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No numbers in the summary. How many watt-hours of electricity per hundred gallons of water? > Using nonstick cookware to fry your bacon and eggs can make your

No numbers in the summary. How many watt-hours of electricity per hundred gallons of water? > Using nonstick cookware to fry your bacon and eggs can make your life easier at that moment, but scientists believe there may be long-term consequences because the chemicals used to make it nonstick are so difficult to destroy. I have finally committed to buying cast iron for my new cookware. It was difficult because of a stereotype in my brain that cast iron == gas stoves == meat. I'm telling myself that cast iron and induction stove just means I have lots of money and don't want to eat PFAS.

throwanem 3y ago
I've had far better results with modern ceramic pans than I ever did with either Teflon (thin pans = no heat capacity) or cast iron whose maintenance is a cast-iron bastard.
- amelius 3y ago
  Can confirm.
- worik 3y ago
  > cast iron whose maintenance is a cast-iron bastard. I have had my cast iron fry pan for thirty years Very easy to maintain Very tolerant to abuse As good as the day I bought it I have heated it to heroic temperatures for cooking meat, on the stove top and in the oven. All good, just be *very* careful picking it up!
  - throwanem 3y ago
    I've heard others say the same, but whatever trick there may be to it is one I've never been able to acquire, and not for want of trying. I'm glad cast iron works as well for you as ceramic does for me!
biomcgary 3y ago
I use cast iron almost exclusively (the exception being enameled cast iron). Linseed oil (not boiled linseed oil, which has toxic additives!) makes for a great low stick surface if you are willing to put in the time. Add a thin layer, bake it to the smoke point and repeat. Lasts a long time and makes cleanup and frying eggs much easier.
- amluto 3y ago
  I very consistently get a pretty amber colored sticky surface from flaxseed oil. Olive oil doesn’t build a film as impressively quickly, but the result is less sticky and more durable.
  - throwway120385 3y ago
    You have to bring it to its smoke point and then wait for it to stop smoking. If it's sticky and amber colored it means you're not heating the oil for long enough to completely degrade it to a polymer coating during seasoning.
    - worik 3y ago
      Use animal fat Cheap, and better than the best vegetarian oil IMO
      - anthk 3y ago
        As a Southern European, fat/butter it's a great way to clog your arteries.
dylan604 3y ago
> cast iron == gas stoves == meat See, you're equation here is slightly wrong. cast iron == open fire == food city folk consider gas stove as open flame, and it cracks us rednecks up. sure, you can cook meat in a cast iron, but it's much better cooked directly on the grill over the coals that were once the open flame cooking all of the sides in the cast iron
alejohausner 3y ago
I’d be worried about excessive iron intake from a cast iron pan. Too much dietary iron can cause all sorts of problems. How about enameled (glass coated) pans instead?
- shagie 3y ago
  I'll note the parent comment: > It was difficult because of a stereotype in my brain that cast iron == gas stoves == meat. This suggests a diet that is more on the vegetarian side... and in that case, cast iron can be helpful as a supplement if you don't have any iron intake from meat. Food prepared in iron cooking pots as an intervention for reducing iron deficiency anaemia in developing countries: a systematic review - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12859709/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12859709/ While I'm having trouble finding it (and thus it may only be folklore) - the cast iron skillets used by early American pioneers where helpful in supplementing their diet that was otherwise low in meats. https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-nutrition/s14-nutrients-important-for-metabo.html https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-nu... is one such mention of it: > Unbeknownst to the American pioneers, the cookware also leaches iron, an essential mineral, into foods as they are cooked in cast-iron hardware. > ... > Dietary sources of iron include red meats, poultry, leafy green vegetables, prunes, raisins, egg yolks, lentils, oysters, clams, artichokes, and enriched cereal grains. While there are many food sources of iron, only a small fraction of dietary iron is absorbed. One method of increasing dietary intake of iron is cooking foods in an iron skillet. Acidic foods high in moisture content, such as tomatoes, absorb more iron during cooking than nonacidic foods. For example, cooking spaghetti sauce in iron cookware can increase the iron content ten-fold. How much iron leaches into food is also dependent on cooking times; the longer food is in the pan the more iron is absorbed into the food. Stirring food more often increases contact time and thus more iron is absorbed from the cookware. The utility of iron cookware in increasing dietary intake of iron has prompted some international public health organizations to distribute iron cookware to high-risk populations in developing countries as a strategy to reduce the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia worldwide. --- So yes, too much dietary iron is a problem. Iron deficiency is also problem and for people with a vegetarian, vegan, and women of childbearing age, additional iron may be a good thing.
artimaeis 3y ago
If you don't want to consume PFAS, you'd be better served trying to limit them from food packaging. There's limited evidence that cooking with traditional nonstick cookware exposes people to PFAS. The evidence shows that discarded nonstick cookware exposes the environment to those PFAS. Which is awful! But probably not affecting you directly. Meanwhile, food packaging is unregulated and has been shown to be a major source of PFAS. Water bottles are particularly guilty. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dangerous-pfas-chemicals-are-in-your-food-packaging-a3786252074/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dan...
- vkou 3y ago
  What exactly is 'traditional' nonstick cookware? Teflon? I avoid it, because I know I'm too stupid to never make a mistake with either a bad scratch, or bad temperature control.
  - oooyay 3y ago
    I use a cast iron for this purpose
  - mrob 3y ago
    Scratching is not a problem from a health point of view (it will of course impair the non-stick performance). PTFE is extremely unreactive. If you scratch off some and accidentally eat it you'll just excrete it unchanged. Overheating can be a problem because it can produce potentially harmful decomposition products. It's especially risky if you cook at high temperatures, e.g. for searing meat, or if you use cookwear that doesn't distribute the heat well and develops hot spots. I recommend using an IR thermometer to learn how you cooking setup behaves. The most conservative maximum safe temperature I've seen claimed is 200C, and careful and gentle cooking shouldn't exceed this.
  - ars 3y ago
    > or bad temperature control. In that case you should prefer teflon. Oil with bad temperature control is far more harmful, because oil produces toxic gasses at a much lower temperature vs teflon. You have much greater leeway with teflon to catch mistakes, and the results are not as harmful. And what concern do you have with a scratch?
SrslyJosh 3y ago
You might want to look at carbon steel instead. It has many of the desirable properties of cast iron, but it's less brittle which allows manufacturers to make pans as thin as ~2mm, which makes them much lighter. (They also heat much faster.)
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- ruraljuror 3y ago
  Yeah it is a great alternative/addition to cast iron, and can be similarly seasoned.

throwanem 3y ago

I've had far better results with modern ceramic pans than I ever did with either Teflon (thin pans = no heat capacity) or cast iron whose maintenance is a cast-iron bastard.

amelius 3y ago
Can confirm.
worik 3y ago
> cast iron whose maintenance is a cast-iron bastard. I have had my cast iron fry pan for thirty years Very easy to maintain Very tolerant to abuse As good as the day I bought it I have heated it to heroic temperatures for cooking meat, on the stove top and in the oven. All good, just be *very* careful picking it up!
- throwanem 3y ago
  I've heard others say the same, but whatever trick there may be to it is one I've never been able to acquire, and not for want of trying. I'm glad cast iron works as well for you as ceramic does for me!

biomcgary 3y ago

I use cast iron almost exclusively (the exception being enameled cast iron). Linseed oil (not boiled linseed oil, which has toxic additives!) makes for a great low stick surface if you are willing to put in the time. Add a thin layer, bake it to the smoke point and repeat. Lasts a long time and makes cleanup and frying eggs much easier.

amluto 3y ago
I very consistently get a pretty amber colored sticky surface from flaxseed oil. Olive oil doesn’t build a film as impressively quickly, but the result is less sticky and more durable.
- throwway120385 3y ago
  You have to bring it to its smoke point and then wait for it to stop smoking. If it's sticky and amber colored it means you're not heating the oil for long enough to completely degrade it to a polymer coating during seasoning.
  - worik 3y ago
    Use animal fat Cheap, and better than the best vegetarian oil IMO
    - anthk 3y ago
      As a Southern European, fat/butter it's a great way to clog your arteries.

dylan604 3y ago

> cast iron == gas stoves == meat See, you're equation here is slightly wrong. cast iron == open fire == food city folk consider gas stove as open flame, and it cracks us rednecks up. sure, you can cook meat in a cast iron, but it's much better cooked directly on the grill over the coals that were once the open flame cooking all of the sides in the cast iron

alejohausner 3y ago

I’d be worried about excessive iron intake from a cast iron pan. Too much dietary iron can cause all sorts of problems. How about enameled (glass coated) pans instead?

shagie 3y ago
I'll note the parent comment: > It was difficult because of a stereotype in my brain that cast iron == gas stoves == meat. This suggests a diet that is more on the vegetarian side... and in that case, cast iron can be helpful as a supplement if you don't have any iron intake from meat. Food prepared in iron cooking pots as an intervention for reducing iron deficiency anaemia in developing countries: a systematic review - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12859709/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12859709/ While I'm having trouble finding it (and thus it may only be folklore) - the cast iron skillets used by early American pioneers where helpful in supplementing their diet that was otherwise low in meats. https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-nutrition/s14-nutrients-important-for-metabo.html https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-nu... is one such mention of it: > Unbeknownst to the American pioneers, the cookware also leaches iron, an essential mineral, into foods as they are cooked in cast-iron hardware. > ... > Dietary sources of iron include red meats, poultry, leafy green vegetables, prunes, raisins, egg yolks, lentils, oysters, clams, artichokes, and enriched cereal grains. While there are many food sources of iron, only a small fraction of dietary iron is absorbed. One method of increasing dietary intake of iron is cooking foods in an iron skillet. Acidic foods high in moisture content, such as tomatoes, absorb more iron during cooking than nonacidic foods. For example, cooking spaghetti sauce in iron cookware can increase the iron content ten-fold. How much iron leaches into food is also dependent on cooking times; the longer food is in the pan the more iron is absorbed into the food. Stirring food more often increases contact time and thus more iron is absorbed from the cookware. The utility of iron cookware in increasing dietary intake of iron has prompted some international public health organizations to distribute iron cookware to high-risk populations in developing countries as a strategy to reduce the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia worldwide. --- So yes, too much dietary iron is a problem. Iron deficiency is also problem and for people with a vegetarian, vegan, and women of childbearing age, additional iron may be a good thing.

artimaeis 3y ago

If you don't want to consume PFAS, you'd be better served trying to limit them from food packaging. There's limited evidence that cooking with traditional nonstick cookware exposes people to PFAS. The evidence shows that discarded nonstick cookware exposes the environment to those PFAS. Which is awful! But probably not affecting you directly. Meanwhile, food packaging is unregulated and has been shown to be a major source of PFAS. Water bottles are particularly guilty. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dangerous-pfas-chemicals-are-in-your-food-packaging-a3786252074/ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/dan...

vkou 3y ago
What exactly is 'traditional' nonstick cookware? Teflon? I avoid it, because I know I'm too stupid to never make a mistake with either a bad scratch, or bad temperature control.
- oooyay 3y ago
  I use a cast iron for this purpose
- mrob 3y ago
  Scratching is not a problem from a health point of view (it will of course impair the non-stick performance). PTFE is extremely unreactive. If you scratch off some and accidentally eat it you'll just excrete it unchanged. Overheating can be a problem because it can produce potentially harmful decomposition products. It's especially risky if you cook at high temperatures, e.g. for searing meat, or if you use cookwear that doesn't distribute the heat well and develops hot spots. I recommend using an IR thermometer to learn how you cooking setup behaves. The most conservative maximum safe temperature I've seen claimed is 200C, and careful and gentle cooking shouldn't exceed this.
- ars 3y ago
  > or bad temperature control. In that case you should prefer teflon. Oil with bad temperature control is far more harmful, because oil produces toxic gasses at a much lower temperature vs teflon. You have much greater leeway with teflon to catch mistakes, and the results are not as harmful. And what concern do you have with a scratch?

SrslyJosh 3y ago

You might want to look at carbon steel instead. It has many of the desirable properties of cast iron, but it's less brittle which allows manufacturers to make pans as thin as ~2mm, which makes them much lighter. (They also heat much faster.)

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ruraljuror 3y ago
Yeah it is a great alternative/addition to cast iron, and can be similarly seasoned.