I have a set of 3 Bra Premiere non-stick frying pans that I’ve used for a while. The coating on them says “Teflon Innovations without PFOA”. Recently I’ve noticed that on the most used pan, the 26cm one, the Teflon coating has started to peel off.
I know that Teflon coatings can release harmful fumes and chemicals if overheated, but what about if the coating is physically peeling? Is it still safe to cook with them? Or should I stop using especially the 26cm one? I don’t want to keep exposing my family to anything dangerous unknowingly. Any advice if these types of pans are still safe to cook with if the nonstick surface is peeling would be appreciated!
Well-seasoned, smooth bottomed cast iron or carbon steel can be great egg pans. There’s a learning curve but IMO the maintenance isn’t as daunting as many think.
I’ve got a de Buyer carbon steel pan that we use for eggs most mornings; it doesn’t perform identically to a Teflon pan but it’s still very very good. Maintenance is just (1) a drop of oil before the food goes in, (2) quick wipe under the faucet with a dish brush, and (3) dry with a dish cloth before putting away. I’ve had the pan for almost 10 years now and there’s no reason it shouldn’t last the rest of my life (and then some).
I’ve dedicated myself to figuring this out. It’s not that you have to drench it in oil, but there needs to be enough to cover the pan.
The most important part though is that the pan is heated up enough when you crack eggs on it. And give the eggs a little bit of time to cook before flipping them.
It takes a lot of practice and you’re going to be eating scrambled eggs instead of fried eggs for a while. But keep at it.
Hmm… maybe go for something on the cheaper end of the scale but not the absolute cheapest, then. Stuff from T-fal/Tefal (which is the company that invented nonstick cookware, by the way) has been cheap but decent in my experience.
Nope. It’s exactly the same process - it’s just Type III not type II.
The sealer is what makes it non porous. That sealer is usually teflon that wears off.
I stopped using non stick pots/pans completely. PFOS or whatever other fucked up, deadly, untested chemicals can get out of my life forever. We may think they’re safe but do we really know? “They” told us the original teflon was safe and look at hope that turned out.
I now have an induction range and only use cast iron and stainless steel. Yes, I sometimes have to scrub or soak my pans but I believe me and mine will live longer and healthier.
Cast iron does make better tasting food, IMHO. Takes some getting used to and more work to clean but I think it’s worth it.
“They” is frequently used as an antisemitic dog whistle fyi
There is literally nothing in the post indicating any religion. I interpreted “they” in this case as industry leaders/the FDA
This is correct, thanks.
No idea how someone could think I was being antisemitic from that post yet here we are.
I didn’t think you were being antisemitic, i assumed you were unaware of the way that antisemites use the word
My guy, “they” is just a pronoun. Not everything can be a dog whistle.
Its specifically when applying emphasis, usually with ((())), but not always. Using the word they on its own is not an issue, but in cases like this its usually better to say who you mean, instead of letting people assume.
Or we can not give quite so much power to single word dog whistles, particularly in cases when there’s no actual anti-Semitic content within the post. It’s like the fuckin OK sign all over.
I think it’s better to take in the whole context, and then you don’t have to assume anything.
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Wat
Fuck off Israel propoganda bot.
Beep boop you got me
Getting rid of Teflon around here too.
I like the process of maintaining cast-iron pans. And they get better theore I use them. Definately better than the constant deterioration of the Teflon ones.
Enamel coated steel is ok. Just steel is ok too.
But I really like the cast iron ones.
I have bare and enameled cast iron and bare stainless steel. I have not heard of enamel coated steel. I need to research that.
It’s not very durable, I don’t recommend it. Inherited it. Fine a a freebee, but I wouldn’t spend money. And if it starts to chip just toss it out.
Pretty sure I do have enamel coated steel for my camp set of dishes. Interesting.
Throw that shit away ang get an All Clad everyday pan or Staub or something. There will be tons of sales and getting proper cooking equipment is worth the investment
Dump all of your non stick and get cast iron
Hell no. Lead and PFAS.
Depends, do you think eating lead is safe?
I have no idea.
This says the PTFE passes through undigested but who knows:
https://essentialware.com/teflon-and-pfoa-all-your-questions-answered/
Undigested doesn’t mean it doesn’t leach anything nasty or cause problems (particularly over long periods of time.)
Some almost certainly doesn’t fully pass.
When they’ve studied this I don’t think they’ve seen results showing that it leaches something. Doesn’t mean we couldn’t find out that it does, but as per our current understanding it seems scientifically speaking to be nasty but not dangerous.
Kind of depends on if that pan has ever been over heated. 250 degrees C (482 f).
The monomer that results is in fact quite toxic.
I’m unconvinced by the one study- we all know how industry pays for favorable studies, and it would need to be long term. I’m also far made concerned with aluminum poisoning than I am thr ptfe.
If the chunk of PTFE you ingested is getting heated to over 250 C inside your gut, you’ve got a much bigger and more immediate problem than toxicity!
If you overheat, you could get fumes that make make you feel unwell. But you’ll have to properly go over the limit and breathe in a bunch for that
When PTFE is heated above 450 °C the pyrolysis products are different and inhalation may cause acute lung injury.[2] Symptoms are flu-like (chills, headaches and fevers) with chest tightness and mild cough. Onset occurs about 4 to 8 hours after exposure to the pyrolysis products of PTFE.[3] A high white blood cell count may be seen and chest x-ray findings are usually minimal.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_fume_fever
Also, there are the mentioned studies of cancer from the town 3m dumped a shitload into the water, so I’m unconvinced by the one study- we all know how industry pays for favorable studies.
It’s not just one study, there’s been a bunch. But you’re confusing the use in cookware (the case here) and stuff like in industrial setting or as a byproduct of the manufacturing. Teflon manufacturing used to involve a chemical that was pretty harmful but it wasn’t the cookware that was the issue, it was the manufacturing and those working in and around the plants. Cookware was fine.
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical formerly used in the manufacture of PTFE products such as non-stick coated cookware, can be carcinogenic for people who are exposed to it (see Ecotoxicity).[66] Concerning levels of PFOA have been found in the blood of people who work in or live near factories where the chemical is used, and in people regularly exposed to PFOA-containing products such as some ski waxes and stain-resistant fabric coatings, but non-stick cookware was not found to be a major source of exposure, as the PFOA is burned off during the manufacturing process and not present in the finished product.[64] Non-stick coated cookware has not been manufactured using PFOA since 2013,[67] and PFOA is no longer being made in the United States.[66]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene#Safety
Call me a cynic, but I’d not really take health advice from them, let alone on something they want to sell people.
Even bran new nonstick pans are horrible ideas. Don’t use them. Get cast iron.
Everything I heard about cast iron pans was either “This is the hot shit!!” or “They are horrible to maintain and you can’t keep food in them overnight because it destroys the patina you built for weeks”.
Since I am lazy as fuck I’ll pass…
I’m also pretty lazy, but they are a lot less difficult to maintain than most people say. They can take a lot of abuse, and it’s fine to use soap and water on them, including rough sponges. In fact, some companies sell a kind of chain mail you can use to rough up the surface more since it actually helps.
I’ve left food in them overnight many times. The only times it’s hurt the seasoning is if it’s been acidic, like a tomato sauce. But then I just wash it off the next day and oil it again and it’s totally fine, and will build up seasoning naturally with more use.
The only really bad thing you can do is get it wet and forget to dry it. Rust is bad. But then, all that means it you’ll need to remove the rust as best you can and reseason. It isn’t ruined, and you can fix it. Just better and easier to dry it off well.
No, it’s toxic. Replace it with carbon steel, stainless steel, or cast iron.
There is an episode of the Dave Chang show podcast that covers this. They have a professor on to cover the science of different pans. If I remember correctly, it should be safe as it will through your digestive system. The bigger issue is overheating Teflon. That being said, you still don’t really want non food in your food, and that pan is likely pretty worthless from a non-stick perspective
Allclad has factory seconds sales like 4 times a year, I think there’s one going one right now. If you’re unfamiliar, they’re a premium brand for high end home stores so they’re bar for quality is very high, because of this they can’t sell any products that have minor cosmetic defects or even damaged packaging. So, these factory seconds are sold for a huge mark down. Larger sets can still go for a lot more than a disposable nonstick you’d find in a grocery store, but they’re worth it. Alternatively, you can find them on Craigslist or marketplace pretty regularly for a steal, too.
Stainless clad pans are a little different to work with compared to nonstick but preheat the pan, cook with oil, and you’ll prefer it by miles to nonstick.
Edit: sales still going on, here’s a link. Happy cooking.
