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

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#581

Post by kelipso » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 3:55 PM UTC

whoitwas wrote: post #385

nextlevelwizard wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does any of this matter in a normal life? Will I actually see actual difference if I throw away all my cook ware and replace it with non-non-stick ones and wooden utensils? What about pollutants in the air from car and industry exhaust? Is this cookware worse? Should we first consider moving somewhere else than worry about cookware? What about just the ingredients you cook with? Is using teflon worse than buying high…

There are many things to consider and it's up to each individual. It can become exhausting if you choose to continue to learn and grow, but if you don't ... what are you doing?

There are still people who use plastic electric kettles. It's crazy out there.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#582

Post by kelipso » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 3:57 PM UTC

whoitwas wrote: post #381

methyl wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I know, Teflon is neutral as long as you don't overheat it and breathe in the gas. Can you point some sources stating otherwise?

It's not possible to fry in a safe range. The safe range is <500F. I use pans at a greater temperature than that for frying. Additionally, when the pans wear the surface degrades and becomes your food. This probably always occurs, but more when the products wear.

Also the vaporization of teflon is probably not a step function but a curve, and they set the safety range at some threshold. So in all likelihood you are inhaling who knows what at even the safe ranges.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#583

Post by scottyah » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 3:58 PM UTC

rconti wrote: post #559

is_true wrote: post #510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

(reply really meant for @arrowleaf) Man, I'm so turned off by the entire cast iron hype cult. I've tried so hard to make it work for me, and it just doesn't, and everyone's advice is totally different so it's impossible to know what to do. Wash it. Don't wash it. Scrub the shit out of it. Just remove the chunks and leave the rest. The reply will inevitably be "it's simple, just...." where the words following "just" a…

it's simple, just use stainless steel and preheat it to where water droplets bounce instead of evaporate before putting the oil on

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#584

Post by steelbrain » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 3:59 PM UTC

teractiveodular wrote: post #577

hamhock666 wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why take the chance? Just buy a metal spatula next time and there’s nothing to worry about if it turns out to be true

Metal spatulas cause damage to frying pans. How do I know which is worse, the plastic melting off my black spatula or the non-stick coating scraping off my frying pan? I suppose I could go cast iron, but I'm sure I can find a study saying those are terrible too.

You don't have to get cast-iron necessarily. Try carbon-steel. My mother doesn't like cast iron because of the maintenance required, and we don't use non-stick for the alleged health issues.

Got a bunch of carbon-steel cookware and she loves it.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#585

Post by wwweston » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 4:01 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.

Why, exactly, would those California notifications cause even mild anxiety (let alone "a psychological nightmare") if you know as you claim that they are merely "panicking about everything little thing"?

If you're certain they're trivial concerns, then they should be easy to dismiss.

If the problem is that you're not sure if they're trivial -- or which are and which aren't -- then what we've uncovered is the shortcomings of a policy oriented primarily around notifications. You'd want judgments made by people with toxicology qualifications whose job it is to focus on questions like this. Which was the point of the comment you're responding to.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#586

Post by Arch-TK » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 4:01 PM UTC

Moru wrote: post #279

ethagnawl wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's admittedly been a while since I've looked but there don't seem to be any (automated) drip makers whose use doesn't result in plastic coming into contact with hot water. I'm well aware of and own many of the more manual options that don't have this issue. However, the automatic feature is killer (heh) and this seems like an obvious miss by manufacturers.

We make coldbrew coffee in the fridge. No need to heat up the coffee until it is in your cup with some extra water and into the micro. And it taste a lot better than anything else I tried. And I didn't even drink coffee a year ago because it taste so bad. Now I can even drink it without milk! :-)

Some people like cold brew, others don't. I fall into the latter camp.

Then again, the only things in the cold-water path of my machine are:

- silicone gaskets

- silicone grease

- PTFE

- silicone tubes

- clear plastic water tank

As for the hot path:

- silicone gaskets

- silicone grease

- aluminium

- steel

- copper

- brass

- PTFE (in contact with steam)

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#587

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 4:01 PM UTC

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…

[deleted]

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#588

Post by britzkopf » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 4:02 PM UTC

groggo wrote: post #469

SoftTalker wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't use plastic for cooking.

is silicone ok?

Get enough researchers to train their metaphorical microscopes on it and it's interaction with any dimension of human biology for long enough and I have to think the answer will eventually be no.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#589

Post by afh1 » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 4:02 PM UTC

bell-cot wrote: post #571

lxgr wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if you don't care about not ruining your non-stick pans (or don't use any).

The non-stick pans that release all sorts of concerning-at-even-1ppb fluorine compounds?

What do you cook on?

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#590

Post by crazydoggers » Thu, Oct 31, 2024, 4:03 PM UTC

ebiester wrote: post #461

bpodgursky wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It's not about cleaning. It's about the increased amount of oil needed to prevent delicate foods like eggs and fish from sticking. That adds cost and calories.

I think eggs and certain fish recipes are the primary use of non stick. But there are also ways to cook those without non stick.

For scrambled eggs you can use a double boiler (you’ll never have had fluffier eggs). An extremely well seasoned carbon steal pan will also work wonders (basically what fry cooks use)

For fish, cooking fish whole on a grill is amazing. Another technique with stainless pans is to get the pan searing hot first. Then add a tiny amount of oil and cook the fish and don’t touch it. This should set the surface protein quickly and create a crust that prevents sticking (requires a little practice but not too hard)