Nonstick pans

Listening to the podcast right now, completely disagree with the notion that you can ever hear enough anecdotal evidence to count for more than a mediocre study.
Here are some studies,
they off gas at high temperature, but well below Total Daily Intake at suggested temperatures because they are stable below about 300 C.
They will kill a bird in minutes at levels you could tolerate for decades because bird lungs are very very different than human lungs.
You poo some of them out but no one knows what happens with the rest.

Far too many studies have been shown to be crap.  Even stuff that is peer reviewed - the peers that could properly contest something are busy with other things. 

Studies come out claiming something, but does not account for the anecdotal evidence. 

I have a new podcast coming up with me and Helen Atthowe reviewing some studies about the pH of conifer needles.  We spent three hours arguing about this.  After three hours of arguing, complete with a lot of time giving google a workout, it is beginning to look like we are both right - and that the word of nature is far more complex than we could imagine.

Lots of anecdotes are crap too.

These studies leave room for your anecdotes.

Did you look at them?

At work they use a Teflon material to coat rollers for printers and copiers. I do not work directly with the stuff but have worked on the air handlers and associated equipment.

That stuff is nasty smelling! There is  retox burner that I think fires at 1,800F~ it is highly regulated to burn off all the nasty gases and volatile goodies.
Large CFM's of out side make-up are are required to keep fumes down. The term we use "the solution to pollution is dilution".

I'd have to say if you heat a frying pan to 300C which is about 572F you're going to ruin the pan, smoke up the kitchen and probably will make yourself ill till the smell clears out. As far as everyday cooking I've other things to worry about than my fry pan non stick killing me. If the pan is looking more like an aluminum cookie sheet then its time to get a new one.

While were on the topic of fry pans, why is it people let there cast iron pans take on the look of an old coal boiler's fie box?
They call it seasoning when the pan is all crudded up~ man talk about food borne bug on its way to your guts.
bpb

I don't think I ever cook with a pan above 450 f. So it doesn't really matter what it would be like at 575f. The Cast iron pan would be a real hazard at 10,000f, but it's not a problem because we don't heat to that level unless we are camping on the surface of the sun.

Hi folks, new to your forum, but a very long time eco-person/gardener. I started using cookware known as  Ecolan" in the spring of 2010--they make light weight aluminum pans coated with a sort of ceramic coating that looks like Teflon but is not--it holds up well to high temps. cleans easily & doesn;t scratch & is very inexpensive--about 30 bucks for a decent sized wok or skillet.  They claim the product is totally non-toxic and there are no smells when you cook.  However, be careful not to let the handles be exposed to open flames.  Same stinky plastic that is found on everything today!

However, these are not easy to find. I bought my first two by chance in a Korean market in Sparks, NV.  And last month found three more sizes at an Asian market in Sierra Vista AZ.  You sometimes see them on Amazon (usually sold out) or eBay. I suggest hunting for them in Korean, Japanese or Chinese groceries.


eunie

I highly recommend them and bought enough to last me until I cycle off this planet (since I am over 55 that does not infinity, only a couple of decades, hopefully.
Anyway, thought this might offer up some ideas. 

There is a ceramic in the works that is almost as hard as a diamond (9 instead of 10 on the mohs scale, iron is 5 and aluminum is 2.75) that is 500 times slicker than teflon and can handle blast furnace heat, but I don't think it is out of the laboratory yet. Can't wait till it gets inside of car engines.

Oh look I found a link http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16102-material-slicker-than-teflon-discovered-by-accident.html

checked out the article.  It reminds me of all the hype about new solar material that is supposed to be paper thin, flexible, and being manufactured somewhere--only you can't go out and buy it.  I am sure the military would love to get their hands on the slippery diamond hard metal and use it to line guns.

In the meantime, the Ecolan pans are very stick resistant and I especially like the fact they need less fuel to cook food, and you have to work very hard at burning stuff--like leave the room and totally forget about what you are cooking until the house fills with smoke...

If they used the new diamond hard material to line solar ovens it would be sensational and maybe more people would buy them and use them.  A lot of good solar concepts are poorly executed, the products over-priced and under-perform.

I hope everybody out there is taking some form of seaweed/natural iodine now, and not waiting until radiation levels are astronomical--also siberian ginseng is good to use for immune response and taking clay internally is harmless, cheap and can be taken every day...lots of folks are recommending good protocols to eliminate radioactive particles from the body. 

take care, everyone.
eunie

We have a thread on nuclear stuff, if you wish to discuss those claims (which I would have things to say about) I think that the ongoing thread would get you a bigger audience.

thanks, will check it out.  have many years of experience using seaweeds, clay and detoxing in general

I still prefer my cast iron collection. Pretty nonstick when you treat 'em right, much more character than many pans - and I prefer something I can crack an egg on without worrying about it flying off the burner!*
I like tools/utensils that carry some heft!


*okay, so I'm a brute when cracking eggs... I've never been able to do it "gently".

Starfrit makes 'light weight' cast iron pans with a ceramic coating.

Emerson White wrote:
Why on earth are you cracking eggs on the pan? that just gets you little bits of egg shell shrapnel into the white. Best to crack them on the countertop, it's all in the wrist.

Hey I crack my eggs into the pan too!!!  Must be slicker than you Emerson at not getting shrapnel    If any 'bits' do get in then it's classed as a bonus 

When I used to cook professionally, nonstick pans were for sissies. They also smelt funny when you put them in an oven set to 'boiling magma'...
We used well-seasoned steel for everything. I use my C I pan in the same way now.

Emerson White wrote:
Why on earth are you cracking eggs on the pan? that just gets you little bits of egg shell shrapnel into the white. Best to crack them on the countertop, it's all in the wrist.

i try to keep my cooking mess inside my cooking implements, when possible. I hate it when i get egg/raw meat/whatever all over the counter.

Every once in a while I have to fish out a piece of shell - but mostly it's a nonissue.