Non-Stick- Safest Cookware?

[WildCard~]

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

I need to get a couple of skillets. My Cusineart's skillet cooking surface is getting rough & the food is hard to wash off. I don't want teflon (unsafe) nor cast iron (too heavy).

Anyone know the BEST, safest, non-stick surface?

- PFOA-free ceramic nonstick (white-colored finish)
- regular cephalon (dark grey color finish)
- stainless steel (food will stick, right?)

Any good brands out there that are not cheap, but not pricey?

I love my cast iron but I also have stainless steel cookware as well... I've never used Teflon and wont, not safe at all!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by mmyk72

I've carbon steel pans on my wish list. They have similar feature as the cast iron pan but not as heavy. My mom used a carbon steel wok and it never sticks when cooking meat. Rice sticks to the bottom but it is very easy to clean using plastic or metal scrubber -yes metal, it does not get scratched up. Dry and heat it on the stove and it's ready for the next use.

Carbon steel is a terrible FAD. The technology of carbon steel pans might have made sense for prairie settlers trying to make it west in a mule drawn wagon and it is a great material for a wok if you have a massive BTU burner searing things over it in a high temp oil (typically peanut oil, but heaven help any of the anti-allergy types...) but the thin steel does a LOUSY job of evenly spreading heat and will start to RUST at the slightest exposure to air and moisture.

If you are a professional turning out stacks of crepes for a fair I suppose the relative light weight helps your arm not to fall off after an 8 hour shift but otherwise there are FAR superior materials for cookware.

Fact is food safety experts know that using carbon steel pans when you cook acidic items (anything with tomatoes, citrus, vinegar, wine, etc...) will cause the IRON to dissolve into the food. This will likely cause at least some discoloration (though it can be mistaken for 'browning' as iron is reddish brown...), which might give food an off / metallic taste -- over time there is risk of POISONING -- Iron poisoning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The shift to high purity stainless steel is PRECIOUSLY because it is NOT REACTIVE and this is a MUCH SAFER material to cook in!

I mean when the OP specifically is asking about "food safety" it is more than a little disturbing that some folks are making suggestions that are clearly much more likely to have negative consequences...

I know back in the 80s Corning tried to market their "vision" cookware as exceptionally inert, which is true, but glass also is lousy for heat transfer and completely useless on an induction cooker so they barely market it. They dropped the skillets because it is frankly a pain to try browning anything in a giant inefficient chunk of glass. But it is as inert as cookware gets -- Visions Glass Cookware by Corning | Freezer to Oven


BTW -- You know what is "not safe at all"? Food contaminated with bacterial toxins.You know who is a major source of research into getting out test kits to quickly isolate any such products from the supply chain? The evil S_O_B_s behind teflon -- Improving global food safety |BAX testing |DuPont Food and Beverage Innovations

More from the dark side -- Teflon FAQ| US Consumer Products |DuPont Coatings

[Forever Blue]

OP back. Thanks so much guys!

Originally Posted by Brian_M

...If it's something you're interested in trying And on a budget, I can whole-heartidly recommend the Tramontina tri-clad (walmart) stuff. Even Cooks Illustrated/Americas Test Kitchen put it as the best buy and #2 overall to All-Clad. Having used my parents All-Clad, I can't tell a difference as a home cook.

Originally Posted by Threestep

I switched to Calphalon Elite recently and love it. Well seasoned cast iron for bread and corn bread baking.

I'll check these out, thank you!