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The main problem here is that many people use non-stick cookware, and metal spatulas will scratch them up badly. Plastic or rubber spatulas don't do that. Of
by shiroiushi 2y ago
The main problem here is that many people use non-stick cookware, and metal spatulas will scratch them up badly. Plastic or rubber spatulas don't do that.
Of course, you can say that they shouldn't use non-stick cookware, but they are, so...
- kazinator 2y agoI have a Japanese electric fry pan, non-stick. I use a bamboo spatula for it. It was not originally intended for the purpose, but I took a rasp and file to it to give it a sharp edge. I usually don't need the spatula. I flip things with chopsticks. I mean that's why you use a non-stick pan! If you have to peel the food off it with a spatula, what good is the non-stick surface? I mostly use the bamboo spatula for lifting things that are delicate, like sunny side up eggs.
- anon291 2y agoI honestly cannot understand the appeal of non stick. Cast iron is so much simpler and the food comes out better. And the pans are indestructible and cleaning is so much easier (just wipe usually). I have three cast iron pans with which I cook for large numbers of people regularly and I'm flabbergasted when I visit other people's homes and find endless stacks of speciality pans. What are people possibly using these for?
- mattdesl 2y agoI love my cast iron, but usually choose a nonstick for eggs and crepes/pancakes in the morning. - I tend to re-season my cast iron every time I use it and it’s a chore to do this for my early morning meals. - Non-stick is just more non-stick, with cast iron I am constrained to using a certain heat and/or fat content to create the non-stick property which I might not want for a certain dish.
- onli 2y agoYou really do not need to re-season them every time! Just using the pan with some oil is enough. If you clean it later with water, you can add a little oil afterwards and clean it with a paper towel, that's enough. Takes almost no time. But I have to agree that non-stick pans are even more non-stick. That's why it took some convincing here to not buy new ones in my home.
- mattdesl 2y agoThat’s the kind of re-seasoning I mean: first I dry it (paper towel), then wipe with oil (more paper towel). It’s more work than cleaning a nonstick by hand and produces more waste.
- onli 2y agoOh, okay! I see it as less work, since the whole part of using soap and rubbing the fat away properly doesn't happen. Plus it's just a drop of oil and two paper towels. You can use a cotton towel to dry it and move down to one paper towel. But I just wanted to make sure you don't re-season it with the whole procedure, like oil, potato peels and salt fried for a long time. Because that would be definitely a lot of work each morning ;)
- dotancohen 2y ago> You can use a cotton towel to dry it and move down to one paper towel. You don't even need the entire paper towel. During the Hamas attacks last year I was unable to leave to the store for quite some time and began seriously reducing consumption in the house. Half or even a quarter paper towel is enough. And even that doesn't need to be thrown away - the paper towel is still clean for purpose of reoiling the pan the next day if you absolutely need.
- onli 2y agoNice. Also, adding oil each time after cleaning is also not necessary, especially after cooking with enough of it and if that went well (though I do it most of the time as well).
- dotancohen 2y agoYes, most of the time I don't even use water now that I'm more comfortable with the pan. Just a really good wipe.
- usrnm 2y ago
- globular-toast 2y agoYep, I ditched my "non stick" and all plastic utensils over a decade ago. It's just never seemed right to me to cook with plastic and I don't understand how other people can do it.
- tacker2000 2y agoNot everyone has a gas stove. Or maybe Im mistaken, but does cast iron work equally well on a “hot surface” (ceran) type stove?
- pomian 2y agoYou can heat it with anything. Remember. It is just steel! Almost indestructible, can use anything to clean it, and if you mess up, you can heat it, wash it, and re oil again.
- fuzzfactor 2y agoOne thing about it is, it's pretty much plain elemental iron, straight out of the "iron age". Actual steel is an alloy that is much more advanced, even when it is not a stainless grade.
- wizzwizz4 2y agoYou're thinking of wrought iron. Cast iron has a higher carbon content.
- wheels 2y agoErm, sure? Cast iron takes a little while longer to heat up because it's heavier, but it retains heat well once hot. It's even better on induction. I cook mostly in cast-iron and carbon steel and haven't ever had a gas stove. (Like a lot of kitchen wonks, I keep a cheap non-stick pan around for eggs and pancakes, and basically nothing else.)
- euroderf 2y agoInduction might be the key here. It really is fast to change.
- mrob 2y ago>What are people possibly using these for? Eggs and egg dishes (e.g. pancakes) mostly. No other pan works as well. Washing after cooking is also very quick and easy. Perhaps you've never used a non-stick pan that was maintained correctly, i.e. never overheated, stirred only with silicone utensils, and washed by hand using only non-scratching sponges. Most non-stick pans I've seen owned by other people have been in poor condition. If you think cast iron makes better food you probably use it for searing, which should never be done with non stick. And many people falsely believe wooden utensils are incapable of scratching non-stick pans.
- euroderf 2y ago> > What are people possibly using these for? > Eggs and egg dishes (e.g. pancakes) mostly. That non-stick spray PAM is straight out, unless maybe you're huffing it. For eggs & pancakes I find that cast iron is responsive enough to temperature changes when used with induction, and that butter works to prevent sticking just fine.
- mrob 2y agoYou can cook eggs on non stick with no added fat at all.
- hnbad 2y agoYou can make a case for eggs (although I don't like the way they come out this way) but this is a weird health argument for sweet pancakes which usually contain sugar and are drenched in syrup or chocolate spread. Also if you're making eggs and bacon, just use the bacon grease for the eggs?
- NoGravitas 2y agoIf you hate flavor, yeah.
- larsrc 2y agoI've been using wooden spatulas on my non-stick pans for years without any issues. Maybe only cheap non-sticks have trouble with them?
- nemo44x 2y agoCast iron is nice for certain things. However they lack any type of finesse. You can’t reliably change pan temp quickly and that’s often desirable.
- calf 2y agoI used to be like you until I lived with my mother then saw first-hand problems from her point of view. Things like the weight of the cast iron means lifting it with wrist, cleaning it (in the sink). Other things like making it easy to cook proteins. Seasoning and maintenance.
- fooblaster 2y agoGo to any commercial kitchen, and you'll find non-stick pans. eggs and omelettes are just foolproof with non stickz and nothing else comes close. Cast iron is heavier, can't cook acidic foods, and just isn't as non stick. They have their place, of course, and are excellent for searing. Oh and wash your cast iron. Soap no longer contains lye, and won't remove the seasoning.
- DoingIsLearning 2y agoOther than the hygiene argument of bacteria build up what is wrong with just using wooden spatulas for example?
- shiroiushi 2y agoI don't think I've ever even seen a wooden spatula, and I don't see how you could make one thin enough to flip pancakes (or worse eggs) and it stay durable.
- Saline9515 2y agoIt's very common in Europe, I have several at home. If you properly wash them, there is no bacterial danger either.
- Glawen 2y agoSome people even carve them from lumber. If you are into DIY and you have no Christmas gift ideas :)
- Moru 2y agoIt's a common thing in woodworking class at school. We have a spoon, butter knife and a cutting board made by our daughter. We also have a bunch of other wooden kitchen utencils since half the family works with wood on their free time... :-)
- dotancohen 2y agoI use wooden spatulas, and gladly take the short-term biological risk over the long-term hormonal risk. In any case, in a modern kitchen where utensils are washed thoroughly and regularly I don't see an issue with wood.
- astura 2y agoThey are common in the US too.
- 2y ago
- ArnoVW 2y agoUse a wooden one? Has the added benefit of being part of the short carbon cycle.
- Etheryte 2y agoWood is not good if you want to handle raw meat, since it's fibrous it makes it pretty easy to eventually cross contaminate something you eat. It's the same reason wooden cutting boards are usually avoided if you're working with raw meat. Every single time, the risk is small, but over time, the dice rolls add up.
- iamacyborg 2y agoI’m in my late 30’s and have basically forever used wooden chopping boards and wooden utensils. I’ve not gotten sick from home cooking once. I think you might be overstating the potential harm here.
- echoangle 2y agoHow do you know by what mechanism you’ve become sick? Do you cook that sparsely that you can positively say you’ve never become sick a few days after eating something you’ve cooked?
- iamacyborg 2y agoI cook all the time and come from a family that actually cooks meals, so yeah, the hygiene aspect is a non-issue so long as you just wash stuff properly.
- echoangle 2y agoThe specific thing I was talking about is this: > I’ve not gotten sick from home cooking once. How would you know that? Unless you’ve never been sick at all, I don’t know how you could say that.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago> you can say that they shouldn't use non-stick cookware Using metal spatulas with non-stick is a big no due to the scratching. Ideally, you should throw away any non-stick cookware that gets a scratch on it. You should use silicone spatulas instead.
- echoangle 2y agoI am still not convinced that scratched non-stick stuff is a real danger. As far as I know, the whole point of PTFE (what the coating normally is made of) is that it’s chemically mostly inert. I don’t know the mechanism by which eating PTFE flakes would be harmful. I’m not a chemist though so I would be grateful for corrections.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoIt's the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that's the issue. It's mainly been phased out of cookware now, so if it's less than 10 years old then you should be okay.
- echoangle 2y agoBut wasn’t that only used in production? Some bouillon is also made by using hydrochloric acid, but it is neutralized and only NaCl remains. Isn’t it the same here? The PFOA is basically used as a precursor for PTFE and doesn’t remain in the product?
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoI'm also not a chemist, but the coatings used to contain significant quantities of PFOAs that get released into food etc. from scratches. There's also doubts about how PFOA-free the newer "non-toxic" pans actually are. Also, there's the issue of over-heating (more than 260°C) pans as that will release toxic gases that can be lethal to birds and cause "teflon flu" in humans. https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/you-cant-always-trust-claims-on-non-toxic-cookware-a4849321487/ https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/y... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896972205392X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00489...
- euroderf 2y agoThis entire discussion points me towards a conclusion that metal-on-metal is the conservative way to go. So what is the problem with this as a solution ? Do we have to worry about microbits of metal disrupting physiology ?
- shiroiushi 2y ago>So what is the problem with this as a solution ? Non-stick cookware was invented for a reason.
- hnbad 2y agoThat reason in part is paranoia about "fat" in food which was conveniently used to distract from sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.
- Cthulhu_ 2y agoIronically I have to use more fat/oil in a non-stick pan than a cast iron one.
- dotancohen 2y agoI just started cooking in an iron pan, and I love it. It's actually not significantly more difficult to clean once you learn to leave the seasoning on and get over the cultural conditioning of what clean is essentially. The cooking process it also far better, with the whole pan being uniformly hot and staying that way.
- Jarmsy 2y agoThere are a lot of old misconceptions around about cast iron seasoning. It's a layer of bioplastic formed by the polymerization when heating a thin layer of oil on the pan to high temperature - It's not about leaving your pan dirty or 'flavored'. You can clean it with regular dish soap just fine, that isn't strong enough to take the layer off.
- Cthulhu_ 2y agoWood is an option, but look for solid wood, I don't trust these bamboo ones that are made from laminated / glued slats. Bamboo "wood" will be the next major thing I'm sure, sold as co2-neutral and biodegradeable, but soaked in glues / resins to make it useful.
- kazinator 2y agoHave you seen those "bamboo" bowls, and cups and whatnot being marketed as environmentally friendly? They are obviously something like 70% plastic resin, 30% sawdust.