Pan protectors One method is to use paper towel or a dish towel as a barrier between stacked cookware. You can also buy products specifically made for this purpose. Typically, they're spongy pads with undersides that grip to resist slips and slides that cause scratches.
You can put a piece of cloth between stacked pans. I use old cloth napkins. They also make dividers for them. I stack mine in a cupboard but they have cloth type dividers between them and they do not get scratched.
Use the Right Utensils
Tools made from wood, silicone, and nylon are all fair game when it comes to cooking with non stick, as they're sturdy enough to scrape up fond yet soft enough to leave the coating intact. You should never use metal tools on your non stick pan as they can scratch or chip the coating.
You can stack pots and pans without damaging them if you use a protective divider to prevent them from scratching each other. The divider can be a paper plate, a kitchen towel, a placemat cut to size, or you can purchase pot and pan protectors. In the photo below, I used paper plates to protect my pans.
We advise replacing your nonstick pans whenever the coating starts to degrade or is scratched—or about every three to five years.
There are a number of ways you can damage a nonstick pan, from spritzing it with cooking spray to scraping it with metal utensils to putting it in the dishwasher.
Mix a small amount of baking soda with water to form a paste and apply it to the pan. Lightly scrub with a non-abrasive sponge to remove the burnt oil or food, then rinse, dry, and re-season your pan with a swipe of cooking oil.
Stacking responsibly
Fortunately there are several options to store your pans properly. One of those options is using felt or rubber pan protectors to make sure the pans don't come into contact. As a result you can keep stacking your pans. You could also use towels.
Sites like Craigslist and Freecycle are good options for finding your cookware a new home, as are secondhand stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army. A few scratches or dings may matter to you, but that doesn't make your pots and pans unusable.
Avoid Chef "Burn-Out"
Scour gently with mild abrasive cleaner, baking soda or plastic mesh pad. If scouring didn't work, soak it in a solution of liquid hand dishwashing detergent and/or baking soda and water to loosen soil.
There's a greater chance of scratching the pan in a dishwasher. Use rubber or wooden cooking utensils and avoid anything metal. When storing, lay a cloth towel over the surface to prevent scratches from stacked pans.
You can prevent friction scratching on aluminum and other metals by ensuring you regularly clean the worktable and the sheet metal you're working with. Make sure there is no debris, which can help prevent scratches to your metal components.
We can remove the old scratched or damaged internals and recoat with a new non stick coating for a fraction of the cost of new cookware. Depending on the type of industrial or domestic cookware you send us, we will select the appropriate non-stick coating to use.
If the pan has light surface scratches — deep or numerous scratches that expose the underlying metal signal the pan has reached the end of its lifespan — you'll need a non-stick dry film lubricant spray or cookware spray. You can also use a home remedy of baking soda paste or vegetable oil.
If you read the care directions for basically any non-stick pan, you will see that they all recommend not to use cooking sprays due to the fact that they will affect the non-stick properties of you pan over time.
It is safest to replace any nonstick cookware when the coating is damaged, particularly if it was made before 2015, says Whitney Linsenmeyer, PhD, RD, LD, an assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University, and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
A: Calphalon stopped manufacturing our nonstick using PFOA back in the third quarter of 2012. We have then since moved to a formula that is completely FDA approved.
The Olive Wellness Institute team often gets asked questions about this common myth, and the answer is NO, cooking in extra virgin olive oil will NOT ruin your non-stick pans.
No. While they don't necessarily present a safety concern, you still shouldn't hold onto your scratched nonstick pans. If the scratches are fresh, you may end up with flakes of the coating in your food—which we can all agree is not delicious. It can also impact how effective your pan's nonstick abilities are.
Teflon® is a registered trademark of DuPont and a brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) a nonstick finish. While Calphalon cookware features polytetrafluoroethylene-based nonstick finishes, we are not associated with, nor do we use, Teflon® branded products.
Cooking over a high-heat
This form of damage is easy to recognise; the non-stick surface becomes discoloured and in extreme cases it will detach from the pan by either peeling or blistering. In addition to this never allow food to burn onto your non-stick pan. If burning occurs the non-stick will be compromised.