Comments on: Ceramic Vs Nonstick Skillets: Which Is Better? | Gear Heads

By: @jbarbeau92

@jbarbeau92 — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

I’ll point out, even if you trust you can keep your traditional nonstick from releasing PTFE into your food or the air in your home, the process of manufacturing and applying PTFE has almost permanently degraded and contaminated waterways all over the country and the world. Not purchasing products that contribute to harming every living thing that consumes water is essential to getting our environment back into a shape that’s survivable in the long term.

By: @lisanutini5183

@lisanutini5183 — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

I have ruined so many Teflon coated pans with non-stick sprays 😒

By: @jenniferharned6484

@jenniferharned6484 — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

What carbon steel does ATK recommend?

By: @VIsionsOfJenna

@VIsionsOfJenna — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

Teflon skillets are essentially disposable.

By: @markbrooks11

@markbrooks11 — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

Carbon steel.

By: @Myfamily005cooking

@Myfamily005cooking — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

Very Very thanks 🎉

By: @theeightytwentytd

@theeightytwentytd — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

Did you test the ceramic skillets for their compatibility with induction burners?

By: @brucefulton

@brucefulton — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

We have one large All-clad traditional non-stick that we use only occasionally when a non-stick is truly necessary. It's still in good shape after many years. Otherwise, stainless, seasoned cast-iron or carbon steel with very little oil are far better than the ceramic we've tried and invariably get better rather than worse with use over time.

By: @VioletPhoenix922

@VioletPhoenix922 — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

You addressed the fact that the traditional nonstick pans might be safe to use if you use them properly and carefully, though the idea that you should turn on a fan or open a window to provide ventilation when using them doesn’t add to my confidence in their safety, but you really glanced past a major concern—the harm of producing them in the first place. You mentioned that most of the dangerous chemicals are released during production, when the coating is sprayed on, but you didn’t talk about the implications of that fact—the impacts on worker safety or the environmental costs of even making these pans at all. If you choose to buy these pans, whether they are safe to use at home or not, the greatest harm of releasing those chemicals into the environment and possibly harming the workers who produce them has likely already been done. Having those chemicals in the environment will cost us all, in health impacts and because now municipalities are having to figure out ways to filter these chemicals out of our water systems, a costly prospect which will raise water prices for everyone. Remember, if you don’t buy them, companies won’t make them!

Another thing you didn’t mention, even in passing, was what happens to these pans at the end of their useful lives. They cannot be recycled, so they end up in landfills which also contributes to the breakdown and release of these chemicals into the environment. In fact, some years ago, your advice on nonstick pans was that they were cheap so when their nonstick coating began to lose its release, you could just get a new one. A lot of people still treat them this way, meaning even more of these pans in our landfills.

Cast iron, carbon steel and ceramic nonstick might not be perfect, but the trade-off to health and safety is absolutely worth a small bit of effort or inconvenience.

For more information on the topic of forever chemicals, please see the excellent reporting work of Sharon Lerner.

By: @meloysmusicstudio

@meloysmusicstudio — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:56:42 +0000

Wait you aren't supposed to put teflon pans in the dishwasher? I've been doing that for 30 years…