No Stupid Questions

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'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.

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

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2gJsAHAFP1MNZX5hZ7lA61

No, it's toxic. Replace it with carbon steel, stainless steel, or cast iron.

My girlfriend is a materials scientist specialising in non-stick coatings.

The first time she came to my house, I had to throw away all teflon with even a scratch on it. She said once the surface is broken it will leach chemicals into your food.

She said they are perfectly safe whilst the coating is in tact and uses non-stick pans herself. Just replace them as soon as you notice the surface is broken.

I got tired of seeing my teflon-coated pans wear out like that or lose their non-stickiness, it bothered me to realize that the 'premium cookware' I was buying was temporary trash I'd need to replace every couple of years.

I retired my teflon cookware and now have just steel and cast iron (and ceramic-coated cast iron) and I don't miss teflon-coated cookware at all.

Sure, sometimes I end up with stuff stuck to my pans, but realistically that was true with my 'non-stick' pans as well. The nice thing about cast iron and steel is that with use, they seem to get better, whereas the teflon pans start out nice but deteriorate in the way they work. When I do end up with stuff stuck to the pan, I can scrub that clean in a few seconds with a steel scrubber or scraper, whereas stuck-on stuff with teflon (the stuff the dishwasher didn't get, anyhow), seemed to demand the extra-soft scrubber (and lots of time, because the soft scrubber doesn't work as well).

"Safe" is a relative term. Is it going to set your house on fire? No. Is it going to release harmful gasses while you cook and leech toxic metals into your food and slowly poison you? Yeah, probably. But, like, how old are you? Maybe you're like 98 years old and don't have that much longer to live anyway.

Fuck's smatterchew? Throw that shit out and get a new pan. Damn.

Did you know that if you use Teflon pans in a house with pet birds they might die from the fumes? Since we historically used canaries to detect dangerous gasses in coal mines, might we take that as an indication that Teflon pans should not be used at all?

The scratched ones are bad and should not be used. Going forward you should ditch all your nonstick pans and buy cast iron or stainless steel.

1. Don’t heat a non-stick on high, like ever. Medium is as high as they can take.

2. Use silicon utensils.

We had issues until we stopped doing #1. The cheap non-stick Tfals we have now have lasted 10+ years. The old expensive ones didn’t make it past the first few.

My stainless steel cookware set has worked better and lasted longer than every non-stick pan I have ever owned.

Replace ‘em. Get either cast iron or stainless steel, once both are seasoned properly they are just as non-stick as teflon pans and much more durable. Lodge cast iron pans are like $20 and are super easy to take care of if you cook frequently.

once you go cast iron you never go back

why does it look like a very old whale who's battled hundreds of squids? Ever hear of wood or silicone utensils?

1. Chunks of teflon are getting in your food
2. The aluminium underneath, which was protected by the teflon, is getting into your food (especially true with acidic foods, since they will react with aluminium and erode it).

ATK just did a short video on this. It's probably not as detailed as you might want but here you go. I believe Teflon is used because it is so innocuous, but the chemicals used underneath to make it stick are very bad for you. https://youtu.be/2RJkIPT-jLs?si=w0X3lpQK9tnaMmbA

Teflon is very bad for you don't do it.

No, it's not safe to keep using nonstick pans that are peeling, but people still use them anyway.

I have no idea.

This says the PTFE passes through undigested but who knows:

https://essentialware.com/teflon-and-pfoa-all-your-questions-answered/

Depends, do you think eating lead is safe?

Allclad has factory seconds sales like 4 times a year, I think there’s one going one right now. If you’re unfamiliar, they’re a premium brand for high end home stores so they’re bar for quality is very high, because of this they can’t sell any products that have minor cosmetic defects or even damaged packaging. So, these factory seconds are sold for a huge mark down. Larger sets can still go for a lot more than a disposable nonstick you’d find in a grocery store, but they’re worth it. Alternatively, you can find them on Craigslist or marketplace pretty regularly for a steal, too.

Stainless clad pans are a little different to work with compared to nonstick but preheat the pan, cook with oil, and you’ll prefer it by miles to nonstick.

Edit: sales still going on, here’s a link. Happy cooking.

homeandcooksales.com

Even bran new nonstick pans are horrible ideas. Don't use them. Get cast iron.

Hell no. Lead and PFAS.

From what I understand, that is unsafe. Having said that i've been using one in a worse condition too. Best to limit the use of non stick pans anyways unless its for eggs or smth delicate pl us careful with the wash