Ceramic nonstick pans

[gregz]

I have to drag out the cast iron skillet I use at camp. I have not tried that much lately. Ill have to get to know it. My one aluminum, tfe, pan still has a tendency to lift up in the center with gas heat, even hough its thick. I made a bad choice buying a really thin pan, you can bend with our hand. My stainless skillet is a bit of a pain, even though it's really nice with copper bottom.

I use enameled roasters or enameled soup pots, because they impart less flavor, even compared to stainless. They go bad too after a lot of use.

Greg

[Fake ID]

How is ceramic at heat transfer? I have a visions non-stich fry pan and I've got to say that glass is THE most useless material to make a frying pan out of.

m

[HeyBub]

Plus, a cast-iron pan adds a little iron to your diet...

[bud--]

Does not support either of your statements. As the article and Jon D wrote do not use teflon pans at high temperatures.

Close friends call me too, but I don't write about it here.

[gregz]

I guess they used them on the stove, but I only use my old corning ware in microwave.

Greg

[Attila Iskander]

I have 3 styles

1) Cast Iron, for big jobs, simmering, and griddle use 2) Aluminum, uncoated for middle work 3) Thin carbon steel pans for fast frying, eggs, crepes, roux, etc.

The trick with all 3 is proper seasoning and no scrubbing with hard detergents and scrubbers I only use boiling water and an bristle brush to clean them. That always leaves a small coating of fat (butter, oil, lard) that keeps the iron one from rusting and forms the next coat of seasoning when heated before use.

[larrymoencurly]

Consumer Reports' ratings of cookware sets, 6/2012:

Generally, Teflon coatings stick the least, while ceramic-based coatings ev entually become somewhat sticky. And while you'd think ceramic coatings wo uld be more durable, that's not always the case, as demonstrated by Earth P an, which seems to vary all over in durability, depending on which version it is. Teflon on stainless steel holds up better than Teflon on aluminum b ut seems to be hard to find now.

More recently, Consumer Reports tested that green frying pan hawked in com mericals and found that it was durable but eventually started to stick some what.

[krw]

My wife ditched all of the Teflon and aluminum crap for laminated stainless/copper pans. Stainless is just as good as cast and a whole lot easier to clean, unless you're one who doesn't. (ick)

Aluminum and stainless work for that, too.

[John Weiss]

I use mainly my cast iron skillets and Calphalon hard anodized aluminum pans.

The old-school Calphalon, without any "non-stick coating," work well with a minimum of oil, and withstand metal utensils. They are also suitable for heating/browning in the oven. However, unlike the iron skillets, they must be kept free of "patina" to retain their inherent non-stick quality.

[Frank]

Teflon was thoroughly tested for toxicity and was approved for cookware by the FDA even though at the time it was not necessary due to the housewares exemption.

Teflon pyrolysis gives off toxic fumes, the worst being perfluoroisobutylene which for man causes polymer fume fever or flue like symptoms for a short period. If you have a bird like a canary in the kitchen, it could be killed by the fumes. This is why they used to take canaries into mines to see if there were poisonous fumes as the bird with its high respiratory rate would succumb to the fumes before it affected the miners.

Recently there has been a concern about perfluorooctanoic acid used in the Teflon process.

In cookware, I don't know if any is present but if any I suspect in the parts per billion region or not enough to worry about.

[Daniel Prince]

By "SS" do you mean Stainless Steel or Silverstone?

[Ed Pawlowski]

Stainless

[gregz]

I got stainless, copper core. I hardly use it. Thinking about getting a carbon steel pan, besides the wok I have.

Greg

[The Real Bev]

Last time they were on sale at Costco I bought a set of Tramontina frying pans -- and I'm really happy. I've been using plastic/wood tools with them (no scratches -- why take a chance?), and stuff really doesn't stick -- including scrambled egg whites (dried egg white + equal volume of water, blend (in blender) until mixed) with no oil or Pam. They're on sale again. $20/set, no coupon required.