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Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

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Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#151

Post by imp0cat »

ars wrote: post #140
pama wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question: why? I thought people in many long-living cultures often cook with high temperature oil, and not just the street food wok cooking. There is bad chemistry that can happen with other food components at high temperatures but what is the problem with oil itself?

At too high a temperature oil will smoke and burn, leaving toxic components in both the oil and in the air. My point is that the temperature necessary to cause this oil toxicity, is lower than what you need to make Teflon toxic. Teflon becomes toxic at temperature FAR above any cooking process (unless you eat charcoal). i.e. if you cook normally and don't burn things Teflon is obviously fine, if you do burn things yo…

I get your point, but what I am saying is that if you are not careful, you can easily overheat empty teflon-coated pan on an induction stove and create toxic fumes, no oil required.

And you don't even have to forget about the pan. Just setting the stove to high temperature when the pan is cold can quickly create superheated spots due to the way induction works (the temperature sensor is hidden and so it "lags" a bit).

Obviously, if you're careful, always start with a low power, wait for the pan (and stove top) to heat up, then gradually increase power, you'll be fine.

With a stainless stell pan, the worse that could happen is the bottom of the pan might warp. But there is no toxic hazard.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#152

Post by mattdesl »

onli wrote: post #142
mattdesl wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love my cast iron, but usually choose a nonstick for eggs and crepes/pancakes in the morning. - I tend to re-season my cast iron every time I use it and it’s a chore to do this for my early morning meals. - Non-stick is just more non-stick, with cast iron I am constrained to using a certain heat and/or fat content to create the non-stick property which I might not want for a certain dish.

You really do not need to re-season them every time! Just using the pan with some oil is enough. If you clean it later with water, you can add a little oil afterwards and clean it with a paper towel, that's enough. Takes almost no time. But I have to agree that non-stick pans are even more non-stick. That's why it took some convincing here to not buy new ones in my home.

That’s the kind of re-seasoning I mean: first I dry it (paper towel), then wipe with oil (more paper towel). It’s more work than cleaning a nonstick by hand and produces more waste.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#155

Post by nemo44x »

adrianmonk wrote: post #91
andrewstuart wrote: post #39

I threw out all my pots and pans that have non stick surfaces and replaced them with stainless steel. Same with most kitchen cooking implements. Stainless steel pots and pans are much cheaper, last longer, you can scrub and scrape them and the big upside is you don’t have to consume DuPont non stick chemical coating nor feed it to your children. Despite all the celebrity chefs in the world attempting to sell you thei…

> you can scrub and scrape them Though you won't need to scrub very long if you use this: https://barkeepersfriend.com/products/cookware-cleanser-poli... Because of chemistry I don't understand, oxalic acid is amazing at removing burnt on food.

It’s the best thing ever. However if cleaning many things I highly recommend gloves. Will leave your hands feeling odd for awhile otherwise.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#156

Post by mrob »

anon291 wrote: post #119
shiroiushi wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem here is that many people use non-stick cookware, and metal spatulas will scratch them up badly. Plastic or rubber spatulas don't do that. Of course, you can say that they shouldn't use non-stick cookware, but they are, so...

I honestly cannot understand the appeal of non stick. Cast iron is so much simpler and the food comes out better. And the pans are indestructible and cleaning is so much easier (just wipe usually). I have three cast iron pans with which I cook for large numbers of people regularly and I'm flabbergasted when I visit other people's homes and find endless stacks of speciality pans. What are people possibly using these f…

>What are people possibly using these for?

Eggs and egg dishes (e.g. pancakes) mostly. No other pan works as well. Washing after cooking is also very quick and easy. Perhaps you've never used a non-stick pan that was maintained correctly, i.e. never overheated, stirred only with silicone utensils, and washed by hand using only non-scratching sponges. Most non-stick pans I've seen owned by other people have been in poor condition. If you think cast iron makes better food you probably use it for searing, which should never be done with non stick. And many people falsely believe wooden utensils are incapable of scratching non-stick pans.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#157

Post by ArnoVW »

shiroiushi wrote: post #106
kazinator wrote: post #65

How about, don't fry with any color plastic spatulas.

The main problem here is that many people use non-stick cookware, and metal spatulas will scratch them up badly. Plastic or rubber spatulas don't do that. Of course, you can say that they shouldn't use non-stick cookware, but they are, so...

Use a wooden one? Has the added benefit of being part of the short carbon cycle.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#158

Post by onli »

mattdesl wrote: post #152
onli wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really do not need to re-season them every time! Just using the pan with some oil is enough. If you clean it later with water, you can add a little oil afterwards and clean it with a paper towel, that's enough. Takes almost no time. But I have to agree that non-stick pans are even more non-stick. That's why it took some convincing here to not buy new ones in my home.

That’s the kind of re-seasoning I mean: first I dry it (paper towel), then wipe with oil (more paper towel). It’s more work than cleaning a nonstick by hand and produces more waste.

Oh, okay! I see it as less work, since the whole part of using soap and rubbing the fat away properly doesn't happen. Plus it's just a drop of oil and two paper towels. You can use a cotton towel to dry it and move down to one paper towel.

But I just wanted to make sure you don't re-season it with the whole procedure, like oil, potato peels and salt fried for a long time. Because that would be definitely a lot of work each morning ;)

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#159

Post by pomian »

tacker2000 wrote: post #148
anon291 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly cannot understand the appeal of non stick. Cast iron is so much simpler and the food comes out better. And the pans are indestructible and cleaning is so much easier (just wipe usually). I have three cast iron pans with which I cook for large numbers of people regularly and I'm flabbergasted when I visit other people's homes and find endless stacks of speciality pans. What are people possibly using these f…

Not everyone has a gas stove. Or maybe Im mistaken, but does cast iron work equally well on a “hot surface” (ceran) type stove?

You can heat it with anything. Remember. It is just steel! Almost indestructible, can use anything to clean it, and if you mess up, you can heat it, wash it, and re oil again.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#160

Post by wheels »

tacker2000 wrote: post #148
anon291 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly cannot understand the appeal of non stick. Cast iron is so much simpler and the food comes out better. And the pans are indestructible and cleaning is so much easier (just wipe usually). I have three cast iron pans with which I cook for large numbers of people regularly and I'm flabbergasted when I visit other people's homes and find endless stacks of speciality pans. What are people possibly using these f…

Not everyone has a gas stove. Or maybe Im mistaken, but does cast iron work equally well on a “hot surface” (ceran) type stove?

Erm, sure? Cast iron takes a little while longer to heat up because it's heavier, but it retains heat well once hot. It's even better on induction. I cook mostly in cast-iron and carbon steel and haven't ever had a gas stove. (Like a lot of kitchen wonks, I keep a cheap non-stick pan around for eggs and pancakes, and basically nothing else.)
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