… the pans are likely not “nontoxic” some independent testing and research suggests. Nor are they even “ceramic” – at least not in the way the public broadly thinks of ceramics. Now, regulators are investigating some of the pan sellers’ claims.
“The companies won’t tell the public what else is in the pans, and their formulas are shielded by confidential business information laws, making it very difficult to verify their claims.”
I’d think the answer to this should be super simple… Investigators go to the factory and demand the Material Safety Data Sheets.
They don’t have an MSDS? Shut that shit down.
Virtually all my cookware is enameled cast iron since I found the Le Creuset outlet store and 30% to 60% off deals. :) I do have a seasoned carbon steel wok and full ceramic bakeware though!
They were also shitty pans. Just stick with cast iron or stainless steel.
I got a couple of carbon steel pans. The upkeep is similar to cast iron but much lighter / easier to handle. I reach for it 90% of the time.
Yeah I would get one if they didn’t cost a million dollars and I didn’t already have too many pans.
They sell for super cheap at Asian grocery stores. I got one for like $35 CAD.
Edit: Oh actually although cheap, the ones you find at asian stores will mostly be woks which dont work well unless you have a gas stove so keep that in mind.
I do have a gas stove but shouldn’t they work on induction as well?
The issue is that they are curved so only a small part of it would make contact with the stove. There are special induction + wok combos where the induction surface is also curved but most people will not have that.
Ah makes sense.
I prefer cast aluminum cookware. Handles high-heat, can’t rust, cleans super easily, and almost definitely accelerates my inevitable Alzheimer’s.
One of the reasons I moved away from cast aluminum is they can’t handle the heat. Over time they tended to warp pretty badly. I always cook at a fairly low setting so I don’t know if my ex was forgetting to turn off burners or something, but the pans warped.
But the major reason is I only see them with non-stick interior, which starts flaking off after ten years
I’m expecting my stainless and cast iron to be the last cookware I need to buy
#BuyItForLife
I have a cast aluminum lefse griddle that I use for almost everything. I’ve had that for a couple of years and use it nearly every day, sometimes twice a day. When it comes to cleanup, I throw cold filtered water on it while it’s still hot, scrape anything left with my metal spatula, and then wait for it to heat up again before shocking it again with cold water and wiping it down with a bar towel. Once a year, I use actual soap or cleaning solution to get any grime off the bottom or the edges.
I also have a cast aluminum caldero that I mostly use to make corn bread, but I might use as a dutch oven or whatever. Cleaning is similar: hot, splash, scrape, hot, splash, wipe.
Just raw cast aluminum getting the shit abused out of it, and it keeps working like a charm.
That’s really cool. I haven’t seen anything like that Caldero since a college roommate many years ago.
It’s great for making fideo! I don’t use it to make fideo, but it’s great if you do!
Does anyone have a source saying that ingesting cast iron seasoning (burnt fat) is ok?
I just want to make sure I’m not just picking my flavor of cancer. I assume burnt food is better than PFAS (not forever)
It’s likely not ok. But focusing on every source of carcinogen in your life won’t stop you from getting cancer eventually. Eating healthy and using Teflon pans will probably give you a better life than eating like shit on cast iron. No real way to know the future though.
Tritan is a good example of this hyper focus on not consuming bad stuff. It has 3 components, 2 of which imitate estrogen. It’s the plastic that replaced polycarbonate. Which is derived from BPA, but in reality contains very little after you wash it once.
Just use stainless steel and carbon steel if you are worried about that, I honestly use my stainless pans 70% of the time, carbon steel like 20% and my cast iron is that last 10% when cast iron is actually beneficial
Huh, I’m opposite.
- I use cast iron 70% of the time because foods I cook go in a skillet and browned foods taste good
- stainless 20% of the time when there’s a reason (like simmering curry or any acidic stew). Or pasta, because the spaghetti pot is stainless
- carbon steel 1-2/week - gotta use it to cook breakfast on weekends
- Teflon occasionally (unless you count my rice cooker, but that’s on the list to replace with stainless steel when it dies)
So… the crispy bits that result from the Maillard Reaction (the TASTY crispy bits!) may be a known problem because it produces acrylamide.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24875401/
“Based on the evidence of acrylamide carcinogenicity in animals, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified acrylamide as a group 2A carcinogen for humans.”
The problem will go away when the current administration further cuts consumer protections and health oversight.
Just use stainless steel and learn how to cook your food
Sooo… this is as close to a product recommendation as you can get on The Guardian without reverting to ads.
The Xtrema ceramic pans seem really enticing.
