This post is part of a series called “35 Days of Favorites”, in honor of my 35th birthday. You can read more about the details here…
At the risk of sounding like Rapunzel, I have to say, I really love my frying pan.
For years, we had a frying pan with the usual non-stick coating on it. I knew for a long time that we should get some healthier cookware, but I kept procrastinating, because I had no idea what to buy instead, and I was sure it would be expensive.
When our frying pan starting shedding flakes of non-stick coating into our food, I knew the time had come to make a change.
After reading this blog post on safe and natural cookware, I was even more motivated to find something else.
To my surprise, I didn’t need to make as many changes as I thought I would. I already had glass baking dishes in many sizes, and when I checked my pots, I found they were all stainless steel.
That left me with muffin tins, cookie sheets, and a frying pan.
In my dreams, I would love to buy a Stoneware baking sheet and muffin pan.
While I don’t have the budget for that right now, I decided to at least do something about the frying pan, since the flakes in our food had to stop.
When it comes to healthy frying pans, there aren’t a ton of options. Ceramic is said to be better, but when you do your research, it turns out that many ceramic frying pans have harmful coatings on them, as well.
That left us with cast iron or stainless steel. Ben was very leery about a cast iron frying pan, because of having to season it regularly. Since he uses the frying pan much more than I do, it seemed like a good idea to let him have a lot of say in this choice.
But EVERYBODY talks about what a nightmare it is to clean stainless steel. Even the article about safe and natural cookware said that while it was fairly safe to cook with, she chose not to use it because of the cleaning issue.
We decided to give it a try anyway, and found an awesome stainless steel pan at Home Sense for half the usual price. We brought it home, tested it out, and….
We love it!
(Photo: Honey Cloud Pancakes made in our stainless steel frying pan. She’s a beauty!)
The only thing that really sticks are fried eggs, but I’ve found that with a bit of soaking, and then scrubbing with a paste made from baking soda and a little bit of water, everything comes off quite easily.
So yes, I do have to scrub a little, but it seems like a little bit of effort is not a very high price to pay for chemical-free cookware.
For everyone out there who wants to stop using frying pans with coatings that are leaching chemicals into your food, but feel apprehensive about stainless steel, this is me encouraging you to try it! And if you’re ambitious enough to give cast iron a try, do it!
It might not be as hard as you think!
Alright, time for you to share your frying pan preferences with me! Anyone out there using cast iron, and it’s no big deal? Someone else who loves stainless steel? On the fence about what to buy? Any other thoughts on using safe cookware?
Or maybe you don’t think it’s a big deal to use nonstick coating?;) Tell me how you feel about frying pans! (Remember, you get entered in the draw for a prize at the end of 35 Days of Favorites for every comment you make!)
Ordinary Days 
Cast iron frying pans are the only pans I use to make crepes. I have 2 and I love them. But, when I wash them, I ensure that they are dried immediately and then rubbed with a little oil. That is that. The first crepe usually sticks badly but after that, the rest come out beautifully. I also only use glass or aluminum baking pans (love my aluminum baking sheets) but I also have a bunch of stoneware (I hosted a PC party the month the stoneware was on sale and got a bunch for free or really cheap) so I only use stoneware for my pizzas. As my non-stick frying pans are getting towards the end of their life, I will contemplate stainless just because of you!
So out of curiosity, what makes cast iron so good for crepes, specifically? Would you use cast iron for frying anything else?
Don’t know! Just what I have always used. I haven’t really tried other things in it but I guess I should, hey? Do some in-house research!
I have a cast iron frying pan, but I need to season it initially. I must admit, I loved my Dutch oven… It is cast iron also…
I have yet to switch over my frying pans. After switching my pots to stainless, though, I for sure will be doing that. I love my pots! And I love that they are not leaching chemicals into our food! I did switch all my baking sheets to stainless steel quite some time ago. I love them! The bottoms of my cookies now come out a lovely golden brown color instead of a little too much on the brown side. And although I now have to use a little cooking spray for some items, it sure beats non-stick coating!
Okay, tell me about stainless steel baking sheets. I have one that I got as a gift – where would I find more?
I buy mine through the Valley Rehab program in Winkler. They’re amazing! And inexpensive! I think they’re around $12 each?
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I noticed you haven’t mentioned anything about aluminum? Any reason why you wouldn’t use those as baking pans? They are more readily available than the SS, cheaper, and apparently conduct heat more evenly.
I haven’t mentioned aluminum because we’re trying to avoid it. According to the research I’ve done, it’s best not to use aluminum for baking or cooking. But you’re right, it is cheaper and works well!
And yet I have heard opposing research say that the research against aluminum is not true. Isn’t that the case with all research though, both for and against? As for pans, just because of you, I used the cast pan for my scrambled eggs today and it worked WAY better than my non-stick pan. I can see how it would make really nice omelets! Thanks for the encouragement to try it for other things.
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Also, just because of you, I bought a SS frying pan, also at London Drugs as it was on sale and our non-stick ones are needing replacing. We did a cooking comparison – same elements, same diced chicken, one SS pan, one non-stick Lagostina. Guess which one was world’s better, no comparison? The SS one!!! It didn’t stick at all and the non-stick did. No oil was added. So awesome – Jay and I both love it!
I’m so glad you liked it! I would have felt super bad if you’d bought it, and then hated it!! I makes me so happy to hear about all my favorites that you’re trying!:)
I’m so glad you liked it! I would have felt super bad if you’d bought it, and then hated it!! I makes me so happy to hear about all my favorites that you’re trying!:)