Saucepans without teflon

Thomas_Holding

Can anyone suggest saucepans without teflon and similar chemicals which are 
i) not ultra expensive
ii) not a pain to clean
iii not very heavy

(If any thinks that telfon is not a problem it is not up for debate - I have already lost this and you can't help me win it)

Emmia

There was a thread recently on budget stainless steel saucepans

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6590020/stainless-steel-saucepans

p00hsticks

My go to is a Judge Vista stainless steel one - certainly very easy to clean, but not sure what you'd class as 'ultra expensive' or 'very heavy' though - sample prices and weights on this website 
Saucepans & Saucepan Sets | Harts of Stur

Green_hopeful

Not used them but I love the Stellar brand. https://www.hartsofstur.com/brands/stellar/stellar-cookware/stellar-rocktanium-cookware.html we have ceramic pans and they need care to stop them burning and sticking so probably looking for something non Teflon as well. 

Flugelhorn

Stellar are great but not cheap - the IKEA 365 are impressive and very reasonably priced

molerat

I use the Judge Vista, shop around and you can get them at a good price.  Get the draining ones, they have a lip and strainer holes in the edge of the lid.  And if you get a milk pan - small saucepan with no lid - in the set they will sell a lid to fit it at a reasonable price.

Thomas_Holding

Has anyone used aluminium saucepans?  Are they safe?

Mnoee

Thomas_Holding said:

Has anyone used aluminium saucepans?  Are they safe?

I've used them loads, small aluminium pans are often used in restaurants. They're very cheap, and heat up superfast. They also need near constant movement as they're prone to hot spots. 

As for safety, you'll find people saying they're absolutely safe and others saying they're too dangerous to exist. Same as white bread, sausages, vapes, non-organic veg and anything else you might put in your body.

Aluminium CAN leech into food, but you'd notice anything significant from the metallic taste. It's more likely with acidic food cooked for a long time. It's also repeated exposure that'd be more worrying than occasional. That makes them less useful for at home. 

So a restaurant wouldn't make a bolognese sauce in aluminium (acidic tomatoes), but they'd reheat the bolognese sauce they cooked for three hours that morning in one. 

You're probably not looking at copper pans due to cost, but fully copper pots also not great for cooking acidic foods for a long time for the same reason.

Murphybear

We bought a set of stellar pans half price a few years.  They are still as good as when we bought them.  Unfortunately I think “you get what you pay for” is very true in this instance.  

Do you need a complete set?  Otherwise you could start out with one or two pans.  

Thomas_Holding

One or two might be ok - to be honest I made a mistake it is more frying pans we need.

Mnoee

If you're looking for a frying pan with some non-stick potential without Teflon, I'd look at carbon steel. It's a bit like cast iron, in that it needs seasoning, a bit of love and care, and most importantly regular use to develop a nice coating. It'll last a lifetime like cast iron, but carbon steel is much lighter. 

Stainless steel frying pans are an option too, but they have no non-stick qualities at all. If you want something you can chuck in the dishwasher without thinking about, they'd work, but you might have to run that dishwasher twice after cooking scrambled eggs as they'll have stuck to it.