I have a Circulon frying pan I've been using for a few years. I got it second hand in good condition.
The non stick factor was great when I got it, but when I fry with it now, I find I need to use quite a bit of oil or it sticks.
I've tried hard to clean off what seems to be a kind of oily residue, but I'm wondering if it's the last of the non-stick coating I'm trying to remove!
Other than the stickiness, it's a great pan.
Are this pan's non stick days over? Or otherwise, what can I do to restore it?
Best Answer
Let's just mention that there are health controversies about using a broken nonstick coating and/or bare aluminium surfaces, and see them as controversies that are off topic here.
Non-stick wise, this pan is wrecked.
There is no practical way to fix a modern nonstick coating to original state yourself at home.
It seems that some spray-on products used to exist, but these were not actually teflon based even if they were sold as teflon repair sprays, and did not give an equivalent result to industrially applied coatings.
There are professional refinishing services, but the price of the refinishing plus shipping costs is about the price of a brand new medium quality pan, and even this could only work with a piece where all non-heatproof fittings can be dismantled from the pan itself; the refinishing process will involve baking it at a high temperature.
The only thing that would be possible to do yourself, IF the base material of the pan is either stainless steel or carbon steel/cast iron/wrought iron, would be to completely get the damaged coating off and use the cookware as a stainless steel, or seasoned iron, piece. But with most non-stick cookware, the base is aluminium, which is not useful as an uncoated or seasoned cooking surface.
EDIT: It seems there are seasoning techniques for some types of bare aluminium, they might or might not apply. As I mentioned, there are health controversies about it, so make informed decisions.