Everything You Need to Know About Caring For A Non-Stick Frypan

This is a guide that if followed correctly will greatly extend your frypans lifespan

Warranties

Virtually every company gives a warranty against manufacturing defects. However, this warranty will not be honoured if oil has been clearly burnt into the surface. The manufacturer of the product will see brown staining on the surface of the pan as a clear indication of misuse. 

Correct utensils

Some companies claim their frypans are metal utensil safe. The fact of the matter is, metal scratches regardless of whether you have a diamond non stick pan or not. We highly recommend the use of silicon utensils and have found the Ecology range excellent for non stick frypan use. Silicon has the advantage of having a melt point of 260°C meaning something as simple as forgetting that you left your egg flipper in the pan won't mean melted plastic and a ruined surface. This ensures you don't just get a couple of good years out of your pan but sets you up for a decade of good cooking.

Correct oil selection to prevent oil burn

With any non-stick pan on the market you must be careful with what oils you are using when frying.

This is commonly what destroys your non-stick pan. It is common in most non-stick product’s warranties that oil burn on the surface, evidenced by brown discolouration, automatically voids warranty. The only problem is you'll probably only find it in the fine print. 

If you do find that your non-stick pan has brown residue after cooking and washing it's always a good idea once the pan's cool to put some boiling water in the clean pan and let it sit for a minute, pour out the water and give a thorough wipe down with a green and yellow sponge to ensure there is no oil residue the next time you cook.

Generally, you want to cook with an oil at or over 240°C heat handling when frying, as heating your pan and oil past its smoke point will render it carcinogenic (cancerous) and make its way into your non stick surface, destroying your non-stick surface prematurely.

The oils that are typically unsuitable for frying are naturally pressed oils, therefore it is a choice between extremely careful cooking at lower heats or cooking at medium heats with higher heat handling oils that are typically refined.

The use of these refined oils (Brown Rice, Rice Bran, Sunflower, etc) are generally considered better for your pan and your body as opposed to ingesting carcinogenic, rancid low smoke point oil in higher heat cooking situations although it might initially seem the healthier option where smoke points aren't concerned.


A list of oils and their smoke points from research conducted by Woll Frypans Germany:

  • Avocado 265°C
  • Almond 260°C
  • Apricot Kernel 260°C
  • Rice Bran 255°C
  • Brown Rice Oil 250°C
  • Canola 240°C
  • Safflower 240°C
  • Sunflower 240°C
  • Sesame 230°C
  • Grape-seed 220°C
  • Virgin Olive Oil 215°C (hard to find not mixed with extra virgin in Australian supermarkets)
  • Refined Coconut Oil 205°C
  • Coconut 185°C
  • Soy 180°C
  • Peanut 175°C
  • Butter 175°C
  • Hemp Oil 165°C
  • Extra Virgin Olive 160°C
  • Flaxseed Oil 105°C