I have a set of 3 Bra Premiere non-stick frying pans that I’ve used for a while. The coating on them says “Teflon Innovations without PFOA”. Recently I’ve noticed that on the most used pan, the 26cm one, the Teflon coating has started to peel off.
I know that Teflon coatings can release harmful fumes and chemicals if overheated, but what about if the coating is physically peeling? Is it still safe to cook with them? Or should I stop using especially the 26cm one? I don’t want to keep exposing my family to anything dangerous unknowingly. Any advice if these types of pans are still safe to cook with if the nonstick surface is peeling would be appreciated!
First of all, if you’re going to buy a fancy expensive non-stick pan, spend the money and buy non-metal utensils to use with it.
Second, if you want to keep using metal utensils, buy anodized aluminum. It’s not perfectly non-stick, but it’s close and it can take a beating.
First of all, if you’re going to buy a fancy expensive non-stick pan,
spend the money and buy non-metal utensils to use with it.don’t.
FTFY. Expensive non-stick has no practical benefit over cheap non-stick. They all wear out in the same amount of time regardless of price, so you might as well buy the cheap stuff so you don’t feel as bad when it’s time to throw it out.
Otherwise, I’d prefer tri-ply stainless clad aluminum to anodized.
In the pan itself sure, but there’s a lot of difference in the handle & weight between cheap and fancy though. All of my cheap ass nonsticks have had the plastic handles fall off before they start peeling
Anodized aluminum is porous, that’s how the dye stays attached. Also aluminum is not recommended for use with acidic foods. I would personally avoid it.
Aluminum is porous. Hard anodized aluminum is not. That’s the whole point of anodizing the aluminum, so that it creates a barrier that stops it from reacting with acids.
The barrier to acids comes from oxidizing the surface, which anodizing does. But pores do not exist in bare aluminum, and hard anodize actually has the biggest pores! There is technically a sealer on the surface, but sticking it in hot water can sometimes release it, depending on what sealer was used. Here’s an article with more info: https://www.lightmetalage.com/news/industry-news/surface-finishing/introduction-to-anodizing-aluminum/
I have parrots so no telfon anything in my house. Bought two Green Pan ceramic skillets fairly cheap and they are still going strong a decade later. Definitely don’t use metal utensils in them.
Birds are extremely sensitive to the fumes given off by Teflon and will die. So no Teflon anything in the house.
Do you want to eat teflon? 'Cause that’s how you end up eating teflon.
In theory, the teflon should continue to be inert as it passes through your digestive tract, but don’t do that. It’s time to throw out the pan.
Related advice: non-stick is overrated to begin with. Replace all your nonstick pans with tri-ply stainless clad aluminum, cast iron (enameled or not), carbon steel, etc…
If you insist on having a teflon pan, recognize it for the semi-disposable item it is: get the cheapest one you can find, use it only for things that really need it (e.g. eggs), and accept that you’re going to be throwing it out and replacing it every couple of years.
I don’t even think you need one for eggs necessarily. I switched from PTFE nonstick to all metal (stainless/carbon steel and cast iron) a few years back. Eggs were no problem once I figured out heat control. I cook scrambled eggs and omelettes every week with no sticking.
I did eventually get a ceramic nonstick for making soft tofu in a sticky sauce. Definitely don’t try that in a stainless steel pan. It worked okay in the carbon steel wok, but was obnoxious to clean.
I don’t even think you need one for eggs necessarily.
Oh, for sure, you don’t! I didn’t phrase my previous comment correctly: what I meant to convey is that if you must have a teflon pan, only use it for the very few special things that benefit from it the most instead of as a general-purpose pan.
non-stick is overrated to begin with
I’d say it’s correctly rated. It does the no-stick well while not being as durable. In my experience that’s what people expect from it.
I’ve never known anyone in real life who owns Teflon cookware who thinks it’s a concern in any way. If they saw any issue with their 15 year old teflon skillet, it’s that it visually looks bad from all the scratches
That’s because most people didn’t realize they start shedding microplastics after the coating is damaged and you keep cooking with it until pretty recently.
The one concern is that cheaper ones get ruined real fast, that’s why all cooking groups hate them (but people also keep buying them because cheap and convenient).
No stick but not durable seems to be the consensus I’ve seen and that’s, yeah that’s what it is.
There is an episode of the Dave Chang show podcast that covers this. They have a professor on to cover the science of different pans. If I remember correctly, it should be safe as it will through your digestive system. The bigger issue is overheating Teflon. That being said, you still don’t really want non food in your food, and that pan is likely pretty worthless from a non-stick perspective
I’ve looked into this when buying pans, I’d say it’s still unsafe. Apparently in 2013 they changed their formulation so the chemicals aren’t toxic and if ingested it’s inert so it doesn’t affect you at all.
With all that, I still don’t trust non-stick and bought myself a stainless steel pan and I love it. It’s easy to maintain and when cooking properly most things don’t really stick either.
Would you have resources or advice about cooking properly on a stainless steel pan ?
Preheat the empty pan. You’ll know it’s hot enough when you throw water droplets on and it beads and dances around. Depending on the pan and situation, they’re pretty sensitive to heat so youd mainly cook on a low or medium.
Then use a good amount of oil and/or butter. I’ve even cooked eggs without much hassle.
You often need less heat than you think. Use oil. Pretty much everything should cook better in a stainless with a little bit of learning curve, except eggs.* Yes, even fish. Keep steel wool and barkeeper’s friend handy for scrubbing them back to a shiny polish.
*Cook eggs in a non stick that you use for basically nothing but eggs.
What did you do to the poor thing? Looks like you’ve been stabbing it with a fork 24/7 for years. Toss it, and be (a lot) more careful with the next one - or skip nonstick entirely. They already have a finite lifetime when not abused, and if you manage to ruin the coat in one spot that’s a hotspot for “scaling off” more.
Stainless steel can take a beating, though, go nuts.
Cast iron is nice, I recommended stainless because I assume someone who treats pans like this would ruin cast iron too.
Cast iron is nearly impossible to “ruin”, the idea that you can is nothing more than a huge circlejerk. Even a completely rust covered cast iron pan can likely be made basically good as new with a little effort.
Obviously restoring your pan every time you wanna use it isn’t practical, so you still wanna take care of it, but actually permanently ruining it? Good luck.
Unless of course you want to use a dishwasher. Even manually it really isn’t ‘so much easier to clean’ and you have to spend time seasoning it.
Once you season cast iron you can clean it however you want. Even with soap. The oils you bake on there at such high heat causes polymerization.
You don’t have to continue to season cast iron after cleaning it, unless you’re cleaning it with a fucking angle grinder.
I have a cast iron pan that I’ve used for almost 10 years. I seasoned it when I got it. To clean it, I scrub it with steel wool, dry it off then rub a coat of oil on it. It still looks and works perfectly. Cast iron is extremely easy to clean and upkeep.
