DIY -- cookware

This is about non-stick cookware, not making your own.
I want to recommend good quality steel pans, like my Revereware.
My mother's set has lasted almost 60 years and mine almost 30.
Here is a link to several pages of an article about non-stick.
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/nervous-about-nonstick?


This is the Good-Housekeeping article referred to.
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-reviews/cooking-tools/cookware-reviews/nonstick-cookware-safety-facts


Why this goes with DIY is, remember I told you recently that to fry right,
you have to fry very hot?
Well, if you heat non-stick to very high temperature, it starts to break down.
This has nothing to do with the setting on the burner.
The pan heats up much faster and higher than a metal pan at the same setting.
It doesn't matter whether it's dry or has oil in it, you shouldn't pre-heat it.
But getting the oil to the right temperature to fry foods absolutely requires pre-heating.
And it takes longer than the 2 1/2 minute maximum the article talks about.
So non-stick pans are not better for frying than metal ones.
Scratching grooves into the non-stick coating with the wrong utensils will
cause buildup of food in them that you can't get out with a steel wool pad like you can
when you use metal.
You also have to throw out your non-stick pans every 3-5 years.
That doesn't save you anything and makes them dangerous for all kinds of reasons.
So: go back to cast-iron frying pans or Revereware or something like that
and forget non-stick.
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