Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid • Hacker News Board

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#491

Post by infecto » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:54 PM UTC

fooblaster wrote: post #396

infecto wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh you reminded me how much I hate flame retardants and the horrible laws we have in America that have us spray it everywhere. I was just recently looking at bicycle seats for small kids and the one I found interesting happened to recently have a recall (Thule) as they grossly over applied the flame retardant to a point where it was immediately toxic. I am guessing it was in the foam pieces but such a depressing ide…

Are there particularly bad flame retardants to avoid? why is it bad?

All of them, I don't believe they serve any to the net of society and probably harm more individuals than protect.. YMMV like everything, flame retardants are generally just like PFAS, they are forever chemicals. The mains ones used up until the 2000-2013s were PBDEs, these bio-accumulate just like PFAS. THe EU and US have switched to alternatives but I don't believe these to be any better, just newer.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#492

Post by smallerfish » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

mikepurvis wrote: post #419

armada651 wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that even when there are easy, safe alternatives trying to avoid every little risk in your life will drive you crazy. This is a clear case where a regulator should step in and just ban these black plastic utensils in favor of their safe alternatives. That way you're not just protected from exposure in your own kitchen, but also when joining your friends for dinner.

Indeed, panicking about everything little thing like this is a psychological nightmare— it leads to the same mental fatigue as the infinite list of item known to the State of California to cause cancer.

And yet the State of California helps drive regulation forward; e.g. the case of Red 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq9dhQIoDw8). CA may err too much on the cry wolf end of the scale, but it's serving a vital function.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#493

Post by dghlsakjg » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

jaredhallen wrote: post #388

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

question since you obviously know the topic! a cast iron or "stainless" steel pan will get some gruff from cooking since its nonstick. It regularly goes to the dishwasher, some stuff won't get cleaned. Mostly oil burn stains it seems ("stainless" hardly!) . Is that completely safe/expected ? We obviously diddn't get that with the nonstick pans. We got rid of that stuff for a reason, now i'm not sure what is worse: no…

Not the person you're replying to, but here's my $0.02. We have a couple stainless frying pans that we've had for a long time, and I've never been much a fan of them. I find they stick pretty bad no matter what procedures you use. Our main pan is a 12" cast iron that I smoothed out the bottom cool surface with a flapper wheel on an angle grinder. It's been used thousands of times over at least a decade and never give…

I can second your advice about the cast iron. A lot of people are too precious about these things.

I use mine daily for anything and everything. I wash it with Dawn. It continues to work as well as any cast iron I have ever seen.

Apparently the "don't use soap on it" advice stems from the era of harsher lye based soaps.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#494

Post by dotancohen » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

astura wrote: post #370

dotancohen wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's not gross. It's just not squeaky obsessively free of oil. But it's still clean.

This you? https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/taz86n/comment/i04...

No, that's not me. In any case, in our language we don't use the same word for the pan coating that we use for food flavouring. There is no smell on these pans! But yes, if people are treating their cookware as referenced in that page, then I understand why you are appalled.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#495

Post by Kon-Peki » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

maeln wrote: post #382

sa1 wrote: post #346

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The wood dries out and cracks.

It really depends on the wood used. Some should absolutely, under no circumstance, be expose to a hot + wet environment. Some, you can put in the dishwasher and they are fine. I do use a lot of wooden cooking utensil and most of them go in the dishwasher. But I do have some nicer wooden spoon that are made from a more precious wood that I would always wash by hand. Another thing is that a loot of wooden utensil are m…

What is your opinion on food-grade mineral oil for helping with wood that is starting to get dry (and dramatically extending the useful lifespan)? I've been told that it's fine, but who knows these days.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#496

Post by nox101 » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

MrSkelter wrote: post #226

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 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.

in California, every metal utensil is marked with "causes cancer"

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#497

Post by erikerikson » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:58 PM UTC

spacemark wrote: post #436

SoftTalker wrote: post #420

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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…

Use cast iron pans. I used to love my non-stick pans but I would never go back.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#498

Post by RandomThoughts3 » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:58 PM UTC

NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #477

RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #267

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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…

I just want to be able to buy ketchup or mayonnaise in glass at the grocery store. But apparently that's not enough, you want me to bring my own container and have the grocer fill it up from the 55 gallon condiment drum?

Don't turn the argument into a parody of itself because you don't like what it implies.

No one is asking you about buying using refilable containers you bring to the store. That's not what's talked about when people talk about single use items.

I am 100% in favour of putting in place a container-deposit scheme however because these glass containers are actually reusable most of the time and should be collected back. Plastic overpackaging should just be banned. The whole thing is just a waste of ressource only possible because externalties are not priced in.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#499

Post by bmicraft » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:59 PM UTC

GJim wrote: post #421

namibj wrote: post #294

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You can get an induction hob for 50 bucks at IKEA. So spending more than a 200 $ premium over a resistance stove with 4 hobs means you're being ripped off or spending on luxury.

One needs more than a single cheap induction hob to cook a family meal!

Okay so keep your current ones, and mainly use the induction one for which will probably satisfy upwards of 80% of your needs anyway.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#500

Post by oxidant » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 2:59 PM UTC

DoughnutHole wrote: post #470

the__alchemist wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Metal. I haven't noticed scratches, and have been using exclusively my whole adult life. I suspect my pans are covered in superficial scratches, but I don't notice.

Presumably you’re not using Teflon pans then, because there’s no way you wouldn’t notice the non-stick surface getting destroyed by metal utensils. There’s also a potential health argument against cooking with Teflon pans to begin with, but people do and those people shouldn’t be using metal if they want their pans to stay non-stick for any reasonable length of time.

I've had my share of non-stick pans, including higher quality ones. They all degrade to the point where I need to use oil.

I switched to carbon steel as a daily driver two years ago and it is is trivialy non-stick with a little maintenance. The non-stick properties are infinitely refresha le, unlike "non-stick" pans.

I also have cast iron and stainless pans for other uses.