I prefer to have an oven with a self-cleaning setting. Basically, as I understand how it works, it has been about since the sixties and just runs the oven at a very high temperature and pulverizes everything to ash. Most ovens with a self-clean also have a locking feature, as they have to cool down slowly otherwise you will crack the steel on on the oven.
I will say EVERY TIME I have used this I am nervous, it takes several hours, and I wouldn't use it in an unattended apartment. I watch it like a hawk, take everything out of the boiler plate drawer below, clean as much out as I can first etc...
However, it is better than getting in there with steel wool, rubber gloves and oven cleaner. It is not a cure all.
So Cooker Man? OK you mention nano, which is cool, and a new technology, I'd want to know how it works, why, and what the limits are. One of the reasons? Darn Teflon.
This was supposed to be THE miracle material, nothing stuck to it. Now I'd say it is sprayed a lot on lower quality aluminium pans. I haven't had ANY teflon pan that can get close to the non-stick of my lodge cast iron pan. Now mine is well seasoned, but there is a hydrophobic coating on that from interactions of iron, hydrocarbons, and water at high heat that makes a teflon pan look like garbage, and the teflon scratches, you can't use a metal spatula, it sublimes, and gets into your food. Have you ever seen a twenty year old teflon pan?
So a nano coating? OK would it wear off, would it sublime into the thing being cooked, nano is small, it is a thin coating, if it is damaged in part, would it be damaged in whole? What is the base on, aluminum? heats up quick but has hot spots, and is uneven, copper? corrodes with acid based sauces, iron? why not use cast iron, titanium? great can we afford it? Stainless steel, a good middle ground, they call it stainless because it is tough to get things to react to it, can you get a nano coating to stick?
I mainly use cast iron lodge products, I have a carbon steel wok, which was a pain in the arse to get conditioned, but now is performing well. I use all clad aluminium sauce pans, they are solidly constructed to give a good heat profile. I have a couple enameled pieces that I use in the oven. My perfect pan on gas and electric burner is a seasoned lodge cast iron pan. The only reason these aren't used in restaurants regular is that they have a curve, it takes a while for them to get to temperature, and a while for them to cool off as they retain heat. While this is a benefit for a home cook, a restaurant line wants timely control over temperature, so they go to stainless or aluminim.
I think if we are talking a coating, my main thing is durability. It might be the best thing ever for 10 uses, but pans get used. Scraped with spatulas, heated up to 450 and quickly cooled to room temperature. That was the problem with Teflon coatings, they gave a slight better than a poorly seasoned cast iron or carbon steel skillet, but the coating would degrade rapidly under heavy use.
I gave up the last of my teflon coated 'non-stick' pots and pans in my last move. Stopped using them, they were all jacked up, and I am in the process of trying to replace all my plastic spatulas, spoons, etc, which all are burned and melted a bit, with decent alternatives for decent pots and pans.
Things sticking to the pan are more often technique than materiel. My lodge 12" skillet is so seasoned right now, I could dump a cup of distilled water on it, shake it thrice, and it would be dry enough I could run a kleenex over it and it would be dry. A good seasoned cast iron is quite hydrophobic.
