[MisterBastahrd]

Yup. Chefs rarely use nonstick cookware outside of baking or specifically making omelettes. For the majority of their uses, it's either stainless, cast iron, or enameled cast iron.

Non-stick got its foothold when the feds went on their "fat is bad for you" kick. They took all the fat out and added sugar to products to fix the texture.

Proteins stick to steel when the steel isn't sufficiently hot before food is placed on it. If you toss a bead of water into a pan and it doesn't dance along the surface in the Leidenfrost effect, your pan isn't hot enough.

[Aachen]

> Chefs rarely use nonstick cookware outside of baking or specifically making omelette.

Citation needed? It sounds implausible to me that a majority of professional cooks seek to make their own job harder when they've got seven other dishes to make by tending a nonnonstick pan.

[ip26]

As a college student with no idea what I was doing, I tried to stir-fry everything at maximum heat and would quickly burn food to a regular pan.

After I learned to be a halfway competent cook, I discovered most cooking methods don't stick at all! Caramelizing, braising, roux, simmering, on and on- mankind learned to cook with ordinary cookware, and all the classic recipes and techniques reflect it.

It's not a matter of being a great cook - you simply don't need nonstick to braise or simmer, for example. So I'd phrase the exercise of learning to cook with steel pans as simply "learning to cook".

[surfpel]

These pans are only not nonstick if used incorrectly. Carbon steel is often used in professional kitchens which develops a nonstick coating called “seasoning”. And if stainless is hot enough, it’s also not very prone to sticking.

[squeaky-clean]

The main reason I know of is that a nonstick coated pan will not survive long with the bulk way they wash their dishes. You'd also have to keep a separate set of non-metal spatulas and such.