Comment by andrewstuart 10 months ago
>> - a non-stick pan (Tefal) -
I threw out all my non stick surface pots and pans and all plastic kitchen implements because I don’t want chemicals or plastics in my food. Replaces everything with stainless steel.
In our household the by far oldest pan is made of glass. It's also the only one that still looks like new despite having been used for 25+ years. It isn't non-stick but it also doesn't scratch just from looking at it.
In terms of health, I'm not sure either but you should never use non-stick pans if you have pet birds. As I understand it the way their breathing and lungs work makes it deadly for them. Aside from that as long as it's not proven safe I don't feel like taking unnecessary risks when multiple safe materials are available. Manufacturers claiming their product is safe when it isn't has probably been a thing before the first factory and will still be a thing after I'm gone.
I think there are some concerns around PFAS, for example: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/7/691
Not really across the research but my suspicion would be that if there are issues associated with non-stick, it’s likely to be PFAS driven.
There was a good discussion about the evidence on PFAS that I watched a while back, but I cannot find it for the life of me, sorry.
All non-stick pans deterriorate over time and become stick pans. In case, for example, of Creuset it takes about 2 years of daily use. With Tefal it's less.
Whether non-stick coating peels off when cooking or when washing is an open question, but chances of it being just the latter are slim to none.
A better option is copper-inlayed steel pans, something like Falk. They aren't hard to master and they last for decades and have superior heat distribution profile.
I'm not against non-stick pans for their chemical composition. But I find stainless steel pans much easier to clean because you don't need to be gentle with them. You can take a steel wool to stainless steel pans just fine.
My stainless steel pans also last much longer than my non-stick pans. The non-stick coating seems to deteriorate within only a few years.
I've encountered many conflicting opinions about this topic (of course sellers will say it's perfectly safe and health advisors/bloggers the opposite), so i'd really like to see some well-sourced neutral information on this
Polymer fumes do seem to be a thing at high temperatures apparently https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nonstick-cookware-safet... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_fume_fever