Steel vs. Nonstick Pans

Creating your favorite dishes requires the right pan for your needs.

Over the past few years, network and cable television have expanded their shows on food preparation, famous chefs, culinary contests and food tours. The heightened attention to culinary delights also has put the spotlight on cookware types and styles. Home stores are now offering higher-end cookware in addition to low- and medium-range cookware to satisfy a wider audience, including those interested in achieving professional results at home. Stainless steel pans are an increasingly popular choice among home chefs, in addition to nonstick pans.

Carbon Steel

Carbon steel pans are made from rolled or hammered sheets of steel material. These types of pans are typically used as woks or paella pans. The steel must be seasoned with oil or butter and cooked over a high temperature. Seasoning the pan creates a thin layer of oxidized fat to prevent food from sticking to the surface of the steel.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel pans have become more popular in recent years due to their durability and appearance in high-end kitchen implement stores. Stainless steel pans are made from a steel alloy that contains either nickel or chromium and can be found with copper bottoms to promote improved transfer of heat. High-quality stainless steel pans cook at an even temperature and resist scratches and dents.

Coated Nonstick

Nonstick pans can be made from aluminum or thin steel and coated with a polymer to prevent food from sticking to the pan. No oil or butter is needed to season the pan and food can be cooked with or without additional oil or butter. It has been reported by sources such as the Good Housekeeping Research Institute (GHRI) that nonstick pans cooked at high temperatures can potentially leech the polymer coating chemicals into food or flake off into food while cooking. However, the researchers involved in the GHRI report concluded that nonstick pans are not considered hazardous if they are not overheated.

Hard-Anodized Nonstick

Hard-anodizing produces a thicker nonstick coating over aluminum cookware. Some hard-anodized nonstick pans have a coating created from natural sand that covers the aluminum pan. However, not all hard-anodized cookware is free of polymers. Hard-anodized cookware may be more durable than regularly anodized nonstick but there is still a limit to the life of the coating.

Length of Use

Stainless and carbon steel pans can be used to cook a variety of foods. Any type of utensil can be used to flip, stir and scrape the cookware. Nonstick pans, because of their polymer coating, cannot withstand the scraping of metal utensils against the coating. The coating will eventually scrape or flake off. Hard-anodized nonstick pans can also break down after a period of time.

Nonstick pans are considered limited-use cookware. This is due to the breakdown of the polymer coating on the pans. When the polymer breaks down, it can become rusty and the pan can be much harder to cook food upon and clean afterward. At that point, the pan must be replaced.

Stainless steel or carbon steel are considered "lifetime" cookware because of their durability and lack of a coating that breaks down over time. Stainless steel and carbon steel cookware can be less expensive over the long term because they do not have to be replaced every few years.

References

• "Good Housekeeping": Nervous About Nonstick?
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Fluorinated Telomers