One last thing: I also worked as a cook for several years in a previous life. I don't pretend to be a chef because I never received any formal training, but I have worked with chefs that were so trained. In all of the restaurants where I worked, we used stainless, aluminum, or aluminum-clad stainless fry pans. The reason for this is durability. I remember when we got a shipment of nice non-stick pans. They worked beautifully for about a week or two. It didn't take long for someone to use a metal utensil in one, leave it on the stove to overheat by forgetting about it, or for an underpaid dishwasher to hit one with a stainless scouring pad. Restaurant owners do not usually like to replace their cookware in such short order, hence why the ones I worked for used all-metal pans. Naturally, your kitchen is not a commercial environment and thus not subject to these same uncontrollable environmental factors. Still, I suspect that if you want a pan that is both coated and durable, then enamel coated cast iron, such as Le Creuset, is the way to go.
One more last thing: I read that you cook over a gas range. In practice, I have found certain cookware is more compatible with gas than others. Thin and light pans are especially prone to hot spots when cooking over gas, another reason I prefer something with a little added heft.
One more last thing: I read that you cook over a gas range. In practice, I have found certain cookware is more compatible with gas than others. Thin and light pans are especially prone to hot spots when cooking over gas, another reason I prefer something with a little added heft.
