Can my pans be saved?

carlamarie_2

I've had my set of pans for about five years now (is this good? How long should pans generally last). They are stainless steel and when I bought them they cost me £120 reduced from £300.

Food is starting to stick to a couple of them and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to prolong the life of them?
I currently wash them with a scouring pad (the soft type with a sponge on the other side) although my biggest one has had a Brillo pad on it, when I had the bright idea to use it to make jam yet nothing sticks on this one?!

I don't know if it makes a difference, but its saucepans I'm talking about.
My frying pan is replaced with an asda cheapie every four months or so, as the hubby insists on doing scrambled eggs with a metal spatula rather than my wooden one, bought specifically for this purpose :mad:


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Floss

I would say that 5 years isn't very long in the life of a S/S pan...ours are over 7 years now and still as good as new. My previous set are now about 20 years old and are being used by DS2.

We use a bundle of nylon fruit/veg bags as a scourer, with a steel scrubber for any determined marks and they seem to be quite happy with little burning.

Maybe you need to give them all a good clean with a paste of bicarb & warm water, thoroughly rinse them and then season them again? And food burning on maybe down to too high a heat rather than "old" pans.

carlamarie_2

Thanks floss, I did expect longer from them. But wasn't sure if I was asking too much.
The bicarbonate with warm water method, do I leave it on for so long? How long? Before rinsing off?

The food and pans aren't burning. It's just sticking. Tonight I have cooked boiled rice and at the bottom about 3-4cms was rice stuck fast. To the point that I've left the pan in soak for a bit as it's not going to just wipe off

Floss

Re the paste - I just rub the paste all over with a damp dishcloth, then rinse off with hot water.

Re sticking rice - sounds like you need to try a different method! The absorption method means you get perfect rice and very little stuck to the pan. Just Google it

PasturesNew

Saucepans last 20+ years, cheap ones. I've none at the moment (gave the last ones away 7 years ago and moved about a lot), but I'm about to spend £5 on some Ikea ones and I expect those to outlive me.

Nothing's ever stuck in my pans (£10 stainless steel ones) .... sounds, to me, like you have the heat up too hot and/or don't stir enough or keep an eye on things. I never stray from the cooker when cooking anything. I'd suggest to most people that most of the time there's no need to have the heat/flame up full (or even close) EVER except for a pan of water that's on to boil.

carlamarie_2

Thanks for your replies

I do stay in the kitchen when cooking, however i also have three kids so do have to abandon the room to sort them every now and again. I never turn off the heat when I do this, I'm more of a 'run back' kinda gal!

I will try the bicarbonate idea and also look at changing my heat when cooking.
I honestly believed I used the correct heat (I only have it on full when boiling eggs or reducing a sauce, which i constantly stir when doing this). But having two replies saying the same is making me question it.
Let's see how I get on!

janb5

I would suggest using some discarded cut up lemons and water and heating them for about 20 minutes or add some biological washing powder+ water to the pans which will effectively get rid of most marks. Rinse well afterwards.

SailorSam

I've burnt a pan a couple of times when i've been cooking rice. Gone out of the room and forgot all about it. The birds sti;; eat the rice no matter how burnt it is. What i do to clean the pan is boil water with a big handful of salt.

softpad

carlamarie wrote: »

I've had my set of pans for about five years now (is this good? How long should pans generally last). They are stainless steel and when I bought them they cost me £120 reduced from £300.

Food is starting to stick to a couple of them and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to prolong the life of them?
I currently wash them with a scouring pad (the soft type with a sponge on the other side) although my biggest one has had a Brillo pad on it, when I had the bright idea to use it to make jam yet nothing sticks on this one?!

I don't know if it makes a difference, but its saucepans I'm talking about.
My frying pan is replaced with an asda cheapie every four months or so, as the hubby insists on doing scrambled eggs with a metal spatula rather than my wooden one, bought specifically for this purpose :mad:

Five years is no time at all, mine have been going strong for 20 so far. I would throw out the metal spatula so he doesn't have a choice, buying a new frying pan every few months is so wasteful!! :eek:

Try brushing them inside before using with Olive or other oil. What brand are they? I know you said they are expensive but IMO you need a good tested brand of pan to last a long time.

carlamarie_2

They are morphy Richards pans. At the time of buying them I took the advice of my mother in law on brands.

The rice sticking was just an example of what I had cooked yesterday. The same thing happens with pretty much any thing I cook in them. And the sticking bits in the same place.

I did hide the metal spatula a while ago (I find metal best for flipping fried eggs), the hubby bought 'me' another one as he thought the old one was missing!

Artytarty

It sounds to me like your hob has an unevenly hot surface,you are getting food stuck over the hot spot.
Does it happen on all rings?
Maybe you use gas which would blow my theory out of the water!
Pans should last many many years, also ami the only one who can't believe that anybody wouldU replace a fryng pan every four moths.!!!
!
Buy cheap, buy twice as the saying goes.get a decent one and make it last, at least consider the landfill!somewhere deep,down there is a huge pile of frying pans....sorry, my imagination has gone into saucepan overdrive.