I think it's a bit disingenuous to say that any other cookware material outperforms Teflon nonstick, and actually harms the conversation when trying to convince people to switch to an alternative. Nothing is going to beat the nonstick performance a fresh nonstick pan, and that's perfectly fine. I don't need a pan so nonstick that I could start an egg in a cold pan with no oil. Well-meaning people run the risk of frustrating less experienced cooks when they assert that they'll get the exact same or better results from a stainless steel pan, which just isn't true, especially right from the start. Stainless has plenty of other benefits that make it more than worth the learning curve to use. Sometimes you want some stick, to build fond for a pan sauce. Or you need a pan that can go from stovetop to oven to finish cooking.

This post wasn't aimed at you specifically, I just wanted to vent at what I feel like has been an uptick in cookware bros flexing their ability to reduce sticking on stainless steel ("I'm so smart I name dropped this little-known thing called the Leidenfrost effect"). I quite like your video and post because they show an alternative way to reduce sticking on stainless that is definitely more forgiving for a beginner than trying to hit a specific temperature range.

Don't know who needs to hear this but you don't need to season stainless steel. You just need to pre-heat it correctly for it to gain non-stick properties.

You have to pre-heat to around 400 degrees Fahrenheit before you put anything in the pan - including oil. You know its good when you drop some water in and it immediately beads up and glides across the entire surface. If it boils and evaporates, the pan is still too cold. If it beads up and starts to glide but freaks out in a certain spot, you have a cold spot in your pan. You're trying to achieve the leidenfrost effect

Keep in mind that in a lot of dishes you actually want some of the food to stick to the pan and become [frond].(https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-fond-995681) Then you deglaze it later with some kind of wine or stock.

Stainless steel is perfect for this kind of cooking. I've been using it exclusively for years. Its versatility and low maintenance is why all the best kitchens in the world use it.

In a good non stick pan you can fry an egg without any oil at all, so no, adding a bunch of oil is not a replacement for that

Also for skillets you can just buy ceramic. As long as you don't let them sit with food on them they stay pretty non-stick for years.

Even easier, heat the stainless steel pan until water balls up and skitters/rolls across it instead of evaporating.

Add oil and you can fry an egg on that pan

I never used teflon because I read somewhere that you mustn’t heat it up to a certain point. I just used stainless steel all my life until I got a cast iron skillet.

Still use the stainless steel pan for 97% of cooking

In addition to the tips in this thread: Parchment paper rounds that fit inside the pan and work great for really really sticky stuff

Wok with Tak is an awesome channel. It's one of those "Bob Ross" style channels that show up every now and then. Full of good information and some decent recipes.

It's the simplest thing in the world with a stainless pan. Bring up the heat, add in some oil, wait for it to smoke, wipe it out with a cloth, in with cold oil, add in your food. It won't stick.

I just use butter to cook my eggs. I also pay attention to the bonds that the bottom of the egg form with the pan. By using a stainless turner on a stainless pan you can get between the egg and the bonds it's forming with the pan. The more often you manipulate it and make sure those bonds don't form, the more "non-stick" the egg is.

I usually pan flip single eggs cooked with this method because the egg slides around the pan easily.

My wife has a problem doing the same though, so I buy a couple of the disposable Teflon junk pans on a recurring basis.

I've been looking at the pirotech pans which are supposed to be nonstick and fully recyclable, but I've been unable to find a lot of reviews on them.

Controversial:

Im okay occasionally scrubbing the pans a bit harder. Sometimes it sticks - sonetimes it doesnt 🤷‍♂️

my seasoning flaked off and it became metallic appearance. I was struggling with obtaining stable seasoning, but found a reddit post that suggesting Blueing process. You heat-up your clean wok a lot with no-oil the iron reacts with oxygen to form magnetite Fe3O4 which holds seasoning much better. After you blue your wok, you season it by heating up some oil, but generally it seasons itself diring usage. If something starts sticking, more oil and more heat usually does the job.

For the majority of cooking? Yes, you don't need a non-stick pan. A properly used steel (or even aluminum) pan will work. Cast Iron is obviously loved but Carbon Steel is actually what most people want and has almost all of the same properties. But properly oiling your pan (and I actually love cooking sprays for dishes where I am using a neutral oil. Glug of "real" oil, get it up to temp, and then give a quick spritz just to make sure EVERYTHING is coated) and cooking at a high enough heat that your proteins can properly react and not "stick" to the pan will get you almost the entire way.

That said? Eggs and fish. Eggs very much are in that "nobody ever complained about too much butter" category but there is a lot to be said about a quick egg without any additional fats. And if you are cooking eggs these days, you can afford a 20 dollar specialty pan.... And fish in particular is the kind of food where it is very easy to overcook it while waiting for all the appropriate reactions to occur so you can cleanly flip it.

If I were to downsize my kitchen (which I hopefully will be doing in a few months...)? That shit goes in the appropriate bin. But if you have the space? A 20-ish dollar restaurant supply store non-stick pan is AMAZING. And cheap enough that you can afford to get rid of it the moment you see any scratching.

What's the consensus on ceramic pots? They seem to be easier for nonstick and I don't think they have the same issues as Teflon.

Teflon pans are just light, cheap and carefree. That's why everyone buys them

Sis anyone else watch the video? I was waiting for his”spot seasoning method” until I saw just how much oil he used to cook and egg without sticking to his wok. Dude lost all credibility right there, and I quit watching