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BS: Teflon pans
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Subject: BS: Teflon pans From: lefthanded guitar Date: 03 Feb 11 - 01:53 PM I'm about to buy a new frying pan and was thinking of getting a teflon pan. Mind is stainless steel and is a b***h to clean. Teflon pans use so much less oil (btwI only use canoloa and/or olive oil to saute, NOT deep fry) and they are so easy to clean. I hate cleaning pans. (no dishwasher either) But there seems to be a scare about Teflon pans causing diseases if used on high heat; and even raising your cholesterol. I know there are a lot of health conscious (and semiconscious) folks on Mudcat; are you using Teflon? How can you tell if the pan is too hot anyways? And if you're not using Teflon, what? I need a bigger pan soon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Brian May Date: 03 Feb 11 - 01:58 PM Teflon and I have been acquainted since they first came out - and I still here. Anyway, you've got to die of something, because die you must . . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: jacqui.c Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:06 PM I'm still using Teflon - no affects so far as I am aware. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: pdq Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:08 PM Classic cast iron pans and skillets are great once they are broken in. The recently made ones tend to be poor quality. Too expensive for what you get. Teflon can be poisonous and aluminum has been linked to nerve cell damage and senility. Avoid both if possible, and never let a Teflon pan get red hot. If it does, perhaps it should be disposed of. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: jacqui.c Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:13 PM Cast iron is fine, but too heavy for me. I want something that I can lift one handed and haven't found anything in cast iron that fits the bill. Not easy to clean either. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: MikeL2 Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:19 PM Hi Had no problems when using Teflon for many years. Like you we don't deep fry very much. When we have chips - very occasionally - we have a chip pan - not Teflon. With regard to heat the latest pans have a red small circle in the centre of the pan that tells you when the pan is hot enough to use.....not sure if it tells you if it is too hot...we tell that if the oil smokes. Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: gnu Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:21 PM You can buy teflon pans that will take a fairly high heat but the are very expensive given that the teflon will wear over time and the pan will have to be replaced (if you touch it with metal while it's hot you will damage it... plastic or wood only). I buy the cheap ones and I do NOT use high heat until I have the food in the pan and absorbing heat. At that point I regulate the heat VERY closely until I have a good fry going, at which point you can turn the heat down drastically. It may take a little practice and it depends on what you're cooking. As well, there may be some foods you will continue to use your steel pan for... like steak. But, if you wanna cook a mess a sausages (yes, I picked sausages on accounta you don't like scrubbing your steel pan) teflon is the way to go... sloooowly. Grilled cheeese sandwich is another example. The size of the pan with respect to the food is important... eg, if you have a small steak in the middle of a pan that is too big you run the risk of warping a cheap (read "thin metal") pan. Last night, I got a very distressing phone call and it was only when I smelled the pasta burning that I got off the phone and removed the pan from the stove. The teflon pan... thank goodness!... clean as a whistle in ten seconds. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: gnu Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:23 PM Re the red circle, I don't buy those because they are too expensive. I use something far less expensive... a few drops of water. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:27 PM Heavy iron pans, eg le Creuset, cook much more evenly and steadily. To clean, just soak for 15 mins and then wash. Nothing sticks if you soak. When new, give them a patina by heating salt in them to quite a high temp. The insides will then be fairly non-stick. Just after the war, all pans were either enamel or cast iron, and had been for decades. Don't buy Teflon if you have doubts. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Bill D Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:31 PM We have both. The modern Teflon is fine if you use it correctly.... which mostly means not using steel implements in it to avoid scratches. And using only non-scratch pads to wash it. I use nice copper bottom steel pans for some things, but I'd hate to be with my Teflon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: lefthanded guitar Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:44 PM I would like to also try that iron skillet Eliza mentioned, esp b/c I once had to take iron pills. But I honestly can't imagine an iron skillet by soaking clean after just 15 minutes. I can soak my steel skillet for 15 hours and it's not easy to clean! Do you just apply salt w/o water??? this is intriguing. I may buy a Telfon anyways, and use it at very low heat. For when I'm lazy. (which is more often than I'd like to admit) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 03 Feb 11 - 02:51 PM My frying pan is a Teflon, and I've had no problems with the Teflon touching the food (or my wife using it as chopping board) since I got it properly broken in. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:01 PM Le Creuset do a whole range of heavy pans, different sizes, and also casserole pots etc. Yes, you put the salt in dry and heat it up very hot. I was shown this in 'Domestic Science' lessons in 1960! Soaking the pans has always worked for me. My mother's pots and pans were so heavy I could hardly lift them as a girl. They'd belonged to HER mother. Stupidly I chucked them out a few years ago. They were square-shaped. Good quality ones are expensive but last a long, long time. I've got a Shepherd's Pie in the oven at this minute, in a le Creuset chafing dish. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: lefthanded guitar Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:03 PM Thanks for the tip Eliza. I see they sell them at Bed Bathand Beyond, my favorite store to get lost in. I'll take a look. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: bobad Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:10 PM For seasoning cast iron Google that, there is much info available. Oil and heat is required, salt can be used to clean before seasoning. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: gnu Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:11 PM Minds me of the time Aunt Mary was home from The States visiting Gramps. She wrote a cookbook, you know. Quite successful. Gramps arose one morning and took his iron pan out of the oven to fry the bacon (or ham or sausages) and eggs as he had done every morning for over 50 years. It was spotless. Mary had washed it. It had never been washed... never... NEVER!!!!! Mary was in tears when Gramps went out the door to buy a new one. I still have that pan. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Bill D Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:26 PM "I can soak my steel skillet for 15 hours and it's not easy to clean!" For cleaning regular stainless steel pans...Bon Ami It IS safe, and unless you have huge buildups, it is fast. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Jon Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:31 PM I prefer stainless steel and would avoid Teflon in this household. I've seen far too many ruined by Bill's "don't" above. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Charmion Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:53 PM I use modern, expensive non-stick pans for omelettes and scrambled eggs, and for sautéeing chicken, fish and vegetables. For steak, I have a much-loved ridge-bottom Le Creuset pan that is almost entirely black from burned-on tallow. For bacon and eggs, pancakes and stews, it's a ferocious huge black iron skillet that was part of Edmund's trousseau. I probably have too many pots. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Bobert Date: 03 Feb 11 - 03:58 PM Here's the deal with teflon...Don't buy a cheapie 'cuase it's too thin and the teflon will be in yer food in no time... Don't scratch the teflon... This means not stacking stuff on in when you store it unless you put a paper towel between them... Always use plastic spatulas, sppons, etc.... Always clean with plastic scubber... Never steel wool... If you see that the teflon is scrtached so that you can see shiny metal, throw it away... It's done!!! And, of course, do not eat your new teflon pan... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 03 Feb 11 - 04:06 PM Charmion, you can't have too many pots. I love the sound of your ferocious huge black iron skillet. I regret bitterly throwing away those heavy old ones of my mum's. Teflon peels off alarmingly, and tiny black bits of it can get in the food. (I have a friend whose pans are like this, I shudder for her, but she won't chuck them away!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: dick greenhaus Date: 03 Feb 11 - 04:36 PM Teflon is incredibly stable at temps under 500 f or so--non-stick works fine if you don't want stuff to stick; plain stainless and cast-irn work fine for searing foods when you do want bits to stick, so that you can deglaze them as basis for psn gravy or sauce. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: olddude Date: 03 Feb 11 - 04:41 PM I use the old black skillet myself but have many teflon pans ...So far I only noticed my hair turning whiter and falling out as the years go by ... I think it is the pan but other than that ... no issues |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: JohnInKansas Date: 03 Feb 11 - 04:51 PM While not strictly applicable to the original questions, since it's been stated they're too heavy, there are lots of misconceptions about cast iron pans. If you have the misbegotten idea that "old ones are better," you might find a decent 10" cast iron skillet for around $30 - $50 (US) at an antique shop. It's made from the same mold as the one you can by at the hardware store for $15 - $20 (in the US). The same two principal makers that made them in 1800 are still in business, and with the exception of adding a few (new?) different sizes they still make the same stuff. If cast iron gets "reallly dirty" (i.e. "ruined") you can restore it to "new" condition by putting it in the oven for an hour at whatever maximum temperature your oven will reach. Put it in and run the "self cleaning cycle" if you have that kind of oven. Let it cool in the oven. To season, butter a piece of bread and flop it in butter side down and make a piece of toast. The cast iron will be as usefully seasoned as it's ever going to get. "Building up" decades of carbon just gives it a fragile surface that has to be treated like teflon. Soak in hot water if needed, and use a "stainless steel"1 scouring pad to clean. Rinse well, and set it on a burner to make sure it's dry before storing if you're not going to use it the next day. If you want it "pretty," wipe the cooking surface with a wad of paper towel when it's "just dry" to smooth out the residual grease and it will look just like granpa's old one. 1 If you've got significant amounts of "stuck stuff" a flat-ended spatula used as a scraper/chisel will take the lumps out safely, after which you rub it with the scouring pad (I do it under water) until you don't feel any lumps. You want one of the "stainless" or "corrosion resistant" scouring pads that looks like a wad of fat worms all coiled up. CRES is "softer" than the carbon that builds up in the skillet, so it will scrape off any "stuckies" without harming your seasoning. Ordinary iron scouring pads, especially if "rusted" may leave scratches if they're course enough to do any good; and "bronze" probably is harder (not the same as stronger) than steel if it's been "aged" and it doesn't hold the "scraping edges as well as "stainless." No soap required. On the original question: I don't have any teflon cookware although I have several pieces of "formerly teflon." The teflon went somewhere, and I think we can guess where. Newer "teflon based coatings" are much more durable than even a few years ago, but the "good enough" ones are pretty expensive and still require "coddling" to avoid harming the surface. Be gentle when making love, but a %!$#@^ cooking pan is for burning something dead. You shouldn't have to apply foreplay (IMO) to heating a pot, or declare how great it was and how much you'll still respect it after you fry a dead bird. I'll stick to my cast iron - as long as I can still lift them. After that, somebody else likely will be spoon feeding me crap to keep me manageable at the institution. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: gnu Date: 03 Feb 11 - 04:55 PM I also have a ferocious huge iron frying pan. Alas, my arthritis is such that, even with both hands, I am scared of dropping it on my smooth top. I have all sizes... down to 6"... and, of course, a griddle for pancakes. Haven't used them in years. I miss burning a canned corned beef or hamburg hash on the iron and scraping it into my gob. You CAN do it with teflon but it takes ages and, as per my back, it's bothersome to spend that long at the stove. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Bobert Date: 03 Feb 11 - 05:31 PM Hey, iron is fine... We use 'um... Just not the right pan for every job... Nice little 10" teflon fry pan saves energy, and is easier to use for lots of stuff like sautein' veggies, or fryin' an egg... Heat faster than cast iron and cleans quicker... But you wanta fry up some chicken then nuthin' better than the ol' cast iron... Like I said: different pans do different things... B~ (su-chef) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 03 Feb 11 - 06:05 PM We use both cast iron and coated heavy steel pans. We like our coated pans (a later material than teflon, forget the name) for eggs, quick fries, etc. For corn bread, etc., we use a large cast iron skillet. We had some Creuset pots and pans, but the bottoms are ribbed; we now have a glass-top range so gave them to a daughter who has a gas stove. Teflon becomes dangerous if heated very high (accidents do happen). A friend forgot a teflon pan and it got extremely hot, gave off toxic vapors which killed their parrot. A fluropolymer, teflon degrades at 260 C. and melts at 327 C. Birds can be poisoned when the temperature of the teflon reaches 250 C and humans develop flu-like symptoms. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: gnu Date: 03 Feb 11 - 06:25 PM Good thing I smelled the past burning Q! Otherwise, my bird mighta been in troble. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: michaelr Date: 03 Feb 11 - 06:50 PM A well-seasoned iron skillet is virtually non-stick and just as easy to clean as a coated one. Hot water and a brush - do not use soap. The weight is really the only drawback to cast iron. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Bobert Date: 03 Feb 11 - 07:34 PM Yeah, like I said, cast iron is great... For the right applications... We have a wonderful ol' cast iron pan... Its a 12 incher with 5 inch sides... Cook you up some fine fried chicken... Not fir eggs 'er veggies... Wrong pan fir the job... Might of fact, the P-Vine fancies herself quite the chef... She is eat up (pun unintended) with Food-TV... She'll get on me fir using the wrong pan... Or the wrong knife??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: gnu Date: 03 Feb 11 - 07:47 PM michaelr... yes... thanks for that... it underscores my post about my Gramps. NEVER use soap. Cure a pan properly and NEVER wash it. If yoy cook the right kind of food in it on a regular basis, you can cook almost anything else and never have to "scrub" it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 03 Feb 11 - 11:17 PM I use ONLY cast iron. As Gnu says, only have to clean it right after using with stainless steel, or even only one of those green scrubbies. As they say, NO soap as it takes out the oil. Have never had to soak it. The other night Rob came home and found I had left a burner on under it. It was VERY hot. No harm done at all. I use it daily at least once, quick rinse and ready for the next go. Same with large covered, cast iron pot, good for soup or stew. "Cure it" - put on burner, put in enough oil to cover lightly, turn on burner and warm the pan. Should not smoke! But mine did the other night and no harm! Teflon - would not take one as a gift. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 04 Feb 11 - 05:01 AM I wouldn't use Teflon out of choice. I would much rather have a good cast iron or stainless steel pan, for me it's not so much about the safety issues of Teflon once it gets scratched it doesn't take long before the coating begins to come away from the pan, it seems such a waste of money. A Teflon coating for a frying pan to me is so impractical especially when using kitchen tools like spatulas are used often to remove bacon and eggs. When it starts to scratch or chip it tends to let food stick eventually anyway. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: bubblyrat Date: 04 Feb 11 - 05:29 AM "Teflon" sounds fairly benign ; "Polytetrafluorethylene" ,which it is,sounds much more sinister, and it's not surprising that it kills parrots. I may have to write that on the base of my non-stick pan now ; "This Machine Kills Parrots". |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Jon Date: 04 Feb 11 - 06:28 AM I just call it PTFE. I use it with plumbing jobs around the house and think I have an aerosol of it somewhere as a lubricant. I've just read it is also used in Gore-tex fabric and it seems to have several other uses. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene. It's just not my choice for cookware. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Charmion Date: 04 Feb 11 - 10:31 AM Horses for courses, and you get what you pay for. Over close to 45 years of plain and fancy cooking, I think I went through three sets of cookware before settling on the odd array of stuff we have now: stainless steel saucepans with vented lids, iron skillets and casseroles for "heavy" grilling, braising and stewing, and two top-quality sauté pans with glass lids. We also have a non-stick wok that I love despite its irritatingly badly designed handle, and two double-boilers. I would be much less fond of my iron cookware if I did not have a gas stove, and especially if we had one of those things with a flat glass top. My sister-in-law has one of those, and from what she tells me it is more of a problem than a solution. Incidentally, anyone who really enjoys cooking as a craft should visit the Museum of American Heritage (part of the Smithsonian Institution) to see Julia Child's kitchen. She had a professional range with six burners and two ovens, but most of her cookery clobber was pretty basic. On one wall of her kitchen she had a huge sheet of pegboard where most of her pots, pans and tools hung, each in a spot marked with its outline. But of course she was more than a little obsessed -- anyone who ever looked into one of her cookbooks can see that. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,999 Date: 04 Feb 11 - 10:45 AM Cast iron, and it has the added benefit of adding elemental iron to your diet. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:12 AM I seem to remember that Teflon was discovered when space modules were designed, as it was an excellent heat shield. Is that correct? Charmion, I have a cooker with a 'flat glass top', and actually, it's not too bad. It's so easy to keep clean. I'd like a gas cooker, but there's no gas in our village. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,999 Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:14 AM Beans, peas and oats will fix that, Eliza. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:17 AM Yes, 999, but think of the damage to the ozone layer! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,999 Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:27 AM LOL--good one. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 04 Feb 11 - 11:43 AM Talking of gas, I never realised just how much is produced by goats until I helped look after some in Senegal. They sounded like a brass band, it was terrible. IF methane does indeed destroy the ozone layer, then the vast numbers of goats in Africa must be doing more than their bit. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: pdq Date: 04 Feb 11 - 12:38 PM "I would be much less fond of my iron cookware if I did not have a gas stove..." Well, I would not worry about trying some cast iron cookware because you own an electric stove. I find that the gas stoves I have owned make "hot spots" in most cookware, including cast iron, and the settings are more difficult to "get right" With the electric stoves, you simply turn the knob to a setting you know works and it will work again. The low setting for cooking rice was always difficult to find on a gas stove. Sometimes the fire would go out before it was low enough not to burn the rice. The electric range works like a champ every time. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: pdq Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:02 PM "I seem to remember that Teflon was discovered when space modules were designed, as it was an excellent heat shield. Is that correct?" No, the material you are thinking about was used in Corning Ware and was invented by Corning, a private company, and supplied to NASA for the space program. Accidents Happen... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Charmion Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:07 PM There is a cheap little gadget that makes cooking at low temperatures on a gas stove much easier. It's called a heat diffuser, and it looks rather like a ping-pong paddle made of perforated metal. It consists of two sheets of metal bound together at the edges with an air space between them. You put it under the skillet or casserole, and Bob's your uncle. But don't do what I did and buy one with a wooden handle. The wood very quickly catches fire. I learned proper cooking on a gas stove that was so basic that it had neither a pilot light nor a thermostat; you lighted it with a match or a laboratory flint sparker, and controlled the oven temperature by heating to the desired level (established by means of an 99-cent oven thermometer) and then turning the flame down to the lowest possible level to maintain it. After that, I never quite found an electric stove entirely satisfactory; they don't turn down low enough or crank up high enough -- and when you turn them off, the burners stay hot for quite a while, which is no fun for cats who might be inclined to jump up for a look over the cook's shoulder. And of course, a stove with electric coil burners is an absolute bugger to clean, leaving you with the option of buying one with a flat glass top that you can't whack your 20-pound skillet down on! My Granny always regretted parting from the Aga cooker that dominated the kitchen of a house where my father's family lived for a while in England. Now, that was a stove! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:14 PM Oh Charmion, I totally love and adore Aga stoves! I had one in Edinburgh, it was like an old friend. You could put a huge pot of soup on the top, such a steady heat. And for bread-making, nothing came close. I used to make a Guinness casserole, leaving it for hours in the cool oven. But they cost a lot to buy and install, and need oodles of space. My little house just doesn't have the room. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: pdq Date: 04 Feb 11 - 01:26 PM Cue the Kathy Kallick' song "Griddle in the Middle". (A great song, by the way.) Scour the want ads for an old O'Keefe & Merritt? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Brian May Date: 04 Feb 11 - 06:13 PM "then the vast numbers of goats in Africa must be doing more than their bit" I like to think I am helping by doing my bit too . . . especially as my wife is 12,000 miles away so I cook what I like all the time. Cast iron (we've got a few Le Creusets) is also dangerous, especially if it falls on your foot, or you forget the handle is also iron and it's attached to the bit doing the cooking . . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Jon Date: 04 Feb 11 - 06:29 PM And of course, a stove with electric coil burners is an absolute bugger to clean, leaving you with the option of buying one with a flat glass top that you can't whack your 20-pound skillet down on! While you can get replacement parts, I don't think you can get new cookers using the spiral ring type type in the UK these days. They were bad news when you had a spill. The solid hob type are fine to clean - just need a bit of seasoning with oil every so often. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: IvanB Date: 05 Feb 11 - 12:36 AM I took the plunge about three years ago and bought one of the Todd English "Greenpans." I ended up liking it so well I've replaced just about all my Calphalon, both nonstick and regular. Greenpan makes a big deal of their heat stability and their non-use of PTFE. Frankly I don't know if the coating on Greenpans is any healthier than Teflon, but I can attest to their heat stability - I use a number of them under the broiler regularly. So far, I've had no discernible wear or chipping of the nonstick surface and food cleanup is a breeze with them. My biggest gripe with nonstick pans of either ilk is their inability to brown foods properly. I have cast iron pans for that purpose. And, BTW, I cook on a gas range during the summer and electric during the winter and my experience with the Greenpans has been similar for both. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 05 Feb 11 - 06:49 AM Thank you pdq for the interesting info about Corning Ware. Brian May, do you too sound like a brass band? We ladies, you know, NEVER do such things. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Brian May Date: 05 Feb 11 - 07:27 AM Guest Eliza, Not quite sure about the simile, but I have my moments. Sad fact is I use the slow cooker a lot, I have it on one of the timers you can set your lights on/off when going on holiday. . . . and one of the great belly fillers is . . . flageolet beans et al, and it must be said . . . they DO have an effect. Perhaps TMI. Take care all, it's actually lamb in the slow cooker at the moment ;o) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Penny S. Date: 05 Feb 11 - 07:54 AM My new home has a ceramic hob, which is approaching a dangerous time - marmalade. It may be easy to clean, but must not be allowed to have sugar solutions cooked onto it. Also the individual hobs are too big for my saucepans. It stays hot for ages, so I put on an old fashioned kettle for cooking water next time, kept in a thermos. I'm getting it swapped for my old cooker, spiral rings, but smaller, and one a twin one, just right for my milk pan in the centre. It also has a slow cook function in the top oven, so I can cook ahead for a week, casserole, milk pudding and so on. Eventually, I intend to buy a dual fuel cooker, with gas hobs and fan oven. I've wanted gas since we left the home where we had one - I always used one in domestic science at school. Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Dani Date: 05 Feb 11 - 08:15 AM Charmion, we call that a 'flame tamer', and I've been looking all over creation for one that doesn't have a wooden handle. Can you help? I'd buy a dozen of 'em : ) I cook for a living, and second almost all said. RE: teflon. Here's my $.02: It is bad for you and birds in your house (who would know), so follow the rules: don't buy cheap, don't heat it too hot, don't EVER heat it empty. I use one only for eggs, 'cause I can't handle the mess, and I dearly love them. Dani |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Penny S. Date: 05 Feb 11 - 03:00 PM Those heat spreaders are available from the British company Lakeland, and one brand they have is from the US. Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Penny S. Date: 05 Feb 11 - 03:04 PM As in this: Simmer Mat Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Bert Date: 05 Feb 11 - 04:19 PM Get a sheet of 600 grade wet or dry rubbing down paper from your local auto parts store and use it to shine the bottom of your stainless steel pan. It will make the stainless steel almost non stick. Also use it to every day keep the pan clean. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: JohnInKansas Date: 05 Feb 11 - 05:03 PM It's called a heat diffuser, and it looks rather like a ping-pong paddle made of perforated metal. Charmion, we call that a 'flame tamer', and I've been looking all over creation for one that doesn't have a wooden handle On our camp stove (propane) I use the top cut out of a coffee can under the pot with perfectly satisfactory results. The problem now is that all my favorite coffee comes in plastic cans, so when I need a new lid I have to buy a can of something I've made fancier versions with double layer lids crimped together, but for my use the single layer is sufficient. Heat to dull red once, and all the plating is gone and it's just plain steel. No handle at all, but everybody keeps a pair of pliers in the cutlery drawer, don't they? (Or you can use the "bottle tongs" that are handy with the deep fryer.) I have one skillet - not cast iron - ideal for the eggs, that's just plain uncoated stamped carbon steel sheetmetal (about US 18 ga sheet). The handle has a steel "wrapper" to avoid heat migration, but someone with "tender fingers" might want a mitt/potholder if cooking more than a couple of pans of bacon. Perhaps a hundred years ago this was a very common kind, and I've seen similar in photos from "California gold rush days;" but so far as I've seen nobody makes anything like it any more. I got mine several years ago at an antique shop, although I don't think it's really all that old. It was probably originally sold as a "camping skillet" just before alumin(i)um became the only thing available for that use. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Dani Date: 05 Feb 11 - 05:39 PM I'll be trying that one, Penny! Thanks for the lead : ) Dani |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 05 Feb 11 - 07:05 PM Every pot and pan, save one, which we use is teflon coated. However, we use heavy gauge, especially the bottom, cookery which lasts for years. Early teflon coatings were not as good in adhering to metal as the applications more recently. We do cook with a small amount of Grape Seed Oil which minimizes chance of food burning, and adds a bit of flavor. Most times we could clean up with a damp rag, but for hygiene sake we do use soap and water. The secret is really in the quality of the pan itself. A lightweight pot/pan will not distribute heat properly, and is prone to scorching, which is also bad for the teflon. A quality pot or pan requires less heat and distributes it more evenly. The caveats are: don't scratch the coating (unless you use sharp metal utensils, steel woll scouring pads, this is rarely a problem); don't scorch the pan; avoid prolonged soaking of the pot or pan; clean with soapy water and sponge, and dry immediately. We've found that the occasional stubbornly sticking foods can be easily removed by soaking for a short while in ordinary table salt, then scouring with a sponge and rinsing. This is nearly always effective first try. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 05 Feb 11 - 09:12 PM "600 grade wet or dry ... make the stainless steel almost non stick" Which gives it a finish like 'mirror stainless steel'. Why they don't do that to pots anyway, must be because of the cost and profit margin .... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Charmion Date: 06 Feb 11 - 02:38 PM Caveat on even the best coated cookware: wash it in the sink, by hand. This morning, as I was unloading the dishwasher, I noticed that the coating on my larger sauté pan is beginning to shred at the edges, and is thinning all over. I know darned well what the culprit is: dishwasher detergent. It's a lot more powerful than the stuff you put your bare paws into, and it's gradually stripping the non-stick coating from my Cephalon sauté pan! Colour me peeved. I should have known better. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: dick greenhaus Date: 06 Feb 11 - 05:44 PM The neatest way I've found to clean a cast iron pan or pot is to scrub it with coarse (kosher) salt. You can rinse out what's left with no trouble a-tall. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 07 Feb 11 - 06:59 AM That's how I've been scouring pots and pans with salt rather than detergents it's more natural and the most efficient way of removing the last traces of stuck on food. My mum had a heavy duty frying pan that she had hung up for years from when I was very small until a few years ago, no wonder my dad always behaved himself! On the recommendation of someone else who suggested non-stick and she threw it out and she has regretted doing that ever since. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler Date: 07 Feb 11 - 07:47 AM If it's a non-stick coating consider what is the likelyhood of it staying attached to the pan! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Bert Date: 07 Feb 11 - 02:09 PM I guess it is the cost Foolestroupe, I keep a quarter sheet by the sink all the time and use it on everything stainless steel including the sink. You don't have to polish everything all at once, just use it every day and all your pots, bowls and the sink will keep getting shinier. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: dick greenhaus Date: 07 Feb 11 - 04:42 PM Actually, if you're going to stay at temperatures below 500F, teflon from pots and pans is much less likely to poison you than are the foods you cook in them. It's about as non-reactive as one can get.. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 07 Feb 11 - 07:26 PM No - I meant the cost of making the pots from mirror finish SS - they manufacture it in large sheets. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: kendall Date: 07 Feb 11 - 08:11 PM I'll never give up my stainless steel fry pan. I don't find it hard to clean at all. My cast iron one is down cellar; don't know what it did to Jacqui but it's been there ever since she moved in. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: dick greenhaus Date: 08 Feb 11 - 01:52 PM For those that like to worry about such things, stainless pans can leach out chromium and nickel, neither one health-ensuring additives. I guess to be ultra-safe, one could just stop cooking......but then you have all those nasty pathogens to worry about. "In these days of indigestion it is oftentimes a question As to what to eat and what to leave alone. Every microbe and bacillus has a different way to kill us And in time they all will claim us for their own. There are germs of every kind in every food that you can find In the market or upon the bill of fare. Drinking water's just as risky as the so-called "deadly" whiskey And it's often a mistake to breathe the air. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 08 Feb 11 - 05:21 PM Interesting also how teflon tape has replace that horsehair stuff plumber use on screwed joints. Had a new washing machine hose taps not screw up tight enough to seal - added tape, now can seat the fittings by hand. Just as well, they are plastic, and would die if you used a spanner. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: bobad Date: 08 Feb 11 - 05:30 PM When Teflon® pans become sufficiently heated, the nonstick coating begins to decompose, releasing one or more of 15 different toxins. This is not only true of Teflon® pans, but of all brands of nonstick cookware. Peer review studies reported by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) suggest outgassing begins at just 396°F (202.2°C). As Teflon® pans become hotter, the chemicals released become more toxic. This outgassing is sufficiently toxic to kill pet birds and is responsible for "polymer fume flu" in humans, sometimes called "Teflon® flu." Among the symptoms of Teflon® flu are headache, nausea, fever, backache and malaise. Symptoms subside within a few days, but there may be even greater risks to using Teflon® pans. A nonstick pan left empty to preheat can easily reach 700°F (371°C) within a few minutes. At 680°F (360°C), Teflon® pans begin releasing tiny particles of perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA) or C-8. PFOA is used in the manufacture of Teflon® pans and other non-stick cookware. PFOA does not break down in the body or in the environment, and has led to cancer and birth defects in lab animals. It may also be linked to two documented cases of human birth defects seen in DuPont plant workers who handled chemicals used in the production of Teflon® pans. In 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared PFOA a likely carcinogen. DuPont has agreed to phase out PFOA by the year 2015. While cooking a steak doesn't require temperatures higher than 500°F (260°C), should Teflon® pans be forgotten on the stove in the face of a distraction or emergency elsewhere in the house, high temperatures could release even more noxious chemicals known to be harmful to humans, animals and the environment. Studies indicate 95% of all Americans, including children, have small but detectable amounts of PFOA in the bloodstream. PFOA exposure goes beyond Teflon® pans to non-stick food packaging, stain repellents, and Scotch-guard type products. All of these use chemicals that break down into PFOA. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) estimates it would take 4.4 years for the present levels of PFOA to be flushed from the body without further exposure. However, consumers are constantly exposed to products with these chemicals. Studies regarding the safety of Teflon® pans and other non-stick cookware continues. The EPA deems PFOA products safe for use pending more studies. DuPont admits Teflon® pans can release toxic PFOA fumes, but insists this only occurs if the pans are overheated, which it characterizes as abusive use of the cookware. DuPont's stance is that by the time Teflon® pans release toxic PFOA fumes, food would already be burnt and inedible. If you choose to use Teflon® pans or other nonstick cookware, cook with low-to-medium heat and do not preheat the pans. Teflon® pans are not recommended if you keep pet birds. An alternate to Teflon® pans is cookware with baked enamel or porcelain interiors, which do not stick and cook food wonderfully. Less expensive alternatives include stainless steel, iron, or aluminum skillets that require cooking oil to keep food from sticking. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-risks-of-using-teflon-pans.htm |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 08 Feb 11 - 06:53 PM As far as I can see, you shouldn't use Teflon pans for browning meat! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Max Johnson Date: 09 Feb 11 - 10:42 AM I think non-stick (teflon) pans are great for most things, although expensive and you have to be a bit careful with them. But, hey - you can always buy a cheap one for a fiver, abuse it, and replace it after six months or a year when it inevitably wears out. But you don't always want non-stick. Sometimes you want stick, because if you're making a gravy or sauce, you're probably going to want use the caramelised gunk left in the pan, so you want as much as possible. I have a steel wok that I've used for over 30 years. it's beautifully seasoned and I wash it in hot water, very occasionally use a mild detergent on it, and always put it away with a light coating of oil, applied with a kitchen towel. I use high heat and metal implements on it and it's perfect. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: michaelr Date: 09 Feb 11 - 12:34 PM "... you can always buy a cheap one for a fiver, abuse it, and replace it after six months or a year when it inevitably wears out." If you read the thread, it will be obvious that for health reasons, that is NOT advisable. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: Max Johnson Date: 09 Feb 11 - 01:21 PM Perhaps you're right, Michael, who knows? Too many cooks, eh? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 16 Feb 11 - 02:44 PM QUOTE Perhaps you're right, Michael, who knows? Too many cooks, eh? UNQUOTE Frying pan chemicals linked to raised cholesterol Boom! Boom! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 16 Feb 11 - 02:45 PM Science backs apple a day theory Science has backed the adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. A CSIRO report says eating apples reduces risks of diabetes and high cholesterol. The report is based on 10 years of research. Dietitian Karen Kingham says apples can reduce dangerous stomach fat and affect hormones which regulate metabolism. "The strongest evidence that CSIRO have found is that for cholesterol lowering where research shows that consuming those apple polyphenols, which are the antioxidants in apples, can actually help lower our cholesterol," she said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Teflon pans From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 16 Feb 11 - 07:46 PM This may be a better link than what Foolestroupe sent. It is an explanation of the research referenced. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11201956 |
