Hard-anodized vs ceramic cookware: which nonstick to buy

Hard-anodized describes the body. The aluminum is treated in an acid bath with an electric current, which turns its surface into a thick, hard oxide layer. That layer isn't very slick on its own, so most hard-anodized pans sold as nonstick have a PTFE coating inside, as Caraway points out. Ceramic describes the coating: a sol-gel layer made from sand-derived minerals, GreenPan says, baked onto an aluminum or steel pan.

One pan can be both. All-Clad's HA1 Ceramic is a hard-anodized aluminum body with a ceramic cooking surface.

All-Clad sells both coatings on the same hard-anodized body, so its two HA1 lines show the difference plainly. HA1, with PTFE nonstick, goes in the oven to 500°F, may go in the dishwasher (All-Clad suggests soap and a sponge to keep the nonstick working) and has a limited lifetime warranty. HA1 Ceramic goes to 450°F but never under the broiler, is hand wash only and has a 1-year warranty. Both work on induction, and both have glass lids rated to 350°F.

The care is much the same for both, Caraway says: low to medium heat, silicone, nylon or wooden tools, a soft sponge and no aerosol cooking spray, which builds up into a sticky film. Ceramic asks a little more. All-Clad says never to preheat a ceramic pan empty and lists high heat first among the things that wear the coating out. Caraway, a ceramic maker, says a PTFE coating usually stays at its best for 3 to 5 years and a good ceramic one for 1 to 3.

Choose hard-anodized PTFE nonstick if you want the coating that stays slick longest, copes better with the odd burst of high heat and, on lines like HA1, goes in the dishwasher. Choose ceramic if you want a coating made without PTFE and cook mostly on low to medium heat: eggs, fish, pancakes and vegetables. Whichever you pick, keep a stainless or cast-iron pan for searing, so the coated pan never needs high heat.