Live data from Hacker News

Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

theatlantic.com

671–680 of 886 posts

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#671
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.

Candles and incense also kill birds. I think they are also sensitive to air fresheners. Too bad most birds can’t smell very well.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#672

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

Canary in an kitchen with an overheated Teflon pan.

(1) https://www.buffalobirdnerd.com/storage/app/media/Teflon.pdf

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#673
post #484

From gidmkhealthnerd, a scientific fact-checker: Counterpoint: this seems to be the crusade of a single researcher - I don't find the data personally convincing and am still using my black spatula for cooking. https://www.threads.net/@gidmkhealthnerd/post/DBxbQERykRx?hl...

Why do you trust gidmkhealthnerd, a psuedonym who likely knows nothing about it and offers nothing but a personal opinion, over the post of someone who studied it and gathered actual experimental evidence?

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#674

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.

All non-stick frying pans die within a year or so. We recently took the plunge and invested in a stainless steel one. Yes, it takes some (very little) time to adjust your cooking style, but that thing comes with a lifetime guarantee and you don't have to worry about accidentally scratching the surface. Win-win.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#675
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.

It’s misleading because “harmful” in this context usually means to humans not to birds.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#676

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…

Lodge cast iron pans are like $20 and will outlast your grandchildren. You can get a set of them for < $100. Carbon steel are more expensive, but are easier to handle and I think are worth investing in at least one for daily use. They'll also last generations.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#677

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chocolate nearly killed my pet dog. Factual, but misleading in an article about health risks to humans.

Nobody's claiming that the gasses aren't toxic to humans, the they are saying that they do not overheat their pans.

They aren’t very toxic to humans either.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#678

Avoid plastic if you want to live long, whatever if it's cooking or drinking. Now I know that yet I drink water exclusively from plastic bottle, because ground water is contaminated with pesticides here. So it's either micro plastic in the water or pesticide, choose your poison. Because I don't use Teflon (plastic) covered pan, I need more oil to avoid food to stick to the pan. The oil comes in plastic bottle, catego…

you could buy oil in glass bottles. also if buying larger quantities it comes in some type of metal container.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#679

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Wooden cooking tools can harbour bacteria.

Re: Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid

#680
post #647

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I recently learned how to cook non-stick with my stainless steel pan [1]. Needless to say it's a bit more involved, but I felt more accomplished when I figured out how to cook with it. Pros: SS can go right in the dishwasher, it's safe & you can use metal spatula, no worry about loss of efficacy over the years. Cons: It takes a minute more to prep, harder to clean (sides/edges aren't non-stick) Personally, between th…

Usually “nonstick” in the cooking context means “nonstick without any added fat”. So a stainless steel pan is never “nonstick”.
Post reply on HN