenic
NuWave Perfect Green Frying Pan Recap
This is one pan that got our Thumbs Up, and has the reviews to back it up. Real world users have said that they’re able to use less oil for their favorite dishes, and don’t have to worry about the food sticking to the pan at all. When it comes to using these new lines of “green” cookware, you have to measure them up against other non-stick pans to see if they work as well.
In the case of the NuWave Perfect Green Frying Pan, it uses this new technology to provide the same caliber non-stickiness that you’d expect, but without the harmful materials some other brands have.
See our full review of the NuWave Perfect Green Frying Pan
Green Earth Frying Pan
The Green Earth Frying pan is trying to contend with other models made of metal, while being made of ceramic. It’s definitely a head-scratcher how they’re able to make a ceramic pan so non-stick, but one clue is the unique design that is used on the pan’s surface. It looks a bit like honeycomb and makes it so foods just slide right off.
We liked this pan, and recommended putting it on your short list of possibilities. There are a few others at this price point with similar features, so it’s just a matter of narrowing down the field.
See our full review of the Green Earth Frying Pan
T Fal Non-Stick Pan
T Fal is the old standby when it comes to non-stick cookware. They were the first pan to show how a fried egg comes right off of it, without the need of using butter or oil to fry it. That seems to be the ultimate test when it comes to non-stick pans, as egg whites particularly have a knack for sticking to hot surfaces.
But T Fal also has a lot of controversy in regards to the materials they use being safe for your health and for the environment. That’s why all of these green pans have been coming out, as a way to steal some market share from this cookware giant.
See our full review of the T Fal Non-Stick Pan
What to Look For
You want to make sure that the cookware you’re considering is free of dangerous chemicals, and either comes in a set, or has other pieces that you can buy singly until you have a set. Nothing makes a kitchen look more amateur than having a hodge podge collection of different pieces of cookware. It’s a good idea to buy your pieces one at a time so you can get the best set gradually, so you’ll also want to make sure that the frying pan you’re considering also has a soufflé pan, a spaghetti pot, and a saucepan available to purchase so you can have a matching set down the road.
What to Avoid
You’ll want to avoid cookware sets that are suspiciously cheap. If you think you’re getting the deal of the century, you probably aren’t. Good cookware comes with a price, and you don’t want to bargain shop on this one. This is where your food is getting cooked, and one of the last things it touches before it makes its way into your mouth. You don’t want to be using cookware that was created in some third world country using materials and manufacturing processes that you wouldn’t approve of if you saw. By spending a little more you can be sure you’re getting a product from a company that stands behind what it produces.
Does Non Stick Cookware Cause Cancer?
One of the reasons for the rise of all of these “green” pans is that they are supposedly made from materials that can withstand high heats, and don’t emit the dangerous and toxic chemicals that were known to cause cancer. Dupont has come under a lot of scrutiny because of its Teflon coating containing PFOAs in it that have been shown to cause cancer, as well as low birth weight in babies. They’re hasn’t been any conclusive proof that there’s a link between non-stick cookware and cancer, but since it might be a possibility it’s not really something you want to gamble with. Why worry about heating temperatures and using plastic or wooden utensils when you can just get something that doesn’t have the potential to harm you?
Is Non Stick Cookware Safe?
So far as it has been determined, there has not been a conclusive link showing that non-stick cookware is dangerous to use. Especially the new models that are coming out these days, like the ones that use ceramic instead of metal. By using ceramic they don’t need to be coated, because the ceramic is already non-stick. The reason so many of these non-stick pans come under scrutiny is because they must be coated with a non-stick coating, which can burn off and scrape off, presenting the problem.
Not a Light Decision
You may think that picking a piece of cookware should be relatively easy. But there are so many different brands out there, each with their own features, benefits, and drawbacks, that it can quickly get complicated. By following some of our tips on how to choose the right ones, you can safe some time and effort. Ultimately this is what you’re using to prepare food for yourself and your family, so it’s worth the extra time and deliberation to make sure that you make the right choice. A good set of cookware will last you for years, so take the time to get a good set and you’ll be happy you did.
Some of the green cookware that’s come out in recent years has successfully made its case with us. There needs to be an evolution from using old fashioned methods of non-stick coating. With the technology we have these days, we should be able to make a pan that is entirely made up of non-stick material, that way we don’t have to coat something that isn’t non-stick with a coating that is. We would go with well-reviewed “green” non-stick cookware that doesn’t have PFOAs and that still provides a quality non-stick experience.