From a health perspective looking for the safest non-stick fry pan
material.

Ideas????

JJ > wrote:

> From a health perspective looking for the safest non-stick fry pan
> material.

It's all pretty much the same stuff. It's also all about as
inert as it gets, so really pretty safe unless overheated.
The only "non-stick" that isn't some type of Teflon is well
seasoned cast iron. All the others are just different brand
names for the same basic thing.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

JJ wrote:
> From a health perspective looking for the safest non-stick fry pan
> material.
>
> Ideas????

I am going to post a paragraph from a company we do business with
called Swiss Diamond. From my opinion, this is the highest quality
non-stick cookware on the market. You can use metal utensils in it, it
is oven safe, stovetop safe, and dishwasher safe. If it ever cracks,
peels, chips, scratches anything the company or my comapny will replace
it free of charge under its Lifetime Warranty. Personally though as a
chef the reason I like these pans goes beyond those great reasons, I
like the fast that all the lids have vents on them that can be open or
closed, the handles are very comfortable, but the best thing is that
because the pan has little bits of diamond in the surface it actually
browns better than any other nonstick pan on the market. Here is a
link so you can see the product line:
http://www.dominicskitchenstore.com/...ARTMENT_ID=156

After coming back from the housewares show last weekend, I was also
very impressed by the statement the company issues about their
products. There is no other company on the market that has made a
statement anywhere close to this. All I did was copy and paste this
next paragraph so as not to change the integrity of the article.
"What is Swiss Diamond's surface composed of and does it contain PFOA?

Swiss Diamond's surface is a nano-composite containing diamond crystals
and PTFE (which is short for polytetrafluoroethylene). These compounds
are bound together in a different way other than other non-stick
coatings. Swiss Diamonds nano-composite method uses less PTFE than
other coatings. Because of its durability, less is needed to give
superior results. Swiss Diamond has been tested and approved by the FDA
as well as all European standard committees. Recently, PFOA
(perfluorooctanoic acid) emissions have been linked to the manufacture
of the Teflon brand and other similar products. These emissions have
only been measured in the plants that produce the raw materials, and
are not related to the application of cookware coatings. Swiss Diamond
products have never contained any detectable amount of PFOA. Although
the productions process of the PTFE ingredient can generate PFOA during
the manufacturing stage, our suppliers have significantly reduced these
amounts, and every effort to reduce them even further is being done.
Moreover, the thermal treatment applied to our cookware has been
specially optimized for degrading any trace of PFOA in the final
coating."

I can explain this more in depth if you have any questions, please call
or email me, both can be found on our website at
www.DominicsKitchenStore.com

Chef Dom,
www.DominicsKitchenStore.com

JJ wrote:
> From a health perspective looking for the safest non-stick fry pan
> material.
>
> Ideas????


Seasoned cast iron.

That is a pretty general statement that is not really true. All
nonstick coatings are generally different blends of similar chemicals.
These blends though may have many different distinctions between them.
For instance a T-Fal, Calaphalon, All-Clad and a Swiss Diamond pan are
all very different. Not just from the construction of the pan itself,
but from the overall quality of the nonstick surface, to the chemical
make up, all the way to the process which the nonstick coating was
adhered to the pan. Also Teflon is a brand name made by DuPont. Not all
nonstick coatings contain Teflon, the coating may be similar (using the
same chemicals) but made by a different company or could contain
different chemicals with a similar end result. Nonstick surfaces range
in quality greatly, for instance two well known brands Calaphalon and
All-Clad are highly regarded, but of them feature poor nonstick
surfaces. Another misunderstood issue is the overheating thing, most
nonstick surfaces have to get to 500 degrees before they release any
gas that could be harmful (mostly to exotic birds, usually causing
nothing more than a headache to humans). The pan also must be
completely empty and left on a high flame for about 30 min, which will
result in a glowing RED hot pan. I still stand by my opinion that
nonstick surfaces are safe as long as they are not peeling, chipping,
cracking, badly scratched or blistering. Lastly cast iron is no the
only other nonstick option. Two others are carbon steel, which is
similar in that you need to keep it seasoned like cast iron (usually
found in a tradition wok or a french crepe pan) and enamel coated pans.
Enamel coated pans like Chantal (
http://www.dominicskitchenstore.com/...PARTMENT_ID=78
) are naturally nonstick, not in the same ways as the traditional
nonstick surfaces, but very close. Chantal is enameled inside and out
over a core of steel. Just wanted to clear up the air on these issues
and try to help inform you of all the options.

Chef Dom,
www.DominicsKitchenStore.com

Chef Dom wrote:

> surfaces. Another misunderstood issue is the overheating thing, most
> nonstick surfaces have to get to 500 degrees before they release any
> gas that could be harmful (mostly to exotic birds, usually causing
> nothing more than a headache to humans). The pan also must be
> completely empty and left on a high flame for about 30 min, which will
> result in a glowing RED hot pan. I still stand by my opinion that

This is horrendously false. 30 MINUTES on HIGH FLAME? Not:

http://www.ewg.org/reports/toxicteflon/tempgraphic.php

wrote:
>
> Chef Dom wrote:
>
> > surfaces. Another misunderstood issue is the overheating thing, most
> > nonstick surfaces have to get to 500 degrees before they release any
> > gas that could be harmful (mostly to exotic birds, usually causing
> > nothing more than a headache to humans). The pan also must be
> > completely empty and left on a high flame for about 30 min, which will
> > result in a glowing RED hot pan. I still stand by my opinion that
>
> This is horrendously false. 30 MINUTES on HIGH FLAME? Not:
>
> http://www.ewg.org/reports/toxicteflon/tempgraphic.php

Pretty much everything from EWG is what is horribly false...

Pete C. wrote:

>
> Pretty much everything from EWG is what is horribly false...

Disregard what you wish, but don't tell me that it takes 30 minutes for
an empty pan to reach 500 degrees on a high flame.

The chart linked showed a realistic temperature progression.

Chef Dom > wrote:
> That is a pretty general statement that is not really true. All
> nonstick coatings are generally different blends of similar chemicals.

That's pretty much the same thing that I said. PTFE is PTFE whether
the brand name is Teflon or something else.

> adhered to the pan. Also Teflon is a brand name made by DuPont. Not all
> nonstick coatings contain Teflon, the coating may be similar (using the

Yes, Teflon is a brand name. The others have other brand names,
but it's still mostly PTFE with some differences in admixtures.
From a safety standpoint that's the important point.

> result in a glowing RED hot pan. I still stand by my opinion that
> nonstick surfaces are safe as long as they are not peeling, chipping,
> cracking, badly scratched or blistering. Lastly cast iron is no the

And my point was that PTFE is so inert that even if you do ingest some
that has peeled off a pan it's not going to hurt you. It will be
gone the next day because it is not digestible. Overheating is
about the only way to make it dangerous, and yes, it takes a *lot*
of heat to do it.

> Enamel coated pans like Chantal (
> ) are naturally nonstick, not in the same ways as the traditional
> nonstick surfaces, but very close. Chantal is enameled inside and out

I've used enameled steel pans, and there is no way I would call them
non-stick, no more so than stainless steel. Just my opinion.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.