Will Last For Years if Treated Well
This is my fourth GreenPan and in my opinion they are excellent pans -- very durable for something with a "nonstick" coating. I just threw one out after four years of use three to four times a week, and have another that's been going for over three years. See below for my care recommendations.Note that I've put "nonstick" in quotes above. If you're looking for something TRULY nonstick, e.g. the kind of pan where an egg will slide out when fried without a drop of oil, your only choice is to buy cheap pans with a Teflon coating and throw them out after a very small number of cooking sessions. Those pans never last. Ceramic pans are a different breed of nonstick: They will not cook an egg entirely stick-free, but they are still much more "nonstick" than, say, stainless. On the flip side, their durability is 100x better than anything Teflon coated.Given the above, I treat these pans quite differently than I would a Teflon pan: I cook with a small amount of fat, and I expose the pans to high heat when applicable. They can take it.The biggest difference, though, is how I handle them when cleaning. The biggest issue with the nonstick coatings is that polymerized fats -- overheated, cooked-on oils -- will completely destroy the nonstick qualities. This means that if you want to maintain nonstick behaviors, you must keep the pans spotlessly clean. The good news is that thanks to the durability, these pans can handle significantly more robust cleaning than a Teflon coated pan.You should NOT baby these pans when cleaning them! I'm not suggesting breaking out a wire scrub brush, but you absolutely SHOULD use the abrasive side of a sponge. I also highly recommend scrubbing with baking soda once every several cooking sessions. Even when the pan looks clean, there is often a very thin layer of fat. The baking soda will strip it right off and revive the pan's nonstick quality. To do this I put a very small amount of water in the bottom of the pan, add enough baking soda to absorb most of it, and then scrub with a paper towel. You'll be shocked by how yellow the baking soda gets. Repeat until it comes out just as white as it went in.Should you burn something in the pan or otherwise need to remove something really stuck in there, baking soda is also a great choice. Add a larger amount of water to the pan, quite a bit of baking soda, and then boil over high heat until the baking soda dries out. Now scrub the dried soda out with a paper towel and the vast majority of whatever you've burned in there will come right off.Cleaning my pans in these ways with baking soda from time to time, and freely applying pressure with the abrasive side of the sponge on a regular basis, is what has allowed my pans to stay in service for many years.One final note: I see a lot of people mentioning that their food sticks "even when cooking at low heat" and that is in fact a huge part of the problem! Low heat gives proteins more time to bond with the surface of the pan. It only makes things worse. If you want to sear something, do it on high heat. Because once again, unlike a Teflon pan, these can handle it.Bottom line: Don't expect some miracle nonfat solution. Treat your pans properly but don't baby them, and make sure to keep them clean. These are great tools. Enjoy your cooking!---Update, 2017-08-23 (18 months after initial purchase)My pan is still performing like a champ and I still highly recommend these. When it finally gets worn out I will definitely replace the one I purchased here with another identical model, but I think it will be a long time before that's required. Two of the three other pans I mentioned above are still in service! (The oldest one was claimed a while back by my four year old; but I suspect it would still work fine if I dug it out of his toy box.)A few people have mentioned in the comments section that some of the recommendations I made above differ from the manufacturer's suggestions -- especially my comment on using these pans over high heat. I can only say in that regard that this review is a description of my personal experiences with the product and what does and does not work for me. The manufacturer recommendations may have been made for any number of reasons; it's not clear what the intentions are there. And "high heat" is of course highly dependent upon equipment. It's possible that the recommendations represent a liability edge case and/or that my stove isn't as hot as whatever they tested on, or a number of other scenarios. In any case, I've had no problems whatsoever, but I thought I should address these concerns in the main review.Still very much a five star review; this is an excellent product. Enjoy!