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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

#621

Post by crabbone »

ndriscoll wrote: post #595
kelipso wrote: post #566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously lol, the effort vs risk ratio is insanely in favor of getting rid getting rid of plastic spatulas. Though, it should be pretty obvious even before this study that plastic, heat, and ingesting the result do not go together.

Metal spatulas are also just better. Plastic or silicone ones are like safety scissors, so of course you need non-stick pans. I don't run into sticking with cast iron and a metal spatula.

You are using them for the wrong purpose... Plastic spatulas are useful for sauces, batter, anything of that consistency. Of course, if you are already holding it in your hand and you need to flip a pancake, there's nothing wrong with it...

Similarly, there are plenty of different metal spatulas for different purposes, like decorating cakes or cooking on one big stove-top (as opposed to individual burners, that's something you see in the restaurant kitchens more often than in private use). And, again, you don't have to use any specific one for any specific task. My mom never had a spatula and did everything with a single chef knife she had, and it still worked for her.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#622

Post by soperj »

azemetre wrote: post #548
0_____0 wrote: post #504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

I've been cooking exclusively with Le Creuset cast iron pans. I use to care about seasoning and never using soap to clean but I've gotten way more relaxed as of late. I still take care of the pans and "season them" when it looks pretty bare, but I haven't really noticed much of a difference between seasoned and nonseasoned as an amateur chef. I make up for the lack of seasoning by using more butter or oil. The true r…

> Le Creuset cast iron pans

Those are wrapped with enamel. Pretty hard to notice seasoning with that.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#623

Post by DowagerDave »

aphantastic wrote: post #598
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #542

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, because I answered that question for myself, I have not had a waffle in years. Has nothing to do with toxins. My old belly just can't handle waffle/pancake batter stuff. I miss waffles...

There exist truly exceptional gluten free waffle recipes^, might be worth a shot at least. The bone broth waffle here would be a good search root (you’ll pardon the colorful menu, I hope): https://coffeedose.cafe/pages/flagship-menu ^ I’m not even gluten free typically

it's hard to reconcile a menu like this with statements like "Gen-z will never be able to afford a house"

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#624

Post by Ninjinka »

russdill wrote: post #620
timr wrote: post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true of nearly everything in this space. You'll find lots and lots of comments below about PFAS and Teflon pans, for example, ranging from factual-but-misleading (e.g. "Teflon pans can emit harmful gases when overheated") to bald assertions (multiple variations on "Teflon pans are harmful to your health") with no context or specificity to the claim. Setting aside the fact that the purported harms (if specified…

An overheating Teflon pan nearly killed my pet birds. I don't see how that's a factual but misleading statement.

Canary in the coal mine!

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#625

Post by svachalek »

marcosdumay wrote: post #570
sickofparadox wrote: post #551

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair to people, it is INCREDIBLY difficult to cope with the fact that a plurality or even most papers that come out may be found to be completely un-reproducible. For low stakes things like getting rid of a plastic spatula or cutting board, there is a sub-$20 cost to get rid of them and believe it is right (even if it ends up being wrong), while the cost of not believing and the paper being right is a massively…

> there is a sub-$20 cost Plus the risk of the alternative you pick being much worse than the original option.

For some things maybe, but usually there's an option where the risk is pretty negligible. I feel pretty confident we're not going to declare wooden spatulas to be a massive health concern.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#626

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

aphantastic wrote: post #598
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #542

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, because I answered that question for myself, I have not had a waffle in years. Has nothing to do with toxins. My old belly just can't handle waffle/pancake batter stuff. I miss waffles...

There exist truly exceptional gluten free waffle recipes^, might be worth a shot at least. The bone broth waffle here would be a good search root (you’ll pardon the colorful menu, I hope): https://coffeedose.cafe/pages/flagship-menu ^ I’m not even gluten free typically

Thanks!

As far as I know, I don't have gluten sensitivity, but it may be something that could make a difference.

Whenever I have anything made with pancake batter, I feel bloated and uncomfortable. I understand that gluten-sensitive people have much more ... adverse ... reactions.

Funny, though. I can usually eat most cookies, no problem. There's something about pancake batter that does it.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#627

Post by Jeff_Brown »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #512
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.

"Should I risk this?" is the wrong question in life. The burden of proof, as it were, is on those who are alleging a risk. I'm not gonna go through life worrying about every little thing just because it might be a problem. That goes double because people are constantly finding new things to worry about, most of which amount to nothing in the end.

Holding its probability constant, if the cost of avoiding a risk is sufficiently low and the potential harm sufficiently high, avoiding it is more rational than both looking further into it or taking it.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#628

Post by [deleted] »

observationist wrote: post #483
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you find a non-Teflon waffle iron?

A superficial web search reveals a handful of options; I'm sure if you spent a little time, like 10-15 minutes, you'd find dozens. If you only look at what's on offer in stores, and aren't in a place with a lot of variety, then you're not going to have many options.

[deleted]

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#629

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

RandomThoughts3 wrote: post #498
NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

> because these glass containers are actually reusable most of the time

As far as I am aware, those are mostly obsolete/moot/whatever. Still used for pickles, to the best of my understanding. Tomato sauces (spaghetti, etc) have started to switch over already several years ago. Glass is mostly for premium products, the $12/qt organic-grass-fed-shoulder-massaged milk.

Even if I'm generous and assume you're not talking about grocery stores... it's practically impossible to have a fast food industry without single-use packaging. Most of the McDonald's in my area are designed around drive-thru and delivery. The closest probably seats 30 inside, but has two drive-thru lanes and a large rack right next to the counter for the Uber Eats bags.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#630

Post by DowagerDave »

Gravityloss wrote: post #441
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…

Wood spatulas are great. They are also cheap. If you have a fireplace, you can even burn them at the end of life so very little waste!

burning garbage doesn't create any waste? You could just put it in your organics/composting...
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