Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 886 posts

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#241

Post by fredoliveira »

Scottn1 wrote: post #120
amiantos wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They make a glass aeropress that comes with a stainless steel cap now.

I had no idea either. Thanks! When I first got my Aeropress, really hot water being forced through all dark-colored hard plastic had me concerned. Still does. But after getting the routine down it takes only three minutes and my daily coffee is so much better since I got it, I don't want coffee any other way anymore. The glass one is most likely going on my Christmas list (even though that is sort of expensive for wh…

The Aeropress is absolutely great, but I have the same reservations about putting 96c water through what's essentially a bunch of plastic. What I'm about to suggest is not a substitute, but there are solid glass/metal french press kits, and chemex/filtered glass/ceramic coffee setups which will make great drinks.

Once you have nailed the grinding process (with a single dose grinder for consistency, for example), the filtering parts of the procedure are 2 minutes.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#242

Post by askvictor »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #125
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...

Other than the hygiene argument of bacteria build up what is wrong with just using wooden spatulas for example?

Do you have any sources for wood cooking implements being unhygienic? I recall one a few years ago finding that wooden cutting boards are _more_ hygienic than plastic as they pull bacteria into their pores and trap and kill them: https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/09/cutting-boards-food-safety/

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#243

Post by delta_p_delta_x »

jajko wrote: post #215
euroderf wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ?

Raw metal like cast iron is pretty terrible for red sauces due to tomato sauce acidity. You will get tremendous amount of iron oxide (rust) into the food to the point when you can taste it, with no idea if you don't cross safety thresholds. Plus stickiness affects quite a few foods - eggs, pancakes, but also ie low burn simmer. There are cca inert linings like porcelain enamel on La creuset and similar, but in conven…

It is perfectly alright to cook tomato sauces in cast iron, especially a well-seasoned one which should defend against the acidity attacking the metal fairly well. Another way is to neutralise the acid with some sodium bicarbonate. Oh, and

> You will get tremendous amount of iron oxide (rust) into the food to the point when you can taste it

is generally not a problem. In fact, cereals are fortified directly by adding iron oxide—enough that if a magnet is run over it, it will pick up a substantial quantity of iron filings.

If you're especially concerned about your food tasting iron-y, a good substitute is stainless steel. Bring it up to 200°C, add in a small touch of high smoke point oil, add your proteins, and cook. No sticking.

All my cookware is metal including my spatulas, spoons, pots, and pans etc which are stainless steel, aluminium, or enamelled cast iron. Metal is infinitely more durable and flexible (in terms of where and how it can be used, not literal flexibility à la Young's modulus) than any silicone/plastic/non-stick cookware. You can pop a stainless steel pan directly from the stove into an industrial oven. You can put metal (even cast iron, really) in a dishwasher. You can violently scrub at any metal with steel wool and Cif/Gif to attack stubborn stains. The likelihood of something sticking to it is a small price to pay for the sheer peace of mind and flexibility.

Oh, final point. If scrubbing stuff off is such a pain, get a dishwasher.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#244

Post by Jarmsy »

dotancohen wrote: post #231
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically I have to use more fat/oil in a non-stick pan than a cast iron one.

I just started cooking in an iron pan, and I love it. It's actually not significantly more difficult to clean once you learn to leave the seasoning on and get over the cultural conditioning of what clean is essentially. The cooking process it also far better, with the whole pan being uniformly hot and staying that way.

There are a lot of old misconceptions around about cast iron seasoning. It's a layer of bioplastic formed by the polymerization when heating a thin layer of oil on the pan to high temperature - It's not about leaving your pan dirty or 'flavored'. You can clean it with regular dish soap just fine, that isn't strong enough to take the layer off.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#245

Post by lupusreal »

cogman10 wrote: post #223
altacc wrote: post #166

This article is brief and uses big numbers to make a scary point but I'd be interested in if there is proof of causation of significant physiological effects at the exposure level from domestic cooking. Often media will say "people exposed to Y have increased Z" but fail to mention that in studies those people worked in industrial settings with Y and the exposure level is hundreds or thousands of times higher than in…

The difficulty here is that the diseases happen years or decades after the exposer, sometimes. The industrial setting offers the hints that there might be a problem but, as you rightly point out, also might just be a case of too much exposure. An example of this is radiation exposure, it took an embarrassingly long time for society to link radiation to cancer, and that was a somewhat obvious link. Radioactive beverag…

You can still find radioactive trinkets being sold for their alleged health effects. Thorium in pendants and that sort of shit. They don't disclose their radioactive nature but they market with some new age woo like "emits vitalizing energy waves using crystal technology."

Most of it comes from China, presumably from people who see waste byproducts of rare earth metal processing as a business opportunity.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#246

Post by astura »

shiroiushi wrote: post #128
DoingIsLearning wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other than the hygiene argument of bacteria build up what is wrong with just using wooden spatulas for example?

I don't think I've ever even seen a wooden spatula, and I don't see how you could make one thin enough to flip pancakes (or worse eggs) and it stay durable.

Excuse me? I find it hard to believe you've never seen a wooden spatula, it's like claiming you've never seen a wooden spoon.

I use a wood spatula at home. I flip pancakes and eggs.

I opened an incognito tab and googled "spatula" and this is literally the second result https://www.target.com/p/acacia-wood-solid-turner-brown-figm...

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#247

Post by astura »

Saline9515 wrote: post #131
shiroiushi wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I've ever even seen a wooden spatula, and I don't see how you could make one thin enough to flip pancakes (or worse eggs) and it stay durable.

It's very common in Europe, I have several at home. If you properly wash them, there is no bacterial danger either.

They are common in the US too.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#248

Post by onli »

dotancohen wrote: post #240
onli wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wor…

> You can use a cotton towel to dry it and move down to one paper towel. You don't even need the entire paper towel. During the Hamas attacks last year I was unable to leave to the store for quite some time and began seriously reducing consumption in the house. Half or even a quarter paper towel is enough. And even that doesn't need to be thrown away - the paper towel is still clean for purpose of reoiling the pan th…

Nice. Also, adding oil each time after cleaning is also not necessary, especially after cooking with enough of it and if that went well (though I do it most of the time as well).

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#250

Post by astura »

dotancohen wrote: post #231
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically I have to use more fat/oil in a non-stick pan than a cast iron one.

I just started cooking in an iron pan, and I love it. It's actually not significantly more difficult to clean once you learn to leave the seasoning on and get over the cultural conditioning of what clean is essentially. The cooking process it also far better, with the whole pan being uniformly hot and staying that way.

>and get over the cultural conditioning of what clean is essentially.

Eww, gross.

This is not necessary, you can (and should) actually clean your cast iron pans. I certainly clean mine.

Post reply on HN