We Tested Nonstick Cookware: Coatings Don't Need to Look Worn to Shed Particles

cdemer

I’m the founder of RTINGS.com. A few notes about this investigation: - For each piece of cookware, we purchased and tested three separate units - Before taking the “new” measurement, each unit was washed three times with dish soap and rinsed with isopropyl alcohol - Oil blanks and uncoated cookware were included as controls - We did not chemically identify the particles that were released - This investigation measured particle release, not toxicity or health risk

bob1029

PTFE is not the only way to get "nonstick" cookware. The amount of stickiness perceived is 99% a skill / procedural issue. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OFaFgg4P6QI

dfxm12

If you're looking to switch, difficulty around cooking technique for stainless steel, carbon steel & cast iron is overblown. Same with seasoning/cleaning the latter two. Trust me, if I can figure it out, you can too.

wjakob

I used to switch coated (teflon, ceramic, other fancy gadgets) pans every 1-2 years after eventually wearing them out. This seems so wasteful! I wish somebody had given me the following advice earlier: get 1-2 good uncoated steel pans. They build up a coating from cooking oils that works just as well. I've had mine for over 12 years now, and it's pristine and just a joy to use. I will probably never need another one.

ndr

Thank you for these tests! I've recently tossed all my coated pans (my favourite were the Anolon, but those too shed) and moved to stainless steel, save for a cast iron and carbon steel pan. In the journey here the best I could find was a Hestan nanobond pan, which unfortunately laminated and has shown some pits after few months of use. They refunded me but titaniums isn't yet where stainless steel is. Now I'm using a mix of Demeyere, De Buyer, and Made In. It takes a bit of time to get used cooking in them without a ton of fat. Look up Leidenfrost effect on youtube and you'll learn pretty quickly how to use stainless steel and do not let anything stick even fish.

seemaze

Yuck, get some cast iron. At yard sale if necessary, their useful lifetimes are measured in (human) generations. Chris young has a great comparison of the physical differences between various metals used in pans. [0]. Maybe if you're on the right side of the AI bubble, you could spring for a solid silver version[1] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdORIBH3R88 [1] https://duparquet.com/products/solid-silver-cookware

breakyerself

I don't have any nonstick. It's not that hard to cook anything or to clean stainless or cast iron. For cast iron/carbon steel 99% of the time I run it under water and rub it with my hand and it comes clean in 30 seconds. Rarely I use some soap. Stainless comes clean easiest right after you use it. Especially if you pour a little water on it while it's still hot. I do occasionally use an SOS on stainless. There's nothing I'm unable to cook with my pans. I make french omelettes in stainless steel pans and they come out perfect.

datadrivenangel

Isn't Teflon (PTFE) inert biologically? (the precursor PFOAS are nasty forever chemicals that people should go to jail over dumping them in water, but once they're inert they're inert)

ForHackernews

I wonder how this compares to this new "no coating" nonstick they are hyping up: https://fromourplace.com/blogs/care-use/a-new-kind-of-nonsti...

upcoming-sesame

Coincidentally just saw an ad for this https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barecookware/everpan Not affiliated in any way. But looks promising

Zigurd

My observations from experience: - Nonstick helps, but don't use it instead of a fat. - Ceramic works well enough that I'm shocked Teflon nonstick still exists. No reason to risk it. - Use real food. Real butter, real olive for most things, real peanut oil for high temp. - If you don't overeat or or eat junk or indulgences too often, you can eat anything you want, just not every day. - Variety and exploration inherently limits bad habits. - Nobody has time to scratch cook every meal. Cook batches and freeze them. If you use occasions when you have time to do this, you'll build up a variety in your freezer that you won't hate anything before you run out of it. OTOH 16 chicken burritos is at least five too many. Trust me. - All of this is much easier if you're cooking for yourself or for like-minded people.

dredmorbius

Looking at alternatives (and I already have both cast-iron and aluminium fry pans which I prefer using), what are people's experiences with ceramic cookware? I've started seeing these, suspect it's relatively non-stick, should be metabolically benign, but also hear that surfaces are subject to scratching and chipping. (Our storage situation is ... less than ideal.) Prices seem somewhat spendy, but doable. (And I see < https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49071016 > immediately on submitting this ;-)

thegabez

How are you suppose to cook an over easy egg on anything other than non-stick? Only thing I keep my non-stick around for.

ButlerianJihad

When I was a teenager, I saw a commercial for Visions Cookware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visions_(cookware) I got really excited and I purchased a complete set for my mother on her birthday. And she took one look and was unable to share my enthusiasm. She said it was all completely different from the vessels she normally used, and so it was a rubbish gift, and she stashed them all in a drawer, and never used them at all.

alienbaby

is there info anywhere about the effects of ingesting PTFE particles over time?

stefap2

Where does the hexclad fall in this regard?