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Cooking and bird safety

teflon.com

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Re: Cooking and bird safety

#151

Post by arcticbull »

ainiriand wrote: post #136
vosper wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think carbon steel is better than stainless. It can be seasoned to almost Teflon levels of non-stickness, just by burning some cooking oil, the seasoning is maintained by cooking, often comes pre-seasoned, is cheap (there’s no reason to buy an expensive carbon steel pan! Get one from a restaurant supplier)

So you eat burnt oil every time you cook?

No, like with a cast iron skillet, the hard, black, very-attached, coating is the burnt oil. Cast iron and carbon steel are normally shiny metal, not dull black, without this layer.

The oil fills the pores of the metal and polymerizes. Subsequent layers cross-link with each other to develop the non-stick coating. It doesn't really 'come off' although I'm sure small amounts will occasionally. It doesn't contribute to flavor and it's not exactly toxic. Same deal as cast iron, details here. [1]

[1] https://www.lodgecastiron.com/cleaning-and-care/cast-iron/sc...

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#152

Post by hellcow »

graypegg wrote: post #25

Stainless steel with some basic seasoning every once in a while (oil, high heat, it’s easy to do) has done me well for a long time. I do keep a non stick around just for eggs though, hard to beat.

Carbon steel seasons more effectively and is both lighter and heats more evenly than cast iron (but requires similar maintenance). Well worth a look.

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#153

Post by inimino »

raverbashing wrote: post #98
buildbot wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, its teflon burning in your pan…

The list of things that become toxic once you burn them is a very long one

Fortunately your stove isn't capable of burning steel. Preheating the empty pan is a basic technique in more than one culinary tradition.

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#154

Post by InSteady »

numpad0 wrote: post #127
williamdclt wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing can beat Teflon on non-stickiness, for sure. But really, it’s actually fairly rare that it is a useful property when cooking: mostly for eggs. I mostly use stainless steel and have no problem of food sticking. It asks for a bit of technique, but it’s just technique needed to make good food anyway (preheating pan, using fat, deglazing, managing heat) I wouldn’t recommend cast iron either, it’s just too much fa…

It seems some people have misconception that excessive oil and overcooking are causes for sticking, while opposite of that is how to completely eliminate sticking. When they can't accept the latter, they might resort to Teflon and steel wool sponges.

A tbsp or three of a good vinegar or wine + some scraping at the end of a nice sear adds so much flavor back into the dish, and cleanup is that much easier. When the pan is extra crusty just put a bit of warm water in it while the pan is still hot and let it sit till after the meal. Unless you are charring the absolute crap out of your food (in which case, practice your technique and heat management), everything is going to come off with a few seconds of hot water + soap + scrubbing.

Teflon is hot garbage. I wont even use it for eggs.

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#155

Post by kylehotchkiss »

syntaxing wrote: post #28

Just use ceramic pans instead, they're pretty affordable nowadays. Admittedly, they wear out just like Teflon pans but it does the same job. The biggest caveat is that you have to clean them well. I usually let some water boil on it and it gets off any of the gunk that makes food stick to it.

I have two small birds and to accommodate them we switched over to ceramic nonstick only. The Greenpan ones are fantastic if you keep metal out and don’t put them in the dishwasher, which i noticed accelerated the wear. I wish it could be repaired more easily but better than than eating or breathing a Teflon flake

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#156

Post by InSteady »

arcanemachiner wrote: post #119
markl42 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t use flaxseed! https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/b4pxaq/yay_kenji_...

Good lord. > You MUST use flaxseed oil to season your pan. Then > You MUST NOT use flaxseed oil to season your pan. Just season the fucking pan with some cooking oil and be done with it. I swear, the internet has made some of the simplest things into this relentless pursuit of perfection.

flaxseed has an atrociously low smoke point (225 F). You really shouldn't be using it for cooking whatsoever, let alone seasoning cast iron.

In general I agree with your sentiment though. Find something that works for you and go with it.

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#157

Post by arcticbull »

asow92 wrote: post #121
sneak wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really love eggs, but they’re really high in cholesterol. It’s better to skip them, sadly. I wouldn’t normally offer unsolicited advice like this, but this is a thread about optimizing for health/safety. If you’re going to avoid teflon, you should probably avoid eggs too.

A few points to demonstrate why your comment might be seen as unpopular: 1) Dietary (exogenous) cholesterol has been shown to have a lesser affect to the total cholesterol levels in the blood (70-80% of all the cholesterol in your body is produced by your body endogenously by your liver and other tissues). 2) Eggs are an affordable source of various fats and proteins that are essential to metabolic health. 3) There a…

Of serum cholesterol about 80% is made by your liver, it doesn't come from your diet. [1]

[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/how-its-made-cho...

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#158

Post by callalex »

whycome wrote: post #111
didgeoridoo wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no such thing as dietary “bad cholesterol”. When people use that term, it generally refers to low-density lipoproteins, which are an endogenous transportation mechanism for cholesterol in your body. All dietary cholesterol is just cholesterol, and it essentially has no impact on serum (blood) cholesterol levels.

Are you saying that dietary fat won't make me fat?

Yes, unless you eat too much.

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#159

Post by graypegg »

InSteady wrote: post #150
graypegg wrote: post #25

Stainless steel with some basic seasoning every once in a while (oil, high heat, it’s easy to do) has done me well for a long time. I do keep a non stick around just for eggs though, hard to beat.

If you don't mind using a moderately high amount of fat (~1.5 tbsp for 4-5 eggs), stainless is perfectly fine for eggs. If you start with med-high heat be sure to drop it down relatively quickly. Or fry on medium to med-low heat the whole way through. For whatever reason beaten eggs seem to stick even less (basically not at all) so omelets and scrambled eggs are my go-to. I've gotten my technique down so I can flip m…

I’ll give that a try tomorrow! I normally put scrambled eggs in a cold pan and whisk while heating because either I’m a masochist, like creamy eggs, or both.

Re: Cooking and bird safety

#160

Post by thumbsup-_- »

graypegg wrote: post #25

Stainless steel with some basic seasoning every once in a while (oil, high heat, it’s easy to do) has done me well for a long time. I do keep a non stick around just for eggs though, hard to beat.

Agree. We are 100% on stainless steel and cast iron now for a few years. Teflon is not really needed.
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