I have one non stick All Clad SS, About 2 1/2 yrs and not a scratch on it. I do not put this pan in the DW. that said I don't think you need to buy the best with non stick. Look around a TJ Maxx or similar store for a discounted decent non stick. I use woood or plastic untensil.

I like Calphalon Commercial non-stick.

Here is a link that might be useful: Calphalon Commercial non-stick

I do think you need to buy the best in non stick!...At least the best for non stick.
I like commercial stuff....because the body of the pan is heavy aluminum and conducts and holds the heat well.
And don't stir fry in a non stick pan! Please! Heating non stick surfaces to a high heat is a no-no.....and you can't stir fry without doing that.
Get a simple old carbon steel wok.....cheap and works great!
Linda C

I don't made a lot of omletes but from fried eggs and frittatas I use cast iron. It works great. I do wipe it down with olive oil once it's warmed up.

Ken

Thank you!

We have just moved into our new house and the new stove is the smooth top ceramic. I had to throw away almost every pan I had, I didn't know they were so warped! Is the Calphalon suited for a ceramic top stove?

I do need a new stir fry pan. The one I used on my old stove is lop-sided! Didn't know that till I tried to cook some stir fry. And my most treasured cast iron round griddle pan has that little raised lip around the edge....I can't use it either. My granny had that pan as a wedding gift when she married and handed it down to me. It just broke my heart to have to put it up. I will save it for my daughter, perhaps she will be able to use it.

I think I want a 10" non stick pan. The calphalon hard anodized pans, can you fry an egg or cook an omelet in them?

As you can guess, I have never had what I would assume it really good cookware. And I think I might just be a tad hard on my fry pans. Perhaps I can learn to give them a gentler touch as I cook.

Deb

I don't know if Calphalon works on smooth top ceramic,
but the Calphalon Commercial non-stick is great for eggs.

Any flat bottom pan works on the smooth top stoves. Calphalon non stick is fine for the cooktop as well as eggs. I use an Anolon 8" non stick pan and a Calphalon 10" non stick, for eggs on a smooth top and both are great as long as you don't use metal utensils or put them in the dishwasher. Dishwashers kill pans.

The clean one.............!

Good one momj47 !!!

We use All-Clad SS with a minimal amount of fat or mist the pan with an olive oil spray. As long as you heat the pan first, then heat the fat or spray before adding the eggs, they won't stick.

We had Caphalon anodized pans at one time and hated them. They wouldn't go in the DW, and reacted badly to anything acidic. SS goes in the DW and always looks new (though occasionally they need a moment's scrubbing with BarKeepers Friend or BonAmi).

Scanpan is fantastic. I recently got a saute pan on sale. This is my non-stick to complement my SS All-Clad.

And Barkeepers Friend is a must have. I recently saw an article stating how well BKF work to clean your hands after working in the garden. I found a large can at Family Dollar store for $1.50.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scanpan

For eggs, only non-stick. I bought a set of Calphalon Commercial 4.5 years ago, several pieces esp 12" skillet get used virtually daily, and it's still perfect with regards to the non-stick.

I have a 100 year old cast iron frying pan that is incredibly slick. It's not good for omelettes because the sides are pretty straight, but for scrambled and the like it's fantastic.

I recently acquired a set of 4 Johnson Rose Crowne Select commercial non stick fry pans from a restaurant supply house (Instawares on-line). They are stainless w/ an encapsulated aluminumd disk and are induction capable. I am using them on my new Viking induction cooktop and so far I am very impressed with their performance, especially for scrambled eggs and omelettes. My only problem has been adjusting to the effeiciency of these pans w/ induction.

I'm amazed at how inexpensive they were for such beautiful construction. A rare bargain.

When my folks built their house in 1969, they bought one of the original Corning smoothtop cooktops. Mom had to set aside almost all her old cookware for us kids to eventually take to college. Though my wife and I have All-Clad almost everything now, I still have and use moms old Club Aluminum stew pot.

As for eggs, we just use the SS All-Clad frying pan. As spewey notes, using a bit of oil and *very important* - moderation with the heat, eggs come out fine.

For a good quality and relatively inexpensive non-stick pan, try your local resteraunt supply store. You can pick up an aluminum Vollrath pan with a commercial quality non-stick coating for $20-30. No idea how it would work on a smoothtop though.

Another vote for Scanpan. Easily the best non-stick frying pan I have ever had.

i like my scanpan and all-clad and use them often. but for a real treat, mostly on weekends, i use my trusted le creuset.
i can't explain it, but eggs just taste so much better. and the pan is much easier to clean then you would think. heavy though, as always :)

We use a 41 year old carbon steel French omelet pan. In all that time it has never been used for anything but eggs and it has never been cleaned with anything except kosher salt and a paper towel. I've used a variety of non-stick pans in others' homes. Most of them work OK but I prefer my carbon steel.

I tend to be using recently an old ~10" Meyer non-stick that I got years ago; mostly because that's what's been sitting out. It's thick aluminum, about a quarter inch thick. Heat it up, put in a little butter, and the eggs pretty much just float around in the pan.

I also have a 12" Anolon that I bought back in the days when they still knew how to weld on their handles, instead of cheaping out with the rivets they're using now. It's also quite nice.

I just got one of the Johnson Rose pans that PhatCat just described. I've only had one chance to use it, and it worked fine. It seems like a nice pan.

I pretty much have to say that they're all great, from the el cheapo Meyer to the Anolon.

I know I'm in the minority but I use a small electric non-stick frying pan that I keep on the counter just for breakfast foods. I had purchased a griddle but I don't like that it has a slope so I don't use it for cooking eggs anymore.

I use a 7 1/2" All Clad. It's great. Sure the eggs will stick a bit, but it's easily cleaned up. I have a friend who relies on her small cast iron. She only uses olive oil in it, and has never really washed it. Her eggs come out and there's no mess in the pan.

I purchased a Calphalon Commercial 10" round skillet less than 2 yrs ago to use for eggs and toasted cheese. (Purchased from Amazon which I am beginning to think is seconds or less). It has never been in the dw and only use silicon or plastic utensils. When purchased, the middle of the bottom was rough and a little raised. Didn't send it back as had already sent one Calphalon back that was damaged.

Today took it out to do eggs and there were light colored raised spots over most of the middle of the pan. Determined it was not old food and some of the spots can be removed if you use a fingernail. It definitely seems to be part of the finish.

Am really frustrated with this frypan and not sure if I should just keep using it or start using my Sitram SS. The Calphlon is heavy and heats nicely, but the coating definitely leaves much to be desired especially in a basically newer infrequently used pan. I also had to get rid of my smaller cast iron frypan because of the ridge and my smoothtop but was able to keep my skillet and 3 others. May also check out commercial non-stick at a restaurant supply place, but since we aren't super big egg eaters, maybe I will have to learn how to finesse my SS.

I have used the Calphalon, Meyer and Analon, made by Meyer, so I feel that I can really compare. I used Meyer for years. They are terrific. Then when we remodeled I purchased some new pans. I used Calphalon and then bought an Analon 8 inch nonstick with the soft handle, which I absolutely love. It surpasses the Calphalon because it stays like new, while the Calphalon seems to age right away. It also handles better ergonomically.

I think anything made by Meyer in a nonstick is superior. I used my old Meyer pan for 10 to 12 years and the non stick finish lasted.

I've added a 12" Calphalon One (NOT non-stick), & I love it, esp for the ergonomically friendly handles. I went in to buy All-Clad but couldn't resist the Calphalon One handle.

May add a carbon steel crepe pan down the line as it would be nice to have a dedicated pan for crepes (it's a family thing, over generations).

Velodoug, I'm intrigued by your omelette pan! What size is it? How did you inherit it, was there a friendly family squabble?!

Carbon steel round wok for stir fry, I leave one sunk into a burner (BS range) for daily use. (If you have electric burners, flat bottom it is.)

athomein1914, Our carbon steel French omelet pan is 24 cm (approx. 9-1/2") in diameter. DW and I received it as a wedding present, which is how I know it's 41 years old :-)

We bought an almost identical pan years ago to give to our son when he gets married, which is finally going to happen later this year.

We have a round bottom carbon steel wok too. It nestles nicely down into the standard grate opening over the big burner of our Lacanche range.

I have tried several times now with my new Calphalon One nonstick pan. I hate it. I have followed all the instructions except one - I don't take the eggs out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before using them. That's just plain unreasonable that you can't decide to cook breakfast on the spot! But my eggs always stick, even though I preheat the pan on medium, add a little butter or oil or bacon grease, don't use sprays. The cheapest supermarket pans work better than this! Am I the only one with this problem? I've tried fried, scrambled, omelets...

I love the pan's weight and feel and handle, as others have mentioned. But I don't love the way it cooks eggs!

Calphalon One is not a "non-stick" pan. It is "stick resistant." Their marketing make it out to be nearly like non-stick but with superior browning capabilities.

It does not sound like it is that stick resistant with eggs but then again, eggs are the real test for surface release.

I have used Meyer pans (Circulon mostly) for about 9 years. The non-stick surface of my oldest pans have deteriored quite a bit. The surface started to show wear about 3 years ago and I probably should have replaced them already. Other than that, I have liked them. I bought some of their their newer pans which have a different surface treatment that IMO, is better. The newer surface seems even more non-stick then the original.

The price is right with Cirulon and Analon which is slightly more. Even cheaper is my cast iron skillet which is nearly non-stick with seasoning but a bit heavy to use.

Calphalon One has two types of pans - one is definitely supposed to be nonstick...

http://www.calphalon.com/calphalon/consumer/products/subProductLine.jhtml?catId=CLCat100368

Ok, called Calphalon and discovered that one box had the wrong pan in it. The 10" pan I bought for eggs is NOT a nonstick. Good reason that the eggs stick! I exchanged it today for the nonstick version, which oddly is the one with the rougher surface. I would never have guessed.

So far I am totally in love with my Calphalon non-stick pans. I also LOVE my big grill pan I bought at the same time. My family laughs when its time to do dishes, I keep telling them, do NOT put these in the dishwasher. I would just have a hemmorhage(sp)if one of them put the pans in the dishwasher.

Funny thing though, we have just moved into our new house and for the first time ever I have a dish washer. But I seldom use it because it takes several or perhaps 3 days to fill it up! I run out of plates before I get to run the dishwasher...LOL!!!

Deb

SCANPAN!!!!! Run don't walk, well - go to amazon and read the reviews. It's the best thing I've ever bought for my kitchen. It has it's own dedicated drawer right beside the stove. I use it two or three times a day. It's by far my favorite piece of cookware.

Here is a link that might be useful: scanpan on amazon

Cast iron! Either a griddle or skillet. Lodge makes a chef skillet that has more sloping sides than a regular skillet, and it is good for omlets (did I spell that right?) It also works well for fried or scrambled, although a cast iron griddle is probably a little better. Of course, you can also use a regular skillet, though the sides make it a tad more difficult to work with.

Aside from eggs, a cast iron skillet (used properly) is by far the best tool for cooking cornbread!

I dont think lodge would be a good choice, they dont make them very well, the inside surface is way too rough, I have checked them out more then once, and there all too rough, my older cast iron pan is much smoother, I just used it the other day, For eggs have you tried the anolon titainum 10" fry pan?

I agree with jerrymb about Lodge. The best cast iron fry pans for eggs, potato pancakes, etc is an old fashioned Griswold. They don't make them anymore and you can ocassionally find them at garage sales and you can almost always find the on ebay. Unlike Lodge, the surface of the Griswold pans is smooth. Once seasoned and cared for, foods will just slide off and they last for years and years and years.

I agree that the older cast iron pieces (Griswold and Wagner) are nicer than the Lodge pieces, especially because of the smooth surface you mentioned. I have a couple of Griswold, at least one Wagner, a bunch of other old (smooth) non-name cast iron skillets. However, I have found that as far as functionality is concerned, once they are properly seasoned Lodge pans work just about as well as the Griswold and Wagner pans, despite the much rougher surface on the Lodge pans. I prefer the smooth pans, but the difference is mainly asthetic.

By the way, an angle grinder can be used to smooth the surfaces of cast iron pans. I did it on a cheap ($5) griddle from Harbor Freight and is worked fine.

alanrock,

Interesting idea. I'm thinking about doing that to my Lodge 16" pizza pan which I planned to use as a griddle. It has that bumpy surface and I think it would work much better if it were smooth... hmmm
I may just give this a try next weekend.

kimba00, let us know how the project turns out

I love my well seasoned cast iron pans for eggs, any style!

Cast iron

I use cast iron for scrambles and fried eggs. Is non-stick, cleans easily, high sides, heavy enough to not slide around as you scramble.

For omelettes, a small stainless pan (I have an All-Clad pan and a Sur La Table house-brand pan) or a small copper pan w/ steel liner. I don't have any sticking problems with omelettes. I suppose a non-stick pan would work fine too but I don't own one.

I recently got a square copper pan for tamago (Japanese rolled omeletters). Still getting the hang of that one.

I use nothing but my 14x23" carbon steel griddle.
It is 100% nonstick and will last a lifetime.

Great for doing huge batches of scrambled eggs and also for a big omelets.

It is basically the same as using Cast Iron, which if I didn't have my griddle I would use cast iron, NOTHING beats it, period.

I have used Scanpan, Swiss Diamond, which to me were the best 2 and several other brands of nonstick over the past 30 years.
They ALL basically suck because NONE of them last more than 5-7 years tops.
I have a cast iron skillet that my GRANDMOTHER had when she was in her 20s so is about 100+ years old.
It is better today than it was 100+ years ago.

Cast Iron and Mineral Steel like a "DeBuyer" skillet are BY FAR the best, nothing else even comes close.
Cast Iron, Mineral Steel, Carbon Steel are every bit as non stick as the best nonstick ever will be and it last forever and gets BETTER with age and its much cheaper.