[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.