When is a non-stick pan past saving?

Non-stick coatings wear out. Treating them as permanent leads both to keeping pans long past their useful life and to replacing them earlier than necessary through avoidable damage.

Safety

Step by step

1. Look for the definite signs.Coating flaking or peeling, deep scratches through to the metal, warping so it no longer sits flat, or food sticking consistently even with oil at moderate heat. Any of those means replace.
2. Do not try to restore it.There is no home method that reapplies a coating. The seasoning tricks that work on cast iron do not apply, and the pan will not improve.
3. Understand the expected life.Three to five years with normal domestic use. A pan used daily at high heat will be less. It is a consumable, not a lifetime purchase.
4. Replace immediately if it is flaking.Flakes come off into food and the exposed base cooks unevenly. This is the one case where it is not a judgement call.
5. Check whether it is warped.Put it on a flat worktop and press an edge. A pan that rocks heats unevenly on any hob and is particularly poor on induction. Warping is usually caused by thermal shock.
6. Work out what killed it.High heat, metal utensils, dishwashers, cooking sprays and thermal shock are the five. Knowing which applies to your kitchen makes the replacement last longer.
7. Keep it to medium heat.The most common cause of early failure. Non-stick is not for searing steak — that is what stainless or cast iron is for. High heat degrades the coating quickly.
8. Never heat it empty.An empty pan reaches damaging temperatures within a couple of minutes. Add oil or food before it goes on the heat.
9. Use wood, silicone or nylon only.Metal utensils score the surface, and every scratch becomes a place where food sticks. This is the second most common cause of early failure.
10. Wash by hand.Dishwasher detergent is aggressive and degrades coatings noticeably faster, whatever the pan claims. Warm soapy water and a soft sponge.
11. Let it cool before washing.Cold water into a hot pan is thermal shock and it is what warps bases. Let it come down to warm first.
12. Avoid aerosol cooking sprays.They leave a residue that polymerises into a sticky film which is hard to remove and makes the pan seem worn out before it is. Use oil from a bottle.
13. Store it so nothing sits in it.Stacking pans inside each other scratches the coating. A pan protector, a cloth, or hanging them.
14. Buy for the use, not the price.A mid-range non-stick for eggs and fish, plus a stainless or cast iron pan for searing, outlasts a single expensive non-stick used for everything.

Tips

• Flaking means replace today. Scratched and sticking means replace soon. There is no restoring it.
• Medium heat only. High heat is what kills most non-stick pans years early.
• Two pans, not one. Non-stick for eggs and fish, stainless or cast iron for searing.

Common mistakes

• Searing at high heat in non-stick — The coating degrades rapidly above its intended range, and it can give off fumes. Use stainless or cast iron for anything that needs real heat.
• Putting it in the dishwasher — Dishwasher detergent is aggressive and shortens coating life noticeably, regardless of what the manufacturer claims about dishwasher safety.

If it doesn't work