# Why is teflon bad?



## BusyMommy (Nov 20, 2001)

Don't laugh at me! I thought teflon was just fine.







I love my teflon. Obviously, if you have an old set that's peeling, it's unhealthy. But, nice new pans...?

sniff...


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## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

Because Teflon is produced from nasty, yucky chemicals that vaporize at high heat and get into the air and your food. The vapors from Teflon cookware being used at normal cooking temperatures are toxic to birds. Here are some links I found through google:

http://www.protectingourhealth.org/p...NYT-teflon.htm

http://www.fourwinds10.com/news/06-h...-cookware.html

http://www.ewg.org/reports/toxicteflon/es.php

Quite frankly, I wouldn't use Teflon coated cookware if you paid me. It kills birds, so it can't be good for people.

Sorry.







It's a total bummer.


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## ChildoftheMoon (Apr 9, 2002)

I just threw mine out today. I have slowly stopped using them over the last year. I now LOVE my cast iron pans. They are all I cook in now. They are quite easy to care for once you get used to them.

Brandi


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## sadean (Nov 20, 2001)

Yeah, Teflon stinks...sorry







I like some of the non-stick Teflon alternatives that are out there though. I have a set of iodized aluminum pans. They heat well, don't leach chemicals, are non-stick, and are easy to clean. I cannot wash them in the dishwasher, or use metal tools on them (don't want to scratch them) but otherwise they work well.

I REALLY like cast iron though. Harder to take care of and keep seasoned (especially when DH washes them with soap







: ) and they are heavy, but they are best for even heating and provide trace amounts of elemental iron to our diets. And if seasoned well, are non-stick.

Just some other options for you...good luck!


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

I have also been phasing out the teflon, and have finally replaced it all with some stainless steel (which I am still kinda not sure about) and a few enamel coated ones....but mostly glass/pyrex..I got a great 3 piece pot set with lids, and a large frying pan all at thrift stores for a few dollars a piece. the handles are cool to the touch, which is nice.

I also do what I read a long time ago in that 'healthy life kitchen' book about making anythiung non-stick by simply heating the pan up first, then adding oil, then the food...and it really doesnt stick any worse than the teflon did...

edited to add: I also have a few cast iron pieces that are new, but I havent 'seasoned' them yet, so dont exactly know how that will go...what do I 'scour' with? I have copper scour pads, do I use those? also, I see alot of cast iron at thrift, but it always looks so dirty and gritty...but thats how its SUPPOSED to look, right?? I should be grabbing some of those up, right?


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## majazama (Aug 2, 2003)

i wanted to add that goats, who eat everything as you might have heard, will not eat anything cooked in Teflon. And my mom's friend left a teflon-coated pan on the stove and forgot about it... her canary died, and luckily she was not harmed (the friend). My partner's mom keeps sending us teflon pans, and I keep throwing them into the shelves in the porch that I don't use.


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## sadean (Nov 20, 2001)

MelMel (and anyone else who might be interested







)- The best way to season a cast iron pan (according to Lynne Rosetto Casper of The Splendid Table on NPR with me paraphrasing her instructions):

Scour the pan to remove any rust, grit, etc. (so yes, you can buy those ugly ones from the thrift store...they will clean up well). Dry with a kitchen cloth/paper towel. Heat your stove to low heat and completely dry the pan. Turn your oven on to 350 F. Using a non-flavored oil (like Canola or Soy oil...not olive or butter) coat the entire inner surface of the pan...don't have it "dripping", but use a healthy amount. Place in the oven and forget about it for about 1/2 hour. After about a 1/2 hour take it out and wipe the exceess oil off the surface. Do this process 2 or 3 more times. You want to allow the oil to infuse the surface of the pan. Take the pan out and let the pan cool. Wipe off any more excess oil and store the pan (preferable not stacked against one another). I suggest do a bunch at once, so you don't waste energy "cooking" pans in the oven.

Once you have "seasoned" it, you can use it without worry about food sticking. if you want quicker method, my mother simply dries the pan on the stove, then lets it cool a little and applies the oil. I find it takes a couple of times cooking with it for it to truely be non-stick this way, but sometimes I don't want to commit to spending the time to do it the "right" way. It's up to you









To clean you pan after use, do not use any soap or scouring tools on it!!! Use a dish cloth or sponge to get most of the debri off of it. Then use course salt (or any kind really...my mother uses kosher salt) with your washing cloth (wring it out first) to "scour" the pan to get the rest of the food off of it. Rinse the salt off and dry it on the stove over low heat and re-apply a thin coat of non-flavored oil and store. If you use soap it will detroy your "seasoning" and you will have to start over (which can be done, but IMO is a pain).

So, go out and buy where ya see 'em...they will usually clean up pretty well, and many old ones are actually valuable (depends on the age and the size of the pan...theirs a whole collectors market for cast iron pans).


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## MamaMonica (Sep 22, 2002)

I've been phasing out my teflon. The last thing got is cookie sheets. What are alternatives and where do I find non-coated cookie sheets?


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## BusyMommy (Nov 20, 2001)

That's so depressing.








I have a great cast iron skillet for camping, but what to use for a big ole pot? Yikes, stainless steel is incredibly pricey.

And, cookie sheets?
The pot in the bread machine?

sigh


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## wombat (Nov 3, 2002)

The best cookie sheets I've found have been in thrift shops. I think they're aluminium but I think that's ok if you're not putting anything acidic on them.


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## noodle4u (Jul 19, 2002)

Has anyone heard of pampered chef? They have sheets/pans made out of stone. You dont wash them either. I cant remember what specifically they are called, just pampered Chef sells them. My friend has one and they are awsome!


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## Delight (Sep 19, 2002)

I'm a Pampered Chef consultant...so of course I'm biased, but I will NEVER go back to cooking with anything else but stoneware. For cookies, brownies, roasts, chicken breast, etc...they are awesome. They turn you into a gourmet chef because everything cooks evenly!

Also, about the cookware...Pampered Chef (and I'm sure you could find it elsewhere) coats their pans with DuPont Autograph®...which I've been "told" does not have the same nastiness as Teflon. If anyone knows differently, please let me know.

Anyway...just wanted to put in my 2 cents









sara


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## wombat (Nov 3, 2002)

According to Dupont's website, "Dupont Autograph" is top of the line teflon. Maybe it's harder to scratch, but sounds like it'd still kill my birds.

Stoneware is a good idea though, at least for the oven. Never seen anything I can use on the stove top though.


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## ChristieB (Jun 17, 2003)

Here's what we use. For cookie sheets, we either use stainless steel, or aluminum with parchment paper on it or with a Silpat liner on it. I know, there doesn't seem to be any information out there about the silicone bakeware or liners, but I really like mine. Plus, I smell *no* odor when it's cooking and it seems like a better alternative than teflon. Also, parchment paper will make any baking pan non-stick. For other than cookies, just greese the pan, put the parchment paper, cut to fit, in the bottom, greese it, flour the pan, and you're set to go. This is what I do when I make brownies or cakes (*very* rare for me). I don't know if they sell non-stick pie pans, but there's no reason for them. Pie crust has so much butter in it that it never sticks. I use the glass pie pans (for that matter, I use glass whenever possible).

For muffins, we just use regular stainless steel muffin tins. To keep them to from sticking, I just oil them well. You could use the paper liners, but I find that I lose more of the muffin to those than I do to the pan (I usually lose very little if any to the pan). If you're *really* concerned, you could use little glass custard cups instead of the muffin tin. Or you could use the silicone muffin pans, but again, I haven't seen anything one or the other about their safety.

For bread machines, I just don't have an answer. We love our bread machine, and just turn a blind eye to the fact that the pan is non-stick. Not the best plan, I know, but there you have it (oops! I just revealed that we're human!







). The best thing to do with a bread machine is to let the machine make the dough and then bake the bread yourself in your own pans (the stoneware pans are great!) or on a pizza stone (for baguettes and rolls and such). This is better for you (the non-stick pan doesn't heat up to a high temp. when it's just making the dough), and the bread is usually better.

I haven't been able to find an angel food cake pan that isn't non-stick, either. It makes me crazy, too, because ds loves angel food cake. If anyone has a source for them, please tell.

For frying pans or saute pans we use cast iron. For saucepans and pots, we use glass. Although we do have a very large stock pot made of stainless steel. You just can't get a huge stock pot made of glass. I think you could probably get one that's enamel-coated iron, but those are expensive (and heavy). Beware that the cheaper enamel-coated pans aren't usually iron, and aluminum will leach through the enamel coating. There are varying sizes of cast iron pots out there, too. We got one for my grandpa to replace his old aluminum pot for making jam, and he loves it!

Our tea kettle is enamel-coated iron (at least I'm pretty sure it's iron).

Well, those are all the options I can think of.


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## aitara (Jun 5, 2003)

Thanks for this thread! It finally convinced dh to get some cast iron! I've been trying to get rid of the teflon for 6 years now, but he loves his teflon!

SO, we got a huge skillet, a small skillet, and my favorite - a pot w/a lid - all cast iron. I seasoned them all 3 times. I made slow cooking oatmeal in the pot this morning, and the oatmeal did not stick! It was wonderful stirring oatmeal without worrying about the teflon scraping when I stirred! I always worried before.
I love my huge skillet too. Made Asian stir fry in it tonight. Awesome!!!!!!!!









Now I just need some stainless steel muffin tins and other things and I'm good for all my baking and cooking.
I threw out a whole mess of bakeware and pans/pots this morning. What a waste, but what a relief to be done w/them!
No more teflon ever again!

BTW, I have heard that Dupont also makes spandex and that they are quite environmentally unfriendly (lobbying in Washinington, etc). Although it is difficult to find clothing without spandex these days, maybe we should think about trying to boycott their products altogether for the sake of not only our health, but the planet's too.

Happy baking to all!
aitara


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## BusyMommy (Nov 20, 2001)

I did it!

I actually returned my whole teflon set to CostCo for a full refund







and got a stainless set w/copper on the bases.

Does price matter?







:

Now, to learn about stainless. ANd, I'm still using my big 'ole cast iron skillet. But, oh man, how do you drain grease out of that thing? It's WAY too heavy!


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## ChildoftheMoon (Apr 9, 2002)

Congrats BusyMommy! I hear you on draining the grease. If you don't mind letting it sit, you could wait for it to get cold and then scoop it with a spoon.

Brandi


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## MamaMonica (Sep 22, 2002)

That's great Busymommy! I need to find some of that stainless stuff. My mom used to scoop the grease from cast iron skillets with a spoon after it cooled, too.


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## anotherKatrina (Dec 24, 2002)

This will show your cookware's reactivity with food.

Bring to a boil about 2 cups of water together with about a tablespoon or more of baking soda. Let it boil for a minute or so... take a spoonful...cool it a bit and taste. It should taste like nothing more than baking soda water. Anything else means stuff is leaching into your food.

The result of this taste test with my teflon pan was totally disgusting. Gross. Made me want to yak.

Food for thought, yes?


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## MamaMonica (Sep 22, 2002)

I have one of the nice new crock pots with the white non-stick (ceramic?) lift out pan. It always makes my food taste bad. No one else in the family minds it- but the food honestly tastes metallic and weird and nothing like in my stainless soup pot. I love to use the crock but am wondering abou the safety of the inner pan.


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## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

My MIL bought us stainless for our wedding gift. To be honest, I thought she was being cheap in not buying teflon







(I cna't believe I actually thought that and I've never admitted it before) but now I realize she was jsut wiser than I!

I also had several cast iron pieces but lacked the patience to learn how to use them...so I GAVE THEM AWAY!!!! Now I want them back!


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

My stepmom asked for a coated 10-inch skillet for Christmas.

Are there any non-stick coatings that are safe, or at least, "*safer* "?

I plan to send her links to the info about why Teflon is bad, but I doubt that they'll sway her.

If I got her a cast iron (or other non-coated) skillet, I believe that she'd just exchange it for teflon.

Please help!

Thanks,
alsoSarah


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## SmashingHP (Aug 9, 2003)

I'm told scanpan is safe.


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## boobear (May 18, 2002)

We're down to one teflon pan and I may just chuck it in the trash after reading all the posts.

I have a bread machine with a teflon pot inside and use it only to knead the dough. I actually bake my bread in the oven in a glass pyrex dish. I'll get back to using my hands when the kids are older.


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

Thanks, SmashingHP.....

I went to the ScanPan website. They claim to be safe up to 500 degrees.

Up to what temperature does teflon claim to be safe? Does anyone know?

Thanks,
alsoSarah


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## sarasprings (Mar 30, 2003)

I'm feeling sort of panicy about our pans now. Well, for the last little bit, since I originally read the post. DH will switch, but it's sort of painful because our current pans were so expensive. I, also, gave away a couple of cast iron pans.

Any recommendations for or against a specific brand/type of stainless steel pans?

We cook bread and pies in Emile Henry -- any problems with that?

This is sort of depressing, I love one of my calphalon pans and use it so much.


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

sarasprings,

Have you read the post by mama de dos in this thread?
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...threadid=99725

We have a beloved Calphalon saute pan, and I'm looking for more info on this before I part with it....

peace,
alsoSarah


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## sarasprings (Mar 30, 2003)

I have the nonstick, not the anodized, but I think it is the saute pan I love. It's the one that's like a big pan with vertical sides.


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## Mom4tot (Apr 18, 2003)

I am new to this issue and hope you guys can clarify something for me. Are T- Fal pans teflon?I have a small set and want to get rid of them if they are. I really like my old set of copper bottem Revere Wear the best. But I am going to look for some cast iron very soon. Happy Thanksgiving!


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## BusyMommy (Nov 20, 2001)

Joan, I THINK so, but not sure.








T

Quote:

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. ~Kahlil Gibran
This is very cool!


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## melixxa (May 20, 2003)

nak
I'm confused. I thought calphalon and iodized aluminum were the same thing. We got a set of iodized alu pots last Xmas (I know this because DP made a stink about the alu, which he does not consider quite safe) and I swore they were also known as calphalon. There is no coating that I can see. I find the pans pretty hard to clean.


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## AdoptChina (Dec 7, 2003)

DH just bought a huge set of Calphalon non-stick pots/pans. Now Im worried about the non-stick part........thinking maybe it would be safer to go to stainless steel?????
(luckily the box set is still unopened)


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

melixxa,

From everything that I've been able to find and read about this, the process of becoming "hard-anodized" makes aluminum safe to cook in, whereas regular aluminum is not.

Calphalon pans are easy to deal with, cleaning-wise, as long as they are treated just as you would treat a cast-iron pan (eg, no soap generally, regular seasoning w/oil, no dishwasher, no commrcial 'non-stick sprays'...)

Dh and I wandered over to the calphalon web site the other day, and I must say: the care instructions that they give there are way "cracked-out". If you followed them, everything would want to stick, always!

(Calphalon does also produce a separate line of cookware that is teflon-coated.)

peace,
alsoSarah


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## sarasprings (Mar 30, 2003)

Is revereware aluminum of steel? I have an old one, but no info on it.


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## turquoise (Oct 30, 2002)

Is stainless steel ok, or is there something I should know about it too? We've recently switched from non-stick to stainless, and I love how they cook, but if they are leeching something yucky into my food, that's not cool. I have a few cast iron in the back of the cabinets, but don't use them much because cooking with them is such a workout. :LOL


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

Stainless steel is quite safe.

Revereware is stainless steel, as far as I know!


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## sha_lyn (Jul 27, 2002)

Quote:

I see alot of cast iron at thrift, but it always looks so dirty and gritty...but thats how its SUPPOSED to look, right?? I should be grabbing some of those up, right?
Well yes, and no LOL

If it is really caked up with junk you can remove it, but then you have to re-season it. Although I've found they they do seem to not lose most of their seasoning.

To revive a really "gross" pan you need to heat it up to a really high temperature. The easiest way to do it is if you have a self cleaning oven (not a continuous cleaning). Set your cast iron in the oven and run it through a cleaning cycle

The other method is to place the pans in the coals of a fire (camp fire, fireplace etc)


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## melixxa (May 20, 2003)

alsoSarah,
Thanks for the reply. I have not been seasoning the calphalon pans *anything* like cast iron! I did not realize I was supposed to. Now I'm going to start because this really is beautiful cookware.

I wonder if anyone has any wisdom about a cast iron pan that got left on the stove (all water or whatever burned out of it, and nothing else was coating it at the time) for HOURS and got totally singed in one spot in particular. I tried reseasoning it with oil, oven, etc. - though not for too long, since I didn't realize I could do this - and nothing has helped so far. The burned spot is still there and still looks bad. Each time I wipe it, lg. amounts of black stuff comes off the spot, which almost resembles a rust spot, though it is not. Is this pan salvageable?


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