Dunno about you guys but I just lose my mind when the omlette doesn’t slip right out, picture perfect. So I’ve mostly been buying a new one every 12-18 months. Where’d the non-stick part go? :-
Anyhow - longest lasting pan I’ve had to date is from Pampered Chef - around 3 years, and about time for another one.
Anyone got something better? (buttload of butter is not the right answer)
-OCD
I use my wife’s great-grandmothers cast iron skillet. Nothing sticks to it.
I don’t use pots or pans with a non-stick coating. That crap is poisonous.
I really liked my Calphalon non-stick omelet pan for about 4.5 years. Then the non-stick stuff started to flake off. With heavy use I just don’t think they last that long. I’m thinking of getting and conditioning a cast iron skillet for eggs and meat and a stainless steel tri-ply saute pan for everything else.
Tubercle, you don’t do omlettes in cast iron do you?
I know the wonders of cast iron, have 4 pans and a dutch oven for bread baking.
Use cast iron for pretty much everything but eggs.
-OCD
I’ve got all kinds of all-clad, but I just love my Lodge cast iron! I only have one (got it to make cornbread), but it’s become my everyday pan.
No soap for you!
Non stick pans or Teflon or whatever, is like the training wheels of cooking.
Just let go and get real pans. They will last a life time.
Al-clads are great.
Omelets come out of a well seasoned cast iron pan great.
The most important rule is timing. Hot pan, cold oil food wont stick.
For me non stick pans suck. But I can see how they are useful to the every day guy.
I agree capozzoli. I don’t see myself buying any non-stick pans again. It’s either stainless or cast iron from here on out. Although I do have my eye on a porcelain enamel dutch oven…
O yeah man. That sounds sweet!
Im in the market for a new dutch oven. Man, even the old used ones are not cheap.
Lodge Logic pre-seasoned cast iron skillets rock. About $25 wherever you can find them (got mine at Bass Pro Shops). Pre-sesasoned, 12 " skillet that is great for the stove, or camping, or anything. As long as you keep it seasoned, it will never stick.
America’s Test Kitchen rated this the top bargain for non-stick pans, too.
The cast iron dutch ovens are relatively inexpensive. But yeah, the porcelain enamel ones are not cheap at all. Which is why I don’t have one yet. But they look very nice. I’m trying to reboot my homebrewing system at the moment so my expendable $ are going there instead of the cooking hobby.
Generally I agree, and I like my stainless pans most of all (they are hand me downs, and not supreme quality, but they do the job), but I have seen a lot of respectable expert cooks wielding (I should stress not hawking) non-stick pans on occasion. In recent memory, Jacques Pepin and she who is your avatar!
I occasionally use a non-stick griddle pan for breakfast stuff…but all the rest of the nonstick stuff got scraped and destroyed and has since gone in the trash. I don’t like working with cast iron, so its stainless steel and LOTS of BUTTER for me! 
The cook in our family, the wife, has had two Emeril cook pans for two years now and she says they are the best non-stick she has ever used. We also have/use cast iron and SS Wolfgang Puck pots and pans. Recently she found a 3 gal Calphalon stock pot on Amazon for $30 and a Calphalon flat iron griddle for $5 at a yard sale.
I have an All-Clad non-stick omelette pan that’s been working great for several years.
Cap I just thought what all the forumites need to chip in and get you for your birthday or something…a non-stick crock pot!!!
;D 
OK, since you said I suck (or am I being too sensitive?) I went ahead and tried making omelettes this morning.
I used a tablespoon of butter, and was able to flip them even - they just look a little more rustic than what I was serving out of the non-stick. The higher sides of the pan make it more difficult to flip, and I have to wear an ove-glove; but I was surprised that I was actually able to turn out some decent omelettes.
Sometimes you just need a little shove from a fellow brewer.
-OCD
Aw man, I didnt mean to imply that you suck. 
And non stick pans are great for eggs.
Just that once you figure it out, you dont need nonstick.
They are also great for amateurs.
Jack and Julia only use non stick because they are demonstrating to the masses. Not necessarily pros, lie us.
Try these tips to get some non-stick action from cast iron or SS.
First and most of all, cold oil hot pan. Meaning heat the pan up really well then add oil immediately before you add the eggs, or food to be cooked.
There are a couple of inherent problems with butter. One is that if you add a pat of butter to the pan by the time it melts it will be as hot as the pan itself before adding the eggs. They will most likely stick.
Also the milk solids in the butter can start to burn before the egg is well cooked. Also the browning milk solids can make the egg brown more easily as well. Some find this brown on the eggs, scrambled or fried, undesirable.
Try making clarified butter. It is not very hard and works great in all of your cooking where frying or sauteing in butter is desired.
This is also called ghee in Indian cooking.
Here is Alton Browns method for making clarified butter.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ghee-recipe/index.html.
If you apply the hot pan cold oil method with the ghee, you will get great omelets every time. With a clarified butter flavor like no other.
Now, let me tell you about fritatas. You cook them in your oven. You will cook a fritata once and you will never go back to omelets again. Trust me.
I have two non-stick skillets. A 12 inch Caphalon and a 6" All Clad. Both are around 10 years old. The 12" gets used a lot, almost daily. Keys to those are never ever ever ever use a metal utensil in them or even a wooden spoon. Use silicon utensils and use moderate heat as well. Also, when you wash them, never put them in the dishwasher or use any kind of abrasive scouring pad, even the nylon. That said though, I use a 12" All Clad stainless skillet the most here and occasionally the cast iron skillet that I have that was my grandmothers and it probably 60-70 years old. We use a lot of cast iron cookware. I have a Le Creuset Dutch oven and a Batali Risotto Pan which is just a large coated cast iron saucier pan. Love these pieces and are very non-stick as well.
I love using cast iron. I have a Le Creuset dutch oven and a braising pan – awesome cookware.
The dutch oven is one of the porcelain enamel ones? I’m assuming they’re pretty low maintenance as opposed to bare cast iron, right?
Yes, it’s enameled cast iron, so it’s not as much maintenance as the bare stuff. I use a raw cast iron skillet for toasting/roasting chiles (fresh and dried), garlic, onion, and for making homemade tortillas.