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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

#501

Post by bigstrat2003 »

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.

I'm with Kenji Lopez-Alt on this one. No matter how nonstick your cast iron or carbon steel pan is, it's not as nonstick as Teflon, which is so nonstick that we had to come up with new methods to get it to bond to surfaces. Carbon steel pans are great, but they simply are not a replacement for nonstick.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#502

Post by burkaman »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #468
SoftTalker wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't use plastic for cooking.

How do you find a non-Teflon waffle iron?

I have a cast-iron waffle maker from like the 20s that works very well and is very fun to use. Added bonus, you can bring it on a camping trip and make waffles in the woods.

I did not pay $400 for it, but it looks like this: https://www.hardmill.com/products/griswold-8-waffle-iron-wit...

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#503

Post by bluGill »

potato3732842 wrote: post #363
andruby wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is $59 for a single hub, or $849 for a full cooktop really that much of an "expensive luxury"? These things last for decades and cost less than most mobile phones. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/induction-cooktops-20813/

The difference between electricity cost per btu and gas cost per btu is the sticking point for the bulk of consumers.

I don't think any cook at home has ever used enough energy that that matters. Once in a while someone will have a broken furnace and try to use the oven to heat their house (this is dangerous: don't try it), but otherwise cooking doesn't use energy to really matter.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#504

Post by 0_____0 »

asow92 wrote: post #453
spacemark wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I've been a fan of using stainless steel spatulas on cast iron for years now and it doesn't seem to scratch or degrade the "seasoning" on the cast iron in any apparently meaningful way.

Seasoning isn't that precious either. I accidentally left my cast iron on the stove and burned off most of the seasoning, took it as an opportunity to smooth out the surface with sandpaper, gave it a couple of coats of canola and put it back into service. Within a couple of days it was basically where it was before.

I also do 70% of my cooking in that pan!

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#505

Post by denvaar »

losvedir wrote: post #480
denvaar wrote: post #428

I would like to know if the plastic used in my Moccamaster is subject to these hazards. I bought it specifically because they claim to use food-grade quality plastic that is supposed to be safe.

I just went through a whole thing trying to get rid of plastic from my coffee setup, since I make coffee almost every day (sometimes twice). I couldn't find any plastic-free drip coffee makers, other than maybe the Ratio 8. In the end, I settled for a Chemex and doing pour over, which I've actually really enjoyed. So I recommend that if the plastics are giving you pause, although I can imagine giving up your Moccamas…

Yeah, I probably should just get good at pour-over. The Moccamaster is great, but I have a pretty low bar coming from a MrCoffee.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#506

Post by lucianbr »

simonsarris wrote: post #474
n8cpdx wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wood utensils are often coated to improve their stability (just like the inside of cans is coated in plastic, so joke’s on you if you choose cans for that reason). Have you considered the safety profile of the ink used for any markings, the stain on the wood, and any oil or wax coatings?

Haha, well, yes. I actually made all of my wood cooking implements from scratch. I cut down the trees and carved them. eg: https://twitter.com/simonsarris/status/1473049577905401859 I use Tried and True linseed oil or linseed oil + beeswax for my coatings. Occasionally I'll use pure walnut oil. I understand that not everyone likes to make such things! But I don't suspect its hard to find pure wood ones. Lots of peopl…

> It is easier to never have to worry about it if you simply decline to use plastic cooking utensils.

> I actually made all of my wood cooking implements from scratch. I cut down the trees and carved them.

Is this trolling? "It's easy, simple, just carve your own tools out of trees". Sounds like "just don't be poor" to me.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#507

Post by Kon-Peki »

xmodem wrote: post #395
HumblyTossed wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wood is not dishwasher safe... Maybe, but they're so easy to clean without a dishwasher. And even easier to clean later if you rinse them off immediately after cooking so stuff doesn't stick.

I have a disability which makes hand-washing cookware impractical, regardless of how "easy" it is for a "normal" person.

After you have finished cooking and have transferred the food to the plates or serving dishes or wherever (and your cookware is still hot!), add some cooking wine or tomato juice (anything that is a bit acidic) and deglaze the cookware. You can use the result or discard it, but the end result is cookware that is far, far easier to clean.

Some other options include getting a spouse that will do it for you, or to use the dishwasher and just accept that you will have to replace things more frequently.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#508

Post by bluGill »

everdrive wrote: post #291
bluGill wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What better option? resistance electric is clearly worse in other ways. I've heard induction is good but it is an expensive luxury option and not common even in that niche. i've heard it is reasonable priced in other countries but not the us.

It's a tale as old as time: "I don't want to poison myself, but I also cannot bear a minor inconvenience." This is honestly one of the main reasons I believe that environmentalism will never meaningfully succeed.

There are many options to make environmentalism also the better choice. My electric is 104% from wind last year (which is to say for every 100kwh my entire city used last year, my utility claims they generated 104kwh from wind - I don't know what they did when the wind wasn't blowing or what happened to that other 4kwh) Cooks tell me induction is better, but there are enough roadblocks that shouldn't exist such that I can't try it.

My real rant though is there is no reason why induction should be an expesnive niche. There is no reason I should pay extra for features that don't cost extra.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#509

Post by armada651 »

simonsarris wrote: post #430
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.

I don't really understand that POV. It is easier to never have to worry about it if you simply decline to use plastic cooking utensils. You never have to revisit the topic, never had to read any Atlantic articles at all coming out with "new risks" because you just decided to use wood long ago.

Sure and that protects you in your own kitchen, but not if you're eating anywhere else. Also what about all the other harmful chemicals with easy alternatives that you don't know about yet?

Only a regulating agency can truly protect you from exposure to harmful chemicals, because they can spend the time cataloguing all these chemicals and remove them not just from your home but everywhere else as well.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try and reduce your own exposure, it seems like a good idea. But ultimately it may just be a token effort because of all the other ways that you're exposed to those chemicals.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#510

Post by is_true »

asow92 wrote: post #453
spacemark wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I've been a fan of using stainless steel spatulas on cast iron for years now and it doesn't seem to scratch or degrade the "seasoning" on the cast iron in any apparently meaningful way.

it's all about the angle, wood utensils are usually softer and rounder so they are safer.

I accidentally removed a little of the "seasoning" of a cast iron and in the following uses it started to come out around the scratch.

Where I live there's another plus to wood utensils, I can help the people that make them locally

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