Carbon steel pans. You season and treat them like cast iron, but they develop a beautiful, smooth, non stick surface. I just made two over easy eggs in mine. They’re basically all I use anymore - no PFOx, no muss.

I thought I bought two from a French company that started with an ‘M’ but I can’t figure out which brand 😂

Bonus because any metal ions that do leach into the food are Iron which your body needs anyway.

Yeah I just kinda accept that even a really good a non stick is gonna eat it after a while but I've found with proper care they'll last a long time. That means no metal cooking tools and I even avoid really hard plastics. Definitely never use the dish washer and will opt for a long soak type of clean where I don't have to do any abrasive scrubbing. And then also just not cranking the heat ultra high. Someone else in this thread mentioned the thermal expansion thing and I really think that's true.

Sounds like you're on the right path, and I know you didn't ask, but just wanted to chime in. I love cooking, and have both stainless and cast iron skillets. The circlejerk for cast iron is strong, but I have to say, it's genuinely the best available non-stick pan once it's seasoned properly. I can make a perfect omelette, sear scallops, steaks, sautee vegetables, & use it as a pan for oven roasting chickens and roasts. I use it for bread baking as well. They're cheap (compared to clad cookware) and I'm not sure I could damage my pan even if I wanted to. They're extremely sturdy, and hold heat very well. I clean mine with cold water and a stiff bristle brush, dry, lightly oil (when it looks like it needs it) & it's ready to go.

Down side to cast iron pans is that they need some care in the initial seasoning stages, and it stinks up the house when you season them (do it outside on the bbq if you have one!). It's a bit messy to keep them oiled. They're heavy and not ergonomic. Can't use them to simmer acidic sauces because that actually will soften and strip the seasoning, so I use my stainless for that. Get one, season it correctly, and you'll never look back.

We use Fika pans at home and I believe they are ceramic. Will that wear off too? We've been using them for almost a year now and they have been great. It's a low bar though because prior to that we've always used cheap non-stick pans. lol

someone got me a pan called blue diamond or something from Walmart its an "as seen on TV" item but it truly necee sticks and id quite durable