So my nonstick pan i bought from target for upwards of 40-60 bucks is already ruined after like not even 2 years

so my nonstick pan i bought from target for upwards of 40-60 bucks is already ruined after like not even 2 years,

whats like a good reliable brand of cooking pans to get

Well being a decent chef and learning to cook without memes like nonstick would be a decent start.

The majority of your cookware should be mulitlayer stainless steel. You should also have a cast iron skillet.

I keep a single ~$100 All-clad nonstick skillet for the times when nonstick makes sense (frying an egg without a shit ton of grease or something)

For nonstick? Brands from a restaurant supply store. Tramontina, Eagleware/Alegacy, etc.

Also, the obvious:
1) stop overheating your nonstick cookware
2) stop using metal utensils in your nonstick cookware
3) stop stacking hard objects inside your nonstick cookware when you put it away.

Nonstick has a delicate surface. You need to treat it carefully. If you don't you will fuck up even the most expensive of pans.

im pretty sure it wasnt me who fucked up the pan, but i do high heat cooking with it a lot of the time might be why

Buy a cast iron pan from someone whose grandma just died. They won't know the value (probably) and I assure you that it will be at least decent if it has lasted this long.

buy cast iron and read online how to properly care for it
sounds annoying but you basically don't clean them so its actually easier
there is literally nothing that can happen to cast iron skillets that you can't fix and re-season

This. I was given a cast iron frying pan that was rusted to shit and hadn't seen any good treatment for decades. After a few hours of steel wool, salt, and heavy scrubbing, it's as good as new.

I make fried chicken in it all the time.

A lot of what keeps the nonstick non sticky is care after you cook. Try not to use soap, immediately rinse the pan and use something soft to get the hard shit off. I just scrape it with my fingernail. My nonstick pans last quite a while doing this

>cast iron
Definitely a wise investment. Don't be afraid to pay good money here, and get yourself a heavy duty one. They last forever and the care is super easy.

>good money
>cast iron
Don't listen to this guy, a $10 skillet will give you the exact same results as an $80 skillet. Cast iron is cast iron, and it improves with use as fats polymerize on the surface, which forms a nonstick coating. I would be wary of anything pre-seasoned, so if that's the cheapest you can find, scrub it off with steel wool and reseason with Crisco at high heat.