Posted on 06/09/2006 8:55:29 PM PDT by neverdem
LIKE many home cooks, I have sent my nonstick skillets to the moldy recesses of my basement, where they have joined the 1950's aluminum pots and the Dru casseroles (Dutch enamel coated cast iron, now eBay collectibles).
What led to this step were unsettling reports that an overheated Teflon-coated pan may release toxic gases. DuPont, the manufacturer of Teflon, says that its pans are safe and that their surfaces won't decompose, possibly releasing the gas, until the pan's temperature reaches 680 degrees. Some scientists say that an empty pan left on a burner set on high reaches 700 degrees in as little as three minutes. All pans with nonstick coatings are subject to the same problems, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental research and advocacy organization.
I banished the skillets last year and spent months dithering over what to buy while making do with the pans I had left: a large Revere Ware skillet with a concave bottom; a small, warped hand-me-down from my mother; and a medium All-Clad in fine shape.
A few passes at online pot sellers made matters worse: there are too many choices. Finally, after consulting the ratings from Consumer Reports and Cook's Illustrated and calling several experts, I decided to do a test of my own, using the most highly recommended pans, along with a few of my own choices.
While Teflon lets manufacturers make inexpensive pans usable, uncoated cheap pans have hot spots, so cheaper pans — other than cast iron — were never considered.
--snip--
There were eight pans in the test, most of them 12 inches in diameter: All-Clad with an aluminum core, All-Clad with a copper core, Bourgeat copper; De Buyer carbon steel; Calphalon anodized aluminum; seasoned and unseasoned Lodge cast iron and Le Creuset enameled cast iron.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Alot of these ideas are based on parts-per-billion type analysis. Remember the Alar scare?
If somebody tries to, say, dry-roast bell peppers in a Teflon pan, they'll flirt with fumes. In an earlier age, nobody would get a pan that hot because it would have either water or oil based contents.
There's nothing wrong with teflon pans. It's the cook.
Never use soap on it. I have a steel wok made in India. Always good to get some high temp type oil (like a good Wok oil, put some in the pan, and heat it up till it comes close to smoking.
Then let it cool, discard the oil, and wipe it clean with a paper towel or some such.
After a few cycles of this, you should have a good patina on the pan.
Also, when you cook with it, heat the pan up (but not too much) before you add anything in it.
"mammals such as dogs, cats, and humans are not affected by the vapors from Teflon"
Is it the vapors or that teflon decomposes when it reaches a certain temperature?
Does teflon decompose into a gas or does it start a decomposition process till it starts to peel?
Are decomposistion and vapors related?
The porous iron pan is now absorbing your Pam spray. Stop that by 'seasoning' the pan.
Anoint the iron pan heavily all over with a heat resistant fat (e.g. peanut or canola) and bake in oven at about 400 Fahrenheit for a couple hours (with foil lined cookie pan below to catch any loose grease) till a hard coating forms. Wipe away excess grease. As long as you don't stew water based liquid on it or wash with detergent, the pan should be good to go.
Thanks djf!!!
There are essentially none. The vapor pressure of the polymer is ~10-8torr and the polymer is completely nontoxic. HF comes from the decomposition of the polymer at ~550oC. At lower temps the decomposition doesn't occur. Some polymers with lower levels of flourination can decompose around 400oC
Aluminum kinda sucks, but if it is heavy enough it works reasonably well -- I am not a purist. It moves heat far too easily, so it really does benefit from teflon coatings (evil chemical blah blah blah notwithstanding) and I will admit to having some heavy aluminum cookware with a teflon liner that is very useful, though I do not use high heat with those. Seasoned iron (or steel) makes an excellent cooking surface but takes a longer to heat up, which can be a nuisance some times if you are engaged in serious kitchen-fu.
The great thing about kitchenware is that if you buy really good basics, it will last you a lifetime.
If I remember correctly, this pan was already "seasoned" when I bought it. But I will try what you said anyway!
Thanks a bunch.
I put a pyrex cake pan on top of a burner I thought I had turned off. I didn't quite get it to click to the off position.
The burner went red hot as I turned my back to serve my kids some dinner.
In moments the pan exploded and shot hot glass all over the kitchen.
During clean up I stabbed a small rice sized piece into my hand. In two days it was completely infected.
Surgery was performed to save a finger and I did one full week of IV antibiotics. It was about an 8,000 dollar hospital bill. Most expensive garlic bread I ever made.
Well, I love to cook and people have said I'm pretty dam good at it!
But to do it right, you gotta go all the way. Last time I made lasagna, I made my own sauces (one spicy with meat, the other less so), cooked all the noodles (3 boxes worth), and layered and filled the pans.
Five lasagnas! Sixty bucks worth.
And they were gooooooooooooooddddd........!!!!!
It decomposes and releases gaseous chemical compounds of fluorine, hydrogen, and carbon. Which, because fluorine is tightly bonded to the carbon atoms and limits their reactivity, are about as poisonous to people and birds as a Freon leak from the refrigerator would be (near zilch first case, fatal second case). The stuff left behind would be brittle and flake and peel easily.
Hmmm, JUST HF? that is an insanely corrosive acid. It would not be ignored by any carbon based life form. I always thought fluorocarbons.
You're using to much soap and scrubbing. That takes the "curing" off the surface of the pan. That's the black film of oil on the pan. Use the pan only for frying. No cooking with water and only use a mild scub to clean off the rough stuff.
"Teflon has been around for 40 years. It's been used millions (probably billions) of times to cook all sorts of food"
But many of those first Teflon users from 40 years ago are dead now, so we should be wary or many of us could be dead 40 years from now.
That's aluminum oxide scouring, or polishing powder. Bab O is one name. It's kithcen cleanser w/o the bleach.
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