There's one other option for kitchen ware material: enamel pan. Have you got any comments on this utility? My aunt had the enamel pans for design her kitchen some years ago. And if I remember right they had the same problem as this stainless steel fry pan when food stuck to them. It is not easy to get to the simple basic examples from the multitude of opinions to this theme but perhaps it is fair to say that cast iron material is the all-around best. The principal disadvantage of this heavy ware is the need to care for it to prevent rusting. It should not be really so hard once you get the habit. Especially it is not a great problem if there is a secure mankind and cleaners at your home. Uncoated copper material of the fry pan can react with foodstuffs and cause toxicity. That is why I use my unlined copper pan only for making preserves (sugars seem to discourage the formation of cupric oxides), caramels, and whipping egg whites (electrostatic interactions encourage slightly fluffier peaks, slightly quicker, than in steel ware). The difference between something like a cast iron pan and a similar heavy copper pan (much faster conduction) or aluminum (nearly as nice as copper, but prone to horrible warping) is of important if you are sautéing or making sauces. But I would love to settle for just one pan but I really think every house-wife needs at least two. We use nonstick fry pan but I wish we won't. I discovered that my old nonstick pan developed very sticky propensities. It wasn't really old. I purchased it half a year ago. And I found it scratched. I didn't leave it dirty after cooking. But with age there was some chemical change in the nonstick coating material that made it react with cooking oil (nearly always olive oil or butter at our home) to produce a sticky goo. I hate this sticky goo as I cannot find cleaner to win it. I am frightened with the possibility of it's harmful. The material options are examined for each concrete case. The prices are also different. But we want to be healthy using this or that kind of kitchen ware. We have to count the weight of the service too as we need convenient utensil. We choose ware of the size and deepness we need. But I advise you to ignore its color. I find it thoughtless.