"Green" Non-stick Pan

I have a scan pan http://www.scanpan.com/ that I bought 5 years ago that I still use.

The nonstick quality (good enough for perfect scrambled eggs) only lasted about 3 years. It's still non-stick, but nowhere NEAR as nonstick as it used to be. (Non-stick works for everything except scrambled eggs). They've updated the ceramic coating since then, but I haven't bought any of the new version.

go with good quality cast iron - nothing bad for you in it,and it infuses your food with beneficial iron - lasts forever, and if properly seasoned and maintained is TRUELY non-stick. Ask around to friends and family if they have some old cast iron they don't use anymroe and look at garage and estate sales, also Goodwill/salvation army - some of these will already be seasoned to perfection - even older rusty ones, you can just rehabilitate and get all the rust off and then re-season them!

Here is an article on how to Season a pan!

http://www.wikihow.com/Season-Cast-Iron-Cookware

jessie

I bought my GreenPan at Target and we LOVE it! I never get food to cook properly in a stainless steel- it ALWAYS sticks no matter how much oil I use. My dad swears by his cast iron, been using it for years but I don't know how to properly season them. Go to www.greenpan.com to read about the GreenPans. They are wonderful. I can cook anything with very minimal oil or none at all and they wipe clean with a rag and cook very evenly. I can't say enough about them.

I'm jumping in to add my vote for cast iron. I almost exclusively cook with it, and it's second to none! I just reseasoned a few of mine and it can be time consuming to do properly, but so worth the effort. If you maintain it properly (clean it when still warm, don't use harsh abrasives and oil it up after each use), the non stick properties are better than teflon (IMO).

A tip that I discovered recently, to clean an old cast iron with lots of baked on carbonized grease and gunk and remove all seasoning, put it in when you run your self cleaning oven, it burns all the old stuff right off so that you can season it from scratch. I did it with a few cruddy old pieces I picked up at a garage sale and they came out looking like they'd just come out of the mold.

They say that cast iron is superior to all else, but I just haven't had the time to season mine properly so they don't get any use at all.

That said, I have 2 Green Pans and they work fine for our needs, but the brand didn't rate very highly on Cooks' Illustrated tests. Skillets from Scan Pan, Earth Pan and Demeyere-Resto fared the best, though all green skillets they tested were flawed in some way so even those 3 were recommended with reservations. They also said that it's still questionable re: whether green pans really are "green" as they require more resources to manufacture and there are some that still contain PTFE and so they preferred to stick with traditional non-stick pans and well-seasoned cast iron.

I don't think there is such a thing as a "green" nonstick pan. I use olive oil to prevent sticking - plus, it's good for you! :) The chemicals on nonstick pans is B.A.D.

I have a set of cast iron pans, which I love, and also the GreenPan, which I really, really, love. I bought the Walmart version of the GreenPan and it sucked. The "safe" non-stick coating started to wear off after a couple months and everything sticks to it. Terrible pan. For safety, I would stick (no pun inteaded) to cast iron. Good luck!

I have a cast iron pan that I keep well seasoned and it is the best non stick pan I ever owned. I don't know if it is " green" but it works without teflon or other non stick chemicals.

I also got mine from Target. I love mine. I have had it about a year now and its as non stick as it was in the beginning. I do know (from experience) that if you burn something pretty badly it doesnt come off. But it is still nonstick? Hope this helps.

I just bought a set of Xtrema cookware. It is as green as you can get. It doesn't leak any heavy metals. See www.drmercola.com for more information: http://cookware.mercola.com/ It also has a 50-year guarantee (pretty rare nowadays). I am so excited to find something that would last a lifetime, possibly more. Xtrema cookware is non-stick, however, you have to use low temperature (never go above medium setting). It hits slowly, however, retains heat well. I burned a couple of things, only because I put the heat on too high. You will love Xtrema! You can buy it directly from Xtrema's website too: http://www.ceramcor.com/ , but they don't have any bakeware (Dr. Mercola's website does). Good luck!

For your and your family's health and safety, don't buy/use non stick cookware or bakeware. No matter how "green" the claim it is, the chemicle melts melts off over time as you have discovered. It gets into your food then and your family is digesting that with the food they eat. Stainless steel or cast iron is always best. I don't know why the companies like 3M are still allowed to mfgr this poisonous stuff. I feel bad for the people in Lake Elmo, Maplewood and Oakdale areas, who had this chemicle burried practically in their back yards for all those years. Sure they're digging it up now and moving it, but who knows if that will start leeching down the road in a few years in the new location, even tho they claim it will last 1,000 years. It's just moving one problem to another place and going to create enviromental problems for them too.

We've gone back to using cast iron. Although it's kind of heavy, it cooks really evenly and doesn't stick, if properly maintained. Plus it will never wear out!

Good luck!
J.

I absolutely love mine from Walmart it is the original green pan.I want them in all sizes but just have the large 1 for now.