I’ve Been Using Le Creuset’s Nonstick Skillet for 5+ Years and It Still Cooks Like a Brand-New Pan
The very thing that makes nonstick skillets great is also what makes them tricky. See, unlike cast iron — which can last forever and almost always be restored after mistreatment — nonstick pieces have a finite lifespan. Even the best nonstick skillets will start to become less and less nonstick over time.
Typically, a very good nonstick skillet will last for around five years or so. And that’s what brings me to this Le Creuset Toughened Nonstick PRO Fry Pan — because I’ve had it for more than five years and it’s still just as nonstick-y as the day I brought it home.
As someone who tests and reviews cookware for a living, I’ve used my fair share of nonstick pans as well as Le Creuset pieces, so expectations were certainly high as I started using the Toughened Nonstick PRO Fry Pan. I have the 9.5-inch version, though it also comes in four others — 8, 10, 11, and 12 inches. No matter which size you go with, the company touts the nonstick pan as being four times stronger than usual, with a triple-reinforced PFOA-free surface that wipes clean and is even tough enough to stand up against metal utensils. The pan is also said to be dishwasher safe.
Now, I have never used a metal utensil on this pan (I naturally reach for wood or silicone, just out of habit!), and I’ve never put it in the dishwasher, but I’m not sure that my caution is the reason for the pan’s longevity.
Because I do put this skillet through the wringer. I use it to make Jacques Pépin’s Garlic Chicken Breasts on a near-weekly basis, as well as a boatload of scrambled eggs almost every single weekend. Don’t forget the fish filets, scallops, bacon, and more — this pan has never let me down.
It continues to impress me even after five years of constant use — especially when I make scrambled eggs. I’m always convinced that this is going to be the weekend that my eggs start sticking to the pan. And yet, they never do. Even when I use a very minimal amount of oil to get things started.
I’ll start scrambling eggs with my Material spatula (which is shockingly just $20 and we’ve reviewed here), and will brace myself for the stuck-on film that gets left behind. Instead? The wake of the spatula leaves a perfectly clean pan. I probably wouldn’t even have to wash it, if I didn’t want to. I could get away with wiping it out and putting it back in the cabinet.
But of course, I do wash my nonstick pan. And then, I thank it for a great brunch and tell it I’ll see it soon. What? You don’t talk to your pots and pans? Maybe that’s the secret for its longevity? Or maybe it’s just a really great piece of cookware — I’ll let you decide.
Do you have a nonstick skillet that’s lasted you a while? Tell us about it in the comments below.