If your non-stick pans live in a stack, have a look at the inside of the one at the bottom. Chances are there’s a ring of fine scratches where the base of the next pan has been sitting on it. Every time you pull a pan out, the one above drags across the coating, and over a year or two that wear adds up. Once the coating is damaged, food starts catching, and the pan doesn’t have long left.
Hanging pans or giving each its own shelf fixes it, but few of us have that kind of space. The easier fix is to put something soft between them.
Kitchen roll works, sort of
A folded tea towel or a sheet of kitchen roll does the job for a while. It slides out, bunches up, and you end up putting pans away with nothing in between half the time. Purpose-made felt protectors stay put better because they’re shaped to drape over the rim.
BOYAN’s felt protectors
The BOYAN Pot and Pan Protectors come as six grey felt pads in a star shape, two each in three sizes: 10.3, 14 and 15 inches across, according to the listing. The arms hang down over the edge of the pan so the pad stays centred when you lower the next one on top. They’re heavy-duty polyester felt, and if one is too big for a small frying pan you can trim it with scissors.
They’re hand wash only, which is worth knowing. A quick rinse and air dry when they get a bit grubby is all they need.
The listing also suggests them for glass bakeware and ceramic dishes, and as a pad under a hot pan on the worktop. The first makes sense if you stack Pyrex. I’d be a bit wary of the second with anything straight out of a very hot oven.
They do add a little height to the stack, one layer of felt per pan, which with six pans you’ll notice but probably won’t mind. Stainless steel pans don’t really need them, although cast iron is worth padding if it sits on top of enamel or non-stick. And they won’t rescue a pan whose coating is already flaking. That one needs replacing.
If your pans are still in decent shape, a set of BOYAN protectors is a sensible way to keep them that way.
