The two frying pans

You probably have one at home, a non-stick frying pan or saucepan, which everyone calls "Tefal".

The non-stick pan

Very recognizable by its black color, and its very particular interior coating, the food adheres to it very little, which is infinitely practical for anything that needs to cook without sticking, an omelette for example, but this is the case most of the time.

It is extremely practical, but it is not harmless, the internal coating is teflon (hence the name Tefal), I will not go into it too much, but you have to be careful with these pans which age quickly (you have to change them as soon as the coating starts to get damaged) and be careful not to heat them too much, for example by forgetting it on the fire, empty, the time to prepare what to cook in it, the coating will then degrade quickly.

But, the risk being known, we have to admit that cooking with it is rather nice, it doesn't stick, and it is easy to sauté something inside.

But?

There is a downside, it doesn't stick, very good for fried eggs, but for a meat for example, with which you want to make a sauce or a juice after cooking, you will need the cooking juices, and with a non-stick, there is (almost) none... It is normal at the same time, as the meat does not stick, the cooking juices do not form, the famous Maillard reactions, if you want to add cream and Roquefort for a delicious Roquefort sauce for example, it will not be so successful.

Yes, because for this kind of recipe, on the contrary, you want it to stick, a little, so that a lot of cooking juices are formed, juices that you can then "deglaze" (some say "decook") by pouring a little liquid in the pan and scraping the bottom and reducing.

You will have understood that for this kind of cooking, the non-stick frying pan is not well suited, you need a classic one, almost old-fashioned, in stainless steel if possible, a bit like this:

This type of pan is ideal for making post-cooking sauces after a meat as mentioned, but also a fish, scallops etc. etc.

On the other hand, to make an omelette in it, you really need to load it with butter or oil, so as not to have to remove the omelette with a chisel and hammer at the end of cooking...

Not one, but two!

Which means that in the end, you'd better have 2 pans, one non-stick for everyday cooking, and another steel one, for all the cooking that requires juices for after or during the cooking.

As always with kitchen equipment, you have to pay the price, if you have to buy a second pan, get one made of stainless steel with a thick bottom, why not a French brand, we can find here high quality brands (De Buyer for example), certainly a little more expensive but "the price is forgotten, the quality remains" (my favorite mantra)

The new generation of non-stick pansI

I'll end by coming back to the non-stick pans, the manufacturers, Tefal being the first, are finally becoming sensitive to the arguments of the consumers who don't want any more dubious products for their health, such as teflon (see the movie "Dark waters" that you may have already seen), teflon that they are progressively starting to abandon. So we have been seeing for some time now so-called non-stick pans appearing, but of a rather light color, where teflon is replaced by ceramic, completely neutral and much more solid.

Objectively it is not as flexible as the historical non-stick ones, but it is already much better for your health, ceramic being neutral, and also much more solid, it is not afraid of being hit by a fork or a knife.
I would like to recommend them to you.

To sum up: If possible, have 2 pans at home, one non-stick (ceramic if possible) for everyday cooking, and another steel (stainless if possible) for cooking that requires the formation of juices, for tasty sauces after cooking.