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Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

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Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#231
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cook eggs on cast iron without them sticking, but it requires maintenance on the seasoning. The trick is to use some butter when cooking with eggs, and they slide right off. A quick wipe with a paper towel and the pan is clean (leaving butter residue helps keep it oiled for next time). Cast iron is a pain to clean if you burn food and the burnt pieces stick, but the investment into learning how to cook with it is w…

Do you use a gas powered stove? My friends won't stop sending me links to articles detailing the cancer causing bad stuff in the natural gas stoves :o If not, are there good electric stoves that work with hard cast iron pans? I have seen the mess heavy cookware creates on those glass top cooktops - old style coils seems to be best for those.

>I have seen the mess heavy cookware creates on those glass top cooktops - old style coils seems to be best for those.

I have successfully removed the cast-iron crud from a glass-ceramic cooktop using a paste of 91% rubbing alcohol and baking soda. You can speed up the process by scraping with the back of a knife a few times first. Overall, it's not slower than cleaning the grease traps on a coil stove.

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is FUD. Cast iron seasoning has been mythologized, it's not that hard to maintain good seasoning. Even if you wash with some soap.

To be fair, the vast majority of people I've lived with or know-well-enough-to-know-this-about-them (we need a word for this concept in English) can't be arsed to clean their pans immediately. Especially those who rely on a dishwasher. Cast iron isn't compatible with that approach. You have to be the type of person who can appreciate and capitalize on the fact that cleaning off eggs immediately after cooking takes 1…

Yeah, I don't consider a meal done being prepared until the counters are wiped down, everything is put away, pans are cleaned, and it's plated for everyone.

Part of why I do this is because I have 3 kids. They are off playing while I cook, and I take the extra few minutes to get the kitchen in a decent state before calling them to the table. Otherwise I'm never gonna get it done because once they have my attention it's difficult for them to let go of it.

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#233
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not trust BPA-free plastics either. I have switched from cans to tetrapaks where possible. My confusion came from some misleading industry documents I read which suggested that PFOA/PFOS/C8 had been replaced with a process that did not require fluorosurfactants. I feel like the information about these chemicals is so confusing, it's hard for a non-chemist like me to understand.

Would it not be better to switch to glass? Isn't tetrapak lined with plastic too?

Glass packaged tuna and tomatoes are very expensive compared to tetrapaks. They are lined with plastic but it doesn’t use hardening agents as I understand.

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#234
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I tossed out all the Teflon cookware we had about 25 years ago and replaced it with cast iron and stainless steel. We've not missed it at all.

The thing I dislike about cast iron cookware is that it is extremely heavy. I sprained my elbow last year and couldn’t use any of my cast iron pans for three months. My mom hates them too, and avoids using them whenever she visits.

Use carbon steel.

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#235
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not trust BPA-free plastics either. I have switched from cans to tetrapaks where possible. My confusion came from some misleading industry documents I read which suggested that PFOA/PFOS/C8 had been replaced with a process that did not require fluorosurfactants. I feel like the information about these chemicals is so confusing, it's hard for a non-chemist like me to understand.

Can you elaborate ? What's wrong with cans ? If they're aren't just aliminum what are they coated with on the inside ? How would tetrapak fare better ?

They have an epoxy coating with on the inside which contains BPA or BPA substitutes like BPB. Tetrapaks have a polyethylene liner and polyethylene and typically doesn’t have plasticizers added.

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate ? What's wrong with cans ? If they're aren't just aliminum what are they coated with on the inside ? How would tetrapak fare better ?

It has changed now but, "For decades, most canned food manufacturers used can linings made of epoxy resin based on bisphenol A, or BPA, making food the primary route of our exposure to this toxic chemical." From here: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/bpa-update-tracking-c...

BPA is still used widely. BPB is sometimes used as a substitute but it’s probably just as bad.

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, PFAS based chemicals are the replacement for wax in 'waxed paper' style products.

Why not just stick to wax?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it wasn't actually my decision

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how behavior changes when someone sticks to stainless. Because if they use more oil, they introduce other risks. Cooking oil is bad for you.

I agree - I wonder what the relative risk is between getting liver cancer from PFAS exposure in teflon vs carcinogenic risk in the seasoning layers on cast iron pans or smoking oil in stainless pans? Any time there is incomplete combustion of carbon compounds like cooking oil, carcinogenic molecules like benzo-a-pyrene are formed, which appears to cause or contribute to skin, lung, and bladder cancer.

[deleted]

Re: Study finds link between 'forever chemicals' in cookware and liver cancer

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cook eggs on cast iron without them sticking, but it requires maintenance on the seasoning. The trick is to use some butter when cooking with eggs, and they slide right off. A quick wipe with a paper towel and the pan is clean (leaving butter residue helps keep it oiled for next time). Cast iron is a pain to clean if you burn food and the burnt pieces stick, but the investment into learning how to cook with it is w…

We've been using carbon steel pan. Its like cast iron but much lighter (not light though). They look kinda narly, but you get used to it. You "season" from time to time (oil high heat) but we haven't in at least 6 months and use that thing at least 6 times a week. Easy to clean too. This article kinda give the details. (you have to dodge a modal and click "read more"...sorry) https://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipmen…

Carbon steel works great! The first time I used it I was kind of shocked that such a simple solution isn't the standard way it's done. Cast iron can be a little bit inconvenient due to the weight but carbon steel is literally no different from cooking in a teflon pan, you just clean it different.
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