Resurrection of a Carbonized Pan!

Hi Andrew

Just read your article on the web re. non stick pans (very interesting, but a bit late for me now I fear!). I wonder, if you could give me some advice?

I have a Stellar 28cm frying pan (teflon platinum non-stick coating, high grade enamel coated aluminium and 10 yr. non stick guarantee/ lifetime base guarantee)). It is approx 3 years old and I believe it has probably been overheated at some point and as a consequence, it has now lost its non stick effectiveness (everything seems to stick!) and has a build up of carbon on its surface. It has now been ineffective for about 4 months, but it has not yet started to peel off in any way and from a visual perspective does not seem to be damaged. I do now realise that this is probably my own fault and not that of the manufacturer.

Is there any way that I can resurrect the non stick on this pan and bring it back to some effective functionality, or should I just bin it and start again and take more care with the new one?!

I would be grateful for any help, suggestions and advice.

Kind Regards

Gary Sizer

Comments

[Andrew Bluett-Duncan]

Dear Gary

Thanks for your email and I'm glad my article was helpful to you. Your question is one that many have asked me before and it's a little difficult for me to say definitely without seeing the pan in the flesh.

However my experience tells me that it's probably a little too late to resurrect it when it's 3 years old. You could try boiling up a strong washing up liquid and water solution to try to soften the carbonized coating and removing it with something "soft" like a wooden spoon or spatula. But if the pan has been overheated badly then the nonstick will start to peel away and the latest info I have is that this is not good for our general health.

If this is the case, treat it as a learning experience and buy another good quality non stick pan and ensure that everyone who's likely to use it knows the consequences of overheating it(makes such as Le Creuset-TNS, SKK, Demeyere are all PFOA free and work very well but still beware the heat issue)

Or you could play absolutely safe and go for one the GreenPan ranges which are free of all the plastic based nasties and what's more you can overheat them ...they'll still burn your food if you use too much heat, but you're unlikely to destroy the coating in the process.

I hope this helps crystallise your thoughts on where to go next. If I may I'll put your email up on our blog because it may well help others who've had similar problems.

Kind regards
Andrew Duncan
Director