# Tired of eggs sticking to my pans... what pan to purchase?



## bksinaz

No matter if I scramble or fry my eggs, they seem to always stick in my al-clad 6 inch pan(non Non-Stick). Not sure if I am just using the pan incorrectly, but I let the pan heat up first, then spray with PAM or coat with vegetable oil or butter. Eggs still stick!! Am I using the pan incorrectly?

So I attempted to 'season' the pan by lightly coating in veggy oil and baking on very low for 10 hours. However, I now understand that the material of the al-clad is not meant to be 'seasoned'. Seasoning came off rather easily with scrub sponge.

Ok.. I am on a quest for the best egg pan there is. THE BEST!

I also would like to sautee and do light frying in this pan. What pan should I buy?

By the way, I am not sure I am crazy about non-stick coated pans. Seems like after a year or so, they flake or start to peel off the coating.

thanks in advance!

Bryan


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## pohaku

Well seasoned cast iron is virtually stick free.  Takes some maintenance, but works well.  I like the older Wagner and Griswold pans that have machined interiors, although many people appear quite happy with their Lodge pans.

While I have cast iron pans that I can use for eggs, personally, I generally use a T-Fal Pro pan and simply replace it every couple years.  They are cheap and work well for the few items where a non-stick pan is most handy.  If you don't use very high temps, the coating is less likely to degrade.


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## pirate-chef

All clad no questions asked the smaler ones are amazing use very little oil if any, never wash just wipe out with a soft cloth will last forever bomb proof pans and if they scratch up season them like cast.


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## boar_d_laze

Yes.  You're doing something wrong.  I'm not sure what, though.  Possibly preheating too fast so the pans have hot spots, possibly cooking too hot or too cold, possibly not using enough grease, possibly the pans are scratched or have food cooked into them, etc.  Could be lots of things. 

Seasoned carbon steel is just as non-stick as cast iron, but lighter and easier to manipulate.  Cast iron is superior at "holding the heat," a quality which isn't really important for cooking eggs.  In fact, cast takes so long to preheat evenly, I'd rate it as "not that great" for the task -- especially if we're talking omelets or scrambles. 

There are a lot of good carbon pan makers, Vollrath and Matfer are two of my three favorites and very good indeed.  My current carbons -- which are pricey but which I like quite a bit because they're so substantial and the handles are so comfortable -- are De Buyer "Mineral."

Good luck,

BDL


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## benzbilly

+1 to what BDL said. I bought a De Buyer carbon steel pan a couple weeks ago and it's one of my favorites already. All you have to do is wash it really good, I used the potato peel method, and season it. It only took one seasoning and it's non-stick, I cooked eggs that weekend


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## chefedb

My 9 inch  teflon coated pan is only teflon pan I have . When it gets old or badly scratched I dump it and get a new one. Or I remove handle and use in the oven for heating single service anything.


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## thatchairlady

I'm a fan of well used cast iron for eggs... sunny-side up, over easy, or scrambled.  Ya do need a touch of some kinda fat in the pan.  Have a t-fal pan... and just end up chasing the eggs around... broken yolks on "dippy" eggs.  Nice, black cast iron... spatula slips right under for flipping.


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## kaneohegirlinaz

I just got this new catalog and it has different brands of pots, pans and the like.

I have been google-ing GreenPan[emoji]174[/emoji], it looks pretty good, but I'm not too sure about it yet.


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## chefedb

Neighbor bought one. Kind of lightweight but a million dollars worth of hype and advertising. "AS SEEN ON T.V  type junk item.

$19.95 plus shipping $7.00 Second one FREE? just pay more shipping and handleing  $8.95  so that makes the deal 2 for $36.00 ??


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## romanas

BDL has given great advice.

I use De Buyer "mineral" pans for years and they are excellent for eggs and especially omelets. They have french "lyonesse" shape & handle, so it's very convenient to flip eggs with tossing, fold omelets and slide cooked eggs off the pan.


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## french fries

kaneohegirlinaz said:


> I just got this new catalog and it has different brands of pots, pans and the like.
> 
> I have been google-ing GreenPan[emoji]174[/emoji], it looks pretty good, but I'm not too sure about it yet.


Urgh don't. I got one of the "better" GreenPans a few years ago. At first I loved it, and thought I had discovered the new, secret non-stick pan that you could heat really hot, etc.... but within only 2 or 3 months the coating came off. I threw it away after 6 months.

Ever since I have cooked eggs, crepes, pancakes etc.... in a seasoned carbon steel pan and absolutely love it.


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## chrislehrer

A warning about seasoned carbon steel: if you are using an electric range, you may have some problems, depending on the design of the pan and the range. The problem is that the heat doesn't lick up the sides.


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## romanas

Although the first seasoning of a new pan is very important, I think that regular care and especially wiping of a pan with oil after each use is a key to well-seasoned carbon steel.

In my opinion, carbon steel holds initial coating quite weakly compared to cast iron. Just because carbon steel is not porous as cast iron and it can hold relatively thin layer of polymerized oil. In it's turn, it's quite easy to damage this layer when cooking. Wiping with very thin layer of oil after each use solves this problem because oil is getting polymerized due to contact with oxygen, and as a result we get very persistent coating that consists of many layers of polymerized oil.


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## pohaku

A follow up. I picked up a de Buyer Mineral 12" pan to play with. Interestingly enough, it weighs *more* than my Wagner 12" cast iron pan. 5 pounds 15 oz. vs 5 pounds 6 oz. For sake of comparison, a new Lodge Logic 12" cast iron pan weighs in at 7 pounds 5 oz. (uff da!)

So if weight is an issue, the de Buyer 12" carbon steel pan is decidedly lighter than a Lodge cast iron pan, but heavier than a Wagner cast iron pan. I would expect that it would also be heavier than a Griswold cast iron pan as they have similar castings to Wagner (and are even lighter in some models).

Of course carbon steel has different heating properties than cast iron, but in some cases may not also have the virtue of less weight.


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## angrybob

Pohaku,  What is the diameter of the bottom of your 12" de Buyer pan?


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## pohaku

The de Buyer pan is 9 1/4" diameter on the bottom interior.  The Wagner pan has steeper sides and is 10 1/4" on the bottom interior.


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## angrybob

Thank you!


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## kathy scott

Your still getting plastic chemicals cooked to the food!


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## kathy scott

green pans don't last long, and will stick..


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## kathy scott

Green pans don't work after awhile.


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## kokopuffs

After several years of use, I love my 8 inch aluminum fry pan dedicated to frying eggs.  Using only butter either salted or unsalted, the eggs are fried gently.  And when it comes to washing, I don't.  All I do is rinse the pan with hot water and gently scrub with a plastique scouring pad, just enough to remove the egg-remnants.  And then I allow it to air-dry prior to the next use.  Works quite well for me and it allows me to send PAM to the highway never to be seen and used again.  Butter rules with an unwashed but scrubbed aluminum fry pan.


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## gloria k

I too am a big fan of cast iron. I have four Lodge cast-iron pans one of which I use for eggs. Eggs never ever stick regardless of how I make them and they cook perfectly. I also have about 40 pieces of LeCreuset enameled cast-iron cookware and nothing sticks to those pans either. Nothing cooks like cast-iron in my opinion.


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## tweakz

.


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## pollopicu

I use all-clad and cast iron for my eggs, but my husband who still is a novice cook uses ceramic non-stick, and I have to say it's pretty remarkable. His eggs never stick anymore, but you won't get the same texture eggs you do from an all-clad stainless steel or cast iron pan.


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## tweakz

.


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## t nutrition

Anyone here from the UK know where I can get a pan that doesn't stick scambled eggs. I'm not familiar with the brands mentioned in the thread and I am desperate to find a solution. I didn't realise it was a common problem to be honest, I just thought my pan was old and needed replacing, but I popped down to Sainsburys at the weekend and picked up a new non-stick only to find, low and behold, scambled eggs still stick. Nightmare. I eat 8 eggs per day and it's just getting me down the time it takes to clean the pan afterwards. I was thinking of getting a ceramic pot. Anyone got any experience? My thinking being that the eggs don't stick to the bowl I eat them out of!


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## grande

Your scrambled eggs stuck to you teflon pan? What fat and what heat level do you use?


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## phatch

Even teflon benefits from a little fat. I find it helps as well to let the pan warm first before oiling it. Hot pan, cool oil, food won't stick.


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## t nutrition

I don't use fat or oil at all. I think that's the problem. But I need a pan I can cook in that I don't need oil for as I'm on a fairly strict diet.


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## phatch

Eggs will stick to all these cooking surfaces without some fat, especially scrambled eggs. 

You might be better off with a steamed or baked egg in a ramekin though that takes more time. You could do a bunch at one time though and freeze them. Then microwave to serve hot.

 If you are willing to eat a sunny side up egg, you can get that to release from the pan with a steam technique. Heat the pan, crack in the egg, season it. Add a few tablespoons of water and cover. Remove when the egg is as done as you like it. The water will help the egg release from teflon in most cases. You might need to lift the edges a bit and let the water under the egg if you do get some sticking. Practice with the technique and your equipment to find what tweaks make it work for you.


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## grande

Thats your problem right there. If they are sticking in the teflon, they'll stick worse without it. Why not try poached eggs? Or scrampled eggs in a bag?


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## chefbuba

During the week when I want eggs in a hurry I poach in the microwave. Two eggs, maybe a half cup water, 2 min in _*MY*_ microwave, yolks are medium and whites cooked through, toast is up at the same time, I'm dressed and breakfast is ready.

No sticking, no extra fat and I eat out of the bowl that the eggs cooked in.


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## cheflayne

If you want to do scrambled eggs with no oil and no stick, bring 4" of water to a light boil over medium heat. Stir the water fast as you can in a circular motion. Pour your beaten eggs into the center of the whirlpool. Cover pot and let sit for 20 seconds. Pour off water. Eat eggs.


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## grande

Nice! New tricks!


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## t nutrition

wow! I've gotta try that. So it's like poached/scambled egg?


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## oregonyeti

Braised eggs is my suggestion. I would use a non-stick fry pan for them just because they have never failed me.

I love shakshuka, which (at least in my cook book) is started by cooking sweet peppers and onions with a little oil, then tomato and spices are added and it's simmered briefly. Then eggs are braised on top of it. It's more than just eggs, though, so it's not a 5-minute thing. I eat it with bread or toast.

It can be a 15-minute thing if you make the pepper-onion-tomato-spice preparation ahead of time, heat it, add raw eggs on top, cover and simmer. Maybe you can skip the oil, but even if you do use it it comes out as a small percentage of the base that the eggs are cooked on.

I am pretty sure I will get some "tips to improve" what I call shakshuka, but I like this, whatever you want to call it :^) By the way, the spice mix I've used is berbere. Yeah, maybe I shouldn't call it shakshuka. I will probably get some harissa soon and I will try that in place of berbere.

And I might try fresh habaneros and allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon for the spices. Then I will for sure have to call it something else.


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## phatch

Braised eggs release from stainless steel pretty well too. No non stick required. Taht was how I first learned to cook eggs and half the reason was that it released well.


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## oregonyeti

You can even put 1/3 cup water and 2 T pickapeppa sauce (or other sauce such as A1, or tabasco if you like spicy) in a small non-stick or stainless fry pan, turn the heat on medium-high, and when it starts boiling break the eggs into it, cover it, and it's ready in about 4 more minutes-- about 10 minutes total. That's if you want the yolks a little runny and the whites solid, as I like.

Nice thing about this is you can choose a sauce and almost any will work.


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## oldarpanet

Great info posted.

The pan to buy is T-Fal Professional 8 or 10 inch.  America's Test Kitchen winner.  

 

Use medium heat, max 7 on a scale of 10, a little oil (veggy, butter, spray- whatever) works a treat.

Dan


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## oregonyeti

For 2 braised eggs, I use a 6" fry pan. I don't know why 6" ones are hard to find, since they're so useful for eggs. Mine is Revere ware non-stick. I have nothing against T-Fal--I bought the one I have because I found a 6" one of some respectable brand, which was good enough for me. A 6" pan is also best (imo) for a 2- or 3-egg omelette or 2-3 fried eggs. I'm a home cook now but I have made over a thousand orders each of fried eggs and omelettes as a restaurant cook. That's not much compared to many members here, but I did get pretty good at cooking eggs.

An 8" pan would be good for 5-6 eggs at a time, a 10" for 6-9 eggs. In my experience anyway.


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