I Was Too Scared to Try a Stainless Steel Pan, but I'll Admit I was Wrong – it's the Best Non-Toxic Kitchen Switch I've Made in 7 Years

Learning how to use it properly and having a quality pan has been a game-changer

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A large stainless steel frying pan with a carry handle on a white counter. A fried steak inside with red onion and a garlic bulb. Beside it is a small dish of chopped parsley, and a plate with a knife and fork.
(Image credit: Le Creuset)
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For years, stainless steel pans intimidated me. I’d heard too many horror stories of food sticking, burning, and going to waste, so I stuck with the convenience of non-stick.

Those toxic PTFE coatings always nagged at me, and I came to see that if I wanted truly non-toxic cookware for total peace of mind and better health, I had to get over my aversion.

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How I Got Over My Fear Of Cooking With Stainless Steel

As someone trying to build a more non-toxic home, I wanted to make the switch away from non-stick coated pans, but every attempt seemed to end the same way.

For years, I have owned a very cheap stainless steel saucepan from a local home store, and cooking with it was a constant battle. Food stuck, sauces burned, and mid-week dinners were made more stressful. After enough failed dinners, I convinced myself stainless steel simply wasn’t for me.

It made me reluctant to invest in a higher-end pan. If cooking was already difficult, why spend more money just for history to repeat itself?

Everything changed when I had the chance to test the Le Creuset Essentials Stainless Steel Frying Pan with its chefs. Cooking breaded chicken schnitzel and even a delicate fried egg with no burning or breaking immediately proved something important: The problem wasn’t my skill; it had been expecting a budget pan to deliver a premium performance.

The difference comes down to two things: Technique and construction. This pan uses 3-ply stainless steel with a single-piece aluminum core, allowing heat to distribute evenly across the surface. That consistent heating makes controlling the cooking process far easier and dramatically reduces the chances of sticking or scorching.

The pan came home with me that same evening, and I've been using it daily ever since without the issues that had previously put me off.

A stainless steel Le Creuset frying pan on a black stovetop, in front of an orange Le Creuset Dutch oven. White tile backsplash behind them.

The Le Creuset Stainless steel pan is designed with rolled edges to make pouring simple and drip-free. The helper handle also makes this larger, heavier pan more convenient to move around.

(Image credit: Future / Chiana Dickson)

The next key step was mastering the Leidenfrost effect, and, with it, learning a bit of patience. The term sounds intimidating, but in practice it’s remarkably simple.

Heat your pan dry, with no oil, over medium-low heat. Higher heat won’t speed things up; it actually makes sticking and burning worse. Once the pan is warm, flick a few drops of water onto the surface. If the water immediately sizzles and evaporates, the pan isn’t hot enough.

The moment the drops bead up and skate across the surface like mercury, it’s the perfect temperature to add your oil (the chefs recommended one with a low smoke point, such as vegetable oil, which is from Walmart) and your ingredients. This is because the high heat of the surface has created a vapour layer, preventing the drop from making direct contact with the pan. This is what prevents your ingredients from sticking and burning.

Any cooler, and ingredients will immediately adhere, and cooking (and later cleaning and caring for your cookware) becomes a nightmare.

The top tip from the expert: Keep the heat steady when you first add your ingredients, but slightly lower it when you flip them. Since the pan retains heat, turning it down a degree or two prevents burning while maintaining that ideal cooking temperature.

Once you get the timing right and have quality tools at your disposal, stainless steel becomes far less intimidating, as I have now learned personally. Stainless steel has become the standard for me now.

What to Shop

If, like me, detoxifying your kitchen is a priority, stainless steel cookware deserves serious consideration, even if you have been hesitant to make the change. I promise that once you get the hang of adding oil or ingredients at the right time, at the right temperature, it's very straightforward to use.

I’ve curated a selection of my favorite non-toxic tools for the kitchen, along with some essential accessories, to help you confidently upgrade your kitchen.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

With your cookware sorted, check out the best non-toxic kitchen appliances to completely detoxify your kitchen.

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Chiana Dickson
Chiana Dickson
Kitchen Appliances Editor

Chiana is Homes & Gardens’ kitchen appliances editor. With a lifelong passion for cooking and baking, she grew up experimenting in the kitchen every weekend with her baking-extraordinaire Mom, has spent time cooking with Le Creuset's expert chefs, and has developed a great understanding of how tools and appliances can make or break your ideal relaxing kitchen routine.