UPDATE: I read in some reviews that GreenPan recommends against using extra virgin olive oil because it can cause a film to build up and lessen the nonstick. I looked that up on their website, and it’s true—they recommend refined oils which have higher smoke points and don’t create a film. Curious, I also Googled “how to restore ceramic nonstick,” and once again found the GreenPan site—which sells & recommends a melamine (yup—the same substance as “Melmac”) foam sponge & water. Something clicked: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is also a melamine foam sponge, and I had a couple still in the box. Looking at the dull spot on the cooking surface and the rough sticky spots along the inner walls, I tried it: and the non-stickiness is back …for now. Will use coconut or grape seed oil or butter from now on, saving the EVOO for conventional nonstick or stainless steel pans. Next, I tackled the brown heat stains on the exterior pink enamel. Made a paste of Bar Keeper’s Friend, applied it, waited 5 minutes and scrubbed with a green “scrubby” cloth. The brown stains disappeared. Alas, no way to repair the chips in the enamel (especially those around the edge where the bottom disk meets the pan. But those won’t affect cooking, just look a bit worse for wear hanging on my pot rack. For good measure, I tried the same two steps on the Blue Diamond (on which fish skin began to stick a bit last night). It, too, worked. So I added a star—the reason there are 4 instead of 5 is that I had to do all of the above (it was not in the instructions that came with the pan) and the chips in the exterior enamel. ______________________________________________________________________________________ ORIGINAL 3-star review: Reading the reviews here, Consumer Reports, America’s Test Kitchen and various other cooking websites I trust, I had high hopes for this set--which I ordered when the conventional nonstick coatings of my All-Clad & OXO Good Grips pans began to wear out and I wanted to stop using PFAs. I had been "burned" before by cheaper ceramic (Copper Chef, Bialetti) pans that began sticking after less than a month, so the glowing reviews of this pricier Green Pan convinced me that a pan could be eco-friendly, durable and nonstick without the seasoning or upkeep of cast-iron or carbon steel. Fool me once... Despite the claims on this site of "tempered glass lids," the set did not come with lids. Haven't used this set's 10" skillet yet (I have a far less expensive Blue Diamond ceramic that seems to be holding up fairly well albeit used less often), but after only 5 months of cooking mostly eggs in the 8", this pan's still-slick-looking-and-feeling cooking surface has definitely lost much of its non-stick properties. I never heat the pan empty and never use any heat higher than medium--in fact, I use medium-low-to-low flame. I hang rather than stack my pans, to avoid scratching. I never use metal utensils--only plastic, silicone, rubber or wood. I always use a little olive oil or butter to aid release. I use only non-scratch-labeled sponges. My pans never see the inside of a dishwasher. And I never use cooking sprays. For the first month or two, eggs & omelets slid out effortlessly without using any utensils--then gradually I needed to use a nylon spatula to loosen a fried egg so it could slide. Then, omelets & scrambled eggs began sticking to the walls of the pan, and my last rolled omelet was a disaster--it broke apart when part of it stuck to the pan. Lately, I have had to scrape bits of egg off the surface almost every time. After gentle cleaning with dish soap and soft sponge, the cooking surface looks as pristine as when it was new but it sure doesn't act that way. And the blush pink exterior has stained very badly and irreparably. After reading a NYTimes Wirecutter review of nonstick pans that really slammed ceramic's short-lived performance--declaring it even less eco-friendly than newer conventional nonstick because it needs replacing at least two or three times as often, thereby adding to landfills because it can't be recycled--I went back to a conventional nonstick-surface 8" skillet by Tramontina, Wirecutter's top pick (which their testers report is still slick after a year). Oh, and did I mention that this Green Pan is twice as expensive right out of the box? All the glowing reviews of ceramic nonstick pans seem to have been written when the pans were new or barely-used. You can have a feel-good non-PFA surface, or dependable longer-lasting nonstick performance...just not in the same pan. Back to the drawing board.
