After testing more than 20 cast-iron skillets over the course of several years, our current top pick is the Lancaster No. 8 for its lightweight feel, smooth pre-seasoned surface that’s nice and slick right out of the box, and even heat distribution. The one downside is that it’s quite pricey, which is why we also recommend the Lodge cast-iron skillet as a great budget alternative. This is probably the pan most people think of when they hear “cast-iron skillet,” and at around $20 depending where and when you buy it, it’s one of the best values in the cookware world we can think of—particulary because you can keep it forever rather than replacing it every few years. In our testing, it performed just as well as many more expensive pans—it’s just markedly heavier than some of the lightweight, “vintage-style” models we’ve seen companies come out with in recent years, like the one from Lancaster.
You may have also heard of enameled cast iron, which is frequently seen in products like our favorite Le Creuset and Staub Dutch ovens. Many people expect enameled cast iron pots and pans to be nonstick because the ones with light-colored interiors sort of resemble the kinds of ceramic nonstick coatings we wrote about above, but in reality that’s not the case. That doesn’t mean you can’t cook food in these things without it sticking, but you’ll need to use sufficient fat and heat in order to make that happen, as with a stainless steel pan.
Carbon steel is sort of the Goldilocks of the cookware space because it affords you the nonstick qualities and lightweight feel of a coated nonstick pan and the durability of a cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet. The key caveat is that in order to achieve said nonstick qualities, you’ll need to spend some time properly seasoning your new pan. But with a bit of work at the outset and occasional maintenance, you’ll be rewarded with an heirloom-worthy piece of cookware that has a well-earned, nonstick patina.
If we had to recommend a pan to start you on your carbon steel journey, we’d undoubtedly pick the 10-inch model from Merten & Storck. At under $40 at the time of publication, it comes pre-seasoned and ready to go, saving you the trouble of multiple rounds of initial seasoning. Our testers were wowed by how nonstick its surface was out of the box, noting that “a fried egg slid right off with the ease of Teflon.” It may not be the prettiest of pans, but it’s a workhorse that’ll make you forget all about those PTFE-coated nonstick pans of yore.
Other kitchen gear where PTFE might show up
A skillet may be the first thing you think of when you think “nonstick cookware,” but PTFE coatings show up in a host of other items in the kitchen and beyond. Here are a few places you might see it pop up in the kitchen gear world, and our thoughts on alternatives.
Rice cookers
The vast majority of rice cookers on the market today—including all of the top performers in our product test—feature a PTFE-coated inner pot. Given how sticky rice tends to be, this is a feature that’s certainly nice to have in a rice cooker. In our minds, the more stable heating element and less significant amount of friction the inner pot of one of these cookers is exposed to as opposed to, say, a skillet, makes us less concerned about the PTFE coating wearing down and chipping off. That said, if you’re looking for an alternative, GreenPan makes a ceramic nonstick-coated rice cooker that fared well in the Epicurious product test. There are also a few models that feature a stainless steel pot, like this 2.5-cup model from Aroma.
Waffle irons
Waffle irons also frequently feature a nonstick coating, and again, this makes a lot of sense given the sticky nature of the batter. Luckily, one of our favorite, product test-winning models happens to feature a ceramic nonstick interior. As with the rice cooker, because a waffle iron isn’t subject to the same amount of scraping or daily wear as a pan, the ceramic should hold onto its nonstick properties for longer.
Bakeware and sheet pans
As a general rule, we don’t tend to recommend any bakeware or sheet pans with nonstick coatings of any sort. If you’re baking a seasonal loaf cake or making a batch of muffins, it’s always best to use a combination of oil or butter and parchment to ensure you’ll be able to easily lift your bakes out of their vessel when the time comes. As for baking sheets, our favorite uncoated aluminum pans from Nordic Ware are remarkably easy to clean with just a sponge and soapy water, even when you use them without any parchment or aluminum foil.
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