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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

#431

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

alwayslikethis wrote: post #401
ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem temperature is 260°C which can easily be avoided by not heating an empty pan (oil/liquids will distribute the heat more evenly) and you'd be unlikely to want to cook at that kind of temperature.

Teflon is not very thermally conductive, so the bottom contacting the metal substrate may be at a significantly higher temperature than the top. Chemistry reactions have activation energies, and you can generally always trade temperature for time. If it happens in a minute at 260 C, it will still happen at 200 C, just slower.

> If it happens in a minute at 260 C, it will still happen at 200 C, just slower.

I don't think that's particularly accurate unless you're considering the action of individual atoms. e.g. Water is considered to boil at 100°C but there will be some water evaporating at lower temperatures but this is a different process that only occurs at the surface. I don't think it's accurate to say that water is "slowly boiling" at low temperatures unless you're reducing atmospheric pressure.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#432

Post by bob1029 »

xmodem wrote: post #317
MrSkelter wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The precautionary principle plus what we know about heating plastic makes your reticence seem churlish. There are easy, safe alternatives in wood, metal and silicone. There’s no need to risk it.

Wood is not dishwasher safe, metal will damage the cookware's non-stick coating, which may be worse than the plastic I'm trying to avoid. I guess that leaves silicone.

The only unsafe thing I've ever experienced with wood in the dishwasher is a fire risk from a spoon getting blown off the top rack onto the heating element at the bottom.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#433

Post by marvel_boy »

crazygringo wrote: post #408

I really wish OXO would put out a statement here. A lot of people use it's black plastic tools like this one [1] -- like a lot of brands, OXO calls its black plastic tools "nylon" to differentiate from "silicone" -- and it would be really, really good to know if OXO has always rigorously made sure never to use recycled plastics, or if testing shows that its own products contain flame retardants. In other words, when…

Dispose of it ASAP.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#434

Post by [deleted] »

crazygringo wrote: post #408

I really wish OXO would put out a statement here. A lot of people use it's black plastic tools like this one [1] -- like a lot of brands, OXO calls its black plastic tools "nylon" to differentiate from "silicone" -- and it would be really, really good to know if OXO has always rigorously made sure never to use recycled plastics, or if testing shows that its own products contain flame retardants. In other words, when…

[deleted]

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#435

Post by Workaccount2 »

lukevp wrote: post #348
xmodem wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wood is not dishwasher safe, metal will damage the cookware's non-stick coating, which may be worse than the plastic I'm trying to avoid. I guess that leaves silicone.

Use a carbon steel or cast iron pan and learn how to season properly. They are very nonstick if you cook correctly in them, and their surface is incredibly durable (I use metal spatulas and I primarily cook on carbon steel and a cast iron griddle.) you can also incorporate stainless steel pots, although stainless pans are not nonstick and very hard to use for beginners.

Just gonna throw this out that as a long time seasoned cookware junkie:

There isn't really any clear data on what exactly the seasoning on our pans is, and what by-products are also formed. It seems somehow no one has done an academic deep dive on cast iron. Heating oils to the point of polymerization is very likely to have byproducts.

Now for the conspiratorial part, it seems likely that large manufacturers (Lodge) have done the research internally, but they haven't released anything along the lines of "We have research backing the safety of our pans!".

In some ways I really would not be surprised if it comes out that the seasoning process creates all manner of nasty byproducts.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#436

Post by spacemark »

SoftTalker wrote: post #420
crazygringo wrote: post #408

I really wish OXO would put out a statement here. A lot of people use it's black plastic tools like this one [1] -- like a lot of brands, OXO calls its black plastic tools "nylon" to differentiate from "silicone" -- and it would be really, really good to know if OXO has always rigorously made sure never to use recycled plastics, or if testing shows that its own products contain flame retardants. In other words, when…

Just don't use plastic for cooking.

Metal spatulas aren't an option for most, either, as they scratch pans. So what's the suggested realistic alternative? Wood?

Edit: wasn't trying to be snarky or anything. Honestly concerned for my family's health and trying to figure out the best path. Wood spatulas it is. Replacing all our PTFE pans with much more expensive cast iron pans isn't an option for our budget right now. Plus I haven't seen convincing scientific evidence that PTFE is as harmful as people here seem to imply. My understanding could be outdated though.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#437

Post by Workaccount2 »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #423
_yb2s wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of vintage glass things including Pyrex contain high levels of lead. I need to look into it more, but it seems to be from paint or colors added, and clear glass items are likely fine.

I have some old glazed ceramic plates that I won't use any more. One of them developed a crack half way through and I noticed that, in the microwave, food on it would stay frozen but the plate would be blazing hot. The glaze was conductive with presumably lead and was absorbing all the energy. The crack created a slot that blocked eddy currents.

Stuff today is still using ceramics with lead. Importers don't give a f about lead poisoning when it's a race to the bottom for cost.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#438

Post by bpodgursky »

spacemark wrote: post #436
SoftTalker wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't use plastic for cooking.

Metal spatulas aren't an option for most, either, as they scratch pans. So what's the suggested realistic alternative? Wood? Edit: wasn't trying to be snarky or anything. Honestly concerned for my family's health and trying to figure out the best path. Wood spatulas it is. Replacing all our PTFE pans with much more expensive cast iron pans isn't an option for our budget right now. Plus I haven't seen convincing scien…

They only scratch nonstick pans. Just use stainless steel, it's not that hard to clean.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#439

Post by tkone »

spacemark wrote: post #436
SoftTalker wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't use plastic for cooking.

Metal spatulas aren't an option for most, either, as they scratch pans. So what's the suggested realistic alternative? Wood? Edit: wasn't trying to be snarky or anything. Honestly concerned for my family's health and trying to figure out the best path. Wood spatulas it is. Replacing all our PTFE pans with much more expensive cast iron pans isn't an option for our budget right now. Plus I haven't seen convincing scien…

the scratch non-stick pans, which also are horrible for your health.

cast iron, stainless steel.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#440

Post by frmersdog »

hammock wrote: post #329
RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Straws are useless. Plates and ustensiles can be provided by and cleaned at the place you eat. Takeout containers don’t take more space than the non reusable container you will have to carry back anyway. They can also be provided by your place of work if you generally go for take out for lunch. Reusable tissue bags take no space or paper bags can be used for a cost. Napkins and tissues are not made of plastics. So, y…

> Napkins and tissues are not made of plastics Would you be surprised to learn that napkins and tissues and paper towels have all sorts of plastic coatings on them? It’s an untold story and I’d love one of these pubs to do some research the way they did about pizza boxes back in the day

I would think that durable versions wouldn't be made out of them, unless they were synthetic fibers.
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