Our ferritic nöni™ stainless steel range is perfect for all liquid boiling, slow cooking and acidic sauces. Super low maintenance - no seasoning required! Cooks like iron, cleans like stainless. Suitable for all heat sources including gas, induction, electric, oven, BBQ and even campfire. nöni™ is designed to be workhorse pans, for generations of cooking. It's indestructible! As it is non nickel, it may not stay as shiny as regular stainless steel, however it is far superior in every important way: health, sustainablility, and performance!
Our pans are highly conductive, so in most cases, medium will be your new high. We recommend starting with a lower temperature before turning up the heat. With induction, you’ll rarely need to go above medium heat, and we strongly advise against using the boost setting.
NOTE: It's important to always match the size of the burner to the pan – this FAQ shows the ideal burner-to-pan size ratio.
It’s very common for the look of your pan to change as you cook. Due to the non-nickel content of our ferritic stainless steel, your pan will stain less, though won't be shiny. Shiny is just for looks, we say, don't worry about how your pan looks - when it comes to Solidteknics cookware, what’s important is how it cooks!
Struggling with food sticking to your stainless steel pans? A non-stick cooking surface is very achieveable with our nöni™ pans. Follow these simple tips to get the best performance out of your nöni™ pans, and help make cleaning up a breeze:
1. Start with a clean pan
Make sure that your pan is clean and smooth to the touch before you start cooking. Any stuck-on food will act as velcro, grabbing onto any food that you put in the pan.
2. Pre-heat your pan
It is important to allow your pans to heat up slowly over a medium heat. You can't see it with the naked eye, but stainless steel has a porous surface. As the pan slowly heats up, the metal expands and these pores gradually shrink, resulting in a smoother surface that is less prone to sticking. This is known as the Leidenfrost effect. You'll know your pan is hot enough by doing the water drop test.
NOTE: You should always heat your pans empty - even before adding fat/oil!
Wait for your pan to heat up before adding your oil. This prevents the oil from breaking down prematurely and becoming 'sticky'. Once the pan is hot and you've added your oil, allow the oil to also heat up before adding your food. Adding oil to the pan when it's hot causes the steel to become "static," which creates a temporary non-stick surface.
3. Do a quick water-drop test to check your pan is hot and ready to cook
At the right temperature, a drop of water in the pan will form a 'ball' that glides and dances across the surface of the pan. If this happens, you're pan is pre-heated to perfection and ready for you to add your oil! NOTE: This is past the point at which the water sizzles when it hits the pan's surface - see our video below!
Lower your heat. Our cookware is highly conductive. You likely won’t ever need more than a medium heat setting to get a hot pan. Do not rush the preheating process by using high heat. Since ferritic stainless steel is highly conductive and effective at holding heat, preheating on high might lead to overheating your pan (and burning your food).
4. Allow food to come to room temperature prior to cooking
Cold food (particularly protein rich foods like meat and poultry) is more likely to stick to a hot pan. A big piece of cold meat will likely drop the surface temperature to the point the food will bond with the pan (undoing all that preheating). Always allow food to come to room temperature prior to cooking, to help prevent sticking. It can also be beneficial to dab food with a cloth or paper towel to remove excess moisture.
5. Don't flip your food too early!
The rule of thumb for a stainless steel pan is to flip your food when you can do so easily. It takes time for the proteins to bind to each other, so be patient and resist the temptation to play with your food! If you've used a pre-heated and adequately oiled pan, your food will naturally lift and release from the pan once it's ready to flip.
Dishwashers: Our nöni™ cookware can go in the dishwasher, we do however highly recommend hot washing all cookware and knives by hand. If you do put your pan into the dishwasher, open the door on the dry cycle to avoid leaving the pan in a humid environment for a long period.
Only use non-abrasive cleaners and sponges. Coarse scrubbers and harsh cleaning solutions like bleach or household cleaners can scratch your stainless steel and damage its finish. And although baking soda and more abrasive scrubbers (like fine steel wool) can be useful in cleaning a burnished pan, beware that using these products might scratch or deminish the finish of your nöni™ cookware. Any scratches are only superficial and will not affect performance. There are no synthetic coatings or clad layers to worry about!
Note: We advise against leaving products such as baking soda and vinegar on your nöni™ pan for extended periods of time, as they can gradually corrode the metal.
To prevent water spots, dry your pot or pan immediately after washing. To clean water spots that do occur, simply dampen the surface of the pot or pan, rub it with a moist sponge that's been sprinkled with baking soda, and rinse as usual.
For cleaning chalky white spots (which can result from calcium buildup in the water): Bring a solution of 1:3 vinegar: water to a boil in the pan, let it cool, and then wash and dry as normal.
For stuck food bits (which can result from adding cold food to a hot pan—see above!): Scrub the pot with a non-abrasive sponge to get off any food bits you can, then fill the pot or pan with enough soapy water to cover the food, bring to a boil, and scrape (the food should come away easily).
IMPORTANT: Never submerge a hot stainless steel pan in cold water might as this can cause irreparable warping. Always allow the pan to cool before washing it.
For spots that won't budge, you can make a paste of baking soda and water and leave it applied to the problem areas for a few minutes before scrubbing.
For hard to clean burnt, stubborn, or burnished pans:
Bar Keeper's Friend works wonders on stained metal. With a small amount of water pour on the surface of your pan to create a paste or slurry, and simply scrub the surface with a non-abrasive sponge or scourer to remove the stains.
For a more natural alternative: Fill the bottom of the pan with water, then add 1 cup of vinegar and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Empty the pan and scrub (some people even recommend using 0000 very fine steel wool, which should not scratch).
Clean after cooking
We recommend cleaning your pans soon after cooking. We do not recommend storing foods in your pans for prolonged periods of time (i.e overnight in the fridge).
Dry thoroughly before storing
After washing simply dry with a tea towel.
Hand washing is recommend, though nöni™ is dishwasher safe. If you choose to use a dishwasher, we recommend allowing to dry with an open door after the wash cycle is complete. You will likely experience more spotting if you use a dishwasher but these can always be polished out using the instructions above.
Long periods of storage may also encourage some spotting due to humidity in the air. Ideally, keep using your pans, or store in a dry place free from condensation.
Never add salt to cold water, wait until it reaches a 'rolling' boil. This can cause pitting corrosion, which leaves small dents at the bottom of your pan.
If small dents appear on your pan, it is perfectly safe to use and will not lose its function or durability. Pitting can occur due to a few different reasons, all of which are variables and something a manufacturer can't control i.e. the cooking method, minerals in liquids, water pH etc. It could be a case of pitting due to minerals that were dissolved in the water or in the water already. The most common culprit of this is sodium chloride, which is found in salt. If you add salt to your water before it's boiling, some of the salt will settle to the bottom of the pan, causing pitting to occur.
Why don't nöni™ pans stay as shiny as regular stainless steel cookware?
The reason other manufacturers use austenitic Nickel stainless steels (then make ply or multi-clad layers to compensate for its poor conductivity) is that these Nickel stainless steels (eg. 18/10, meaning 18% Chromium and 10% Nickel) are the shiniest when polished, and the most corrosion-resistant of all the stainless steels (there are many kinds). Because we won't use Nickel for health reasons, one trade-off is a slight decrease in stain and corrosion resistance.
Rust / mild isolated surface corrosion
If cared for correctly this will never be an issue, however if nöni pans are left in corrosive situations without maintenance, small rust spots and/or mild isolated surface corrosion can appear. To prevent this, clean and dry your pans immediately after use.
If rust spots or unwanted spots do appear, these can easily be removed with the above instructions. If small marks do remain, these are no concern and will not affect performance, health or durability of your cookware.
To learn more about our noni range: click here!
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In the spirit of reconciliation Solidteknics acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.