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Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

theatlantic.com

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Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#201

Post by hnbad »

mrob wrote: post #178
euroderf wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > What are people possibly using these for? > Eggs and egg dishes (e.g. pancakes) mostly. That non-stick spray PAM is straight out, unless maybe you're huffing it. For eggs & pancakes I find that cast iron is responsive enough to temperature changes when used with induction, and that butter works to prevent sticking just fine.

You can cook eggs on non stick with no added fat at all.

You can make a case for eggs (although I don't like the way they come out this way) but this is a weird health argument for sweet pancakes which usually contain sugar and are drenched in syrup or chocolate spread. Also if you're making eggs and bacon, just use the bacon grease for the eggs?

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#202

Post by calf »

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…

I used to be like you until I lived with my mother then saw first-hand problems from her point of view.

Things like the weight of the cast iron means lifting it with wrist, cleaning it (in the sink). Other things like making it easy to cook proteins. Seasoning and maintenance.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#203

Post by hggigg »

euroderf wrote: post #174
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...

This entire discussion points me towards a conclusion that metal-on-metal is the conservative way to go. So what is the problem with this as a solution ? Do we have to worry about microbits of metal disrupting physiology ?

I am mostly worried about the stress of things sticking to that like glue. Stress has physiological consequences.

I see people worrying about this shit while walking on cliff edges, honking down cans of energy drinks and puffing away on vapes. There are probably larger health and risk considerations to make in your life.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#204

Post by Etheryte »

hnbad wrote: post #197
Etheryte wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wood is not good if you want to handle raw meat, since it's fibrous it makes it pretty easy to eventually cross contaminate something you eat. It's the same reason wooden cutting boards are usually avoided if you're working with raw meat. Every single time, the risk is small, but over time, the dice rolls add up.

Actually wooden cutting boards are safer than plastic ones because the plastic ones not only result in lots of plastic particles being dislodged while cutting but also the cuts into the board are harder to clean and result in a higher likelihood of contamination. Wooden boards need to be maintained, however, which with frequent use means occasionally sanding them down a bit in addition to the usual cleaning and oilin…

Wood and plastic are not the only two options in your life, this is a silly framing.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#205

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

echoangle wrote: post #193
ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can say that they shouldn't use non-stick cookware Using metal spatulas with non-stick is a big no due to the scratching. Ideally, you should throw away any non-stick cookware that gets a scratch on it. You should use silicone spatulas instead.

I am still not convinced that scratched non-stick stuff is a real danger. As far as I know, the whole point of PTFE (what the coating normally is made of) is that it’s chemically mostly inert. I don’t know the mechanism by which eating PTFE flakes would be harmful. I’m not a chemist though so I would be grateful for corrections.

It's the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that's the issue. It's mainly been phased out of cookware now, so if it's less than 10 years old then you should be okay.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#207

Post by Etheryte »

iamacyborg wrote: post #190
Etheryte wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wood is not good if you want to handle raw meat, since it's fibrous it makes it pretty easy to eventually cross contaminate something you eat. It's the same reason wooden cutting boards are usually avoided if you're working with raw meat. Every single time, the risk is small, but over time, the dice rolls add up.

I’m in my late 30’s and have basically forever used wooden chopping boards and wooden utensils. I’ve not gotten sick from home cooking once. I think you might be overstating the potential harm here.

This is as useful of an insight as saying that I'm in my late 30s and never gotten Covid, I think you might be overstating the potential harm here. A sample size of one is not much use when we talk about statistical probabilities.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#209

Post by echoangle »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #205
echoangle wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am still not convinced that scratched non-stick stuff is a real danger. As far as I know, the whole point of PTFE (what the coating normally is made of) is that it’s chemically mostly inert. I don’t know the mechanism by which eating PTFE flakes would be harmful. I’m not a chemist though so I would be grateful for corrections.

It's the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that's the issue. It's mainly been phased out of cookware now, so if it's less than 10 years old then you should be okay.

But wasn’t that only used in production? Some bouillon is also made by using hydrochloric acid, but it is neutralized and only NaCl remains. Isn’t it the same here? The PFOA is basically used as a precursor for PTFE and doesn’t remain in the product?

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#210

Post by moe_sc »

kalaksi wrote: post #138
exmadscientist wrote: post #71

The correlation-causation in this article is really rather screwed up. The way it really works for plastic is this: almost all bad plastic is black, but not all black plastic is bad. That's it. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with virgin black plastics. (Well, at least, nothing more than is wrong with plastics in general.) So there is no reason to fear black plastic from reputable sources. The trouble comes in when…

Are you sure there's absolutely nothing wrong with virgin plastics? Maybe it'd be safer and simpler to just avoid plastic in e.g. cooking since the growing amount of research about effects of plastics doesn't seem very positive.

> nothing more than plastics in general
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