Some of the questions I’m asked frequently as so many of you transform your kitchens are: What cookware is safe? If plastic is bad, what should I use to store leftovers? I’ve heard Teflon is bad, but what should I replace it with? How do you keep your food from sticking if you don’t use Teflon? What about bakeware? Is aluminum okay?
And on it goes.
During the next few weeks, I will be addressing many of these questions and sharing how I have transformed my kitchen through the years. Key words: through the years. We might all have the desire to throw out everything we have and replace it all right away with safer items. But realistically, you may just have to do this in stages. Shucks, it’s no fun to be practical. ;)
Today I’ll start by talking about cookware.
Teflon and other non-stick knock-offs are only bad for you when heated. This means that looking at Teflon will not hurt you. Cooking food in it will. Bummer, huh?
How is Teflon harmful? When heated, it emits dangerous chemicals and toxic gases. Ever heard of pets dying as a direct result of living in a home which uses Teflon? It’s true. I’ve read it from multiple sources. :( While people aren’t dropping dead immediately from this poison, we do suffer the harmful effects over time.
I highly recommend working away from using non-stick pots, pans, and skillets – making the trade to Stainless Steel and Cast Iron. Both are proven to be safe and both are wonderful to work with in the kitchen!
Stainless Steel
I had a lovely set of Pampered Chef non-stick cookware and I was sad to give it up. Eventually, I was able to replace it with a very simple and inexpensive set of Stainless Steel cookware, much like this set. Isn’t it pretty?!
I think it’s worth mentioning that while you do want high quality cookware, you don’t have to get top of the line. My inexpensive set has lasted for years and is looking to last me many more.
Cast Iron
Admittedly, it’s tough to make scrambled eggs or pancakes on stainless steel. Cast Iron to the rescue!
Not only is cast iron safe, I love how it cooks food and helps create wonderful flavor. I have two favorite pieces of cast iron: a large skillet and a griddle.
Lids aren’t necessary, but they sure are nice!
This griddle is super nice (I have one very similar which is also double sided). The size means I can crank out three times as many pancakes at one time than I can in a regular skillet, and when I butter the griddle well, the pancakes turn out great!
Now, with my nice collection of stainless steel and cast iron, I love knowing my food is being cooked safely. Again, be practical with your budget and take baby steps toward making these healthy changes.
What is your favorite kind of safe cookware?
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I have two 2 quart and one 3 quart All Clad pots that I use on a regular basis. Everything else that I have/use is Lodge cast iron or Lodge enameled cast iron. I love them. I have a couple of cast iron pieces from my grandmothers and my husband’s grandmother. I look forward to passing my cast iron to my daughters in law and grandchildren one day so they can have fond memories of the good food that I cooked in them. :)
I swicthed over to Stainless steel about 8 years ago and then 3 years ago got hooked on cast iron. I now have a large and small cast iron skillet, a double sided griddle, 2 dutch ovens and 2 small oval baking pans. Absolutely love my cast iron pans.
You can make terrific scrambled eggs in a stainless pan. Just remember to heat your pan slightly first, then add some olive or palm oil and swirl around the pan to coat, then add a nice pat of butter for flavor, swirl it around until it bubbles lightly. Cook your scrambled eggs on medium/medium-low to keep them from sticking. If the heat is too high, they will stick. Transfer to the plate and enjoy. Never leave then in the pan, they turn a funny color. :-)
I love my Pampered Chef stainless steel cookware (I got a set 60% off) and my Le Creuset enameled cast iron french (dutch) oven. The Le Creuset was pretty pricey, but I had several families go in together to get it for me. I love knowing that I’ll be able to use it for the rest of my life, or at least as long as I can lift it. :) Plus it makes the BEST overnight no-knead bread!
I also use cast iron (2 pieces that had been my grandmother’s) and I also have and LOVE my 2 enameled cast iron dutch ovens. I have a few pots that use that are Club Aluminum. I have heard mixed reviews as far as the safety of using aluminum cookware, but I really do like it! This is a great topic. Thanks for addressing it. :-)
Will cast iron scratch or be too heavy for a flat top/glass electric stove top?
I have stainless steel pots and love them, but I can’t do everything in them so I have to use Teflon pans sometimes. I would love to use my cast iron, but I’m afraid it will scratch the stove top and make it unusable. ( To be clear, I actually hate my flat stove top and do not care what it looks like and would love to go back to coils, but that is not in the budget right now. I’m just afraid a scratch will make the stove top unusable.)
I used to have a flat top and never had any trouble with my cast iron scratching it. Granted, I was very careful while using it, but still, I used it for years and didn’t have trouble.
Thanks Laura! I’ll have to try it then.
I use my cast iron on the flat stove top and I am not very careful about it. No problems. I probably wouldn’t drop it on the stove top, but other than that it should be fine. Happy cooking :-)
I am loving my ceramic skillet. I use cast iron a lot too, need to re season a BIG soup pot! Giving up teflon recently felt so good! Thanks for the review and gentle reminders to do the right thing.
Laura,
Do you know if the stainless pan set you have is stainless on the sides of the pans too? I read reviews that magnets will not stick to the sides, only the bottoms, and so that maybe only the bottom of the pans are stainless? Seems like such a good price! I just wanted to make sure the sides were not another metal (like aluminum :(
Thanks!
The entire pan is stainless steel, definitely not aluminum. Just for fun, I just tested one of my stainless steel pans and a magnet stuck a tiny bit on the inside but not on the outside. I did a little bit of looking into this and thought this info was interesting: http://www.ask.com/science/magnet-stick-stainless-steel-1f6e35439cba6658.
Thanks for the excellent article. I would add that Teflon is also problematic as it ages because it begins to flake off the pan and mix with the food.
Just out of curiosity, what is your thoughts on the new green ceramic non-stick pans. I have really been wanting to try one, but was afraid the coating will come off like teflon. Have you read anything about their long term safety?
I think it depends on the quality, although I haven’t researched this much. Several articles I read recently warn that these may be a bit healthier than teflon, though not much. I plan to stick with cast iron just to be safe, although I also found an article about how those leach iron into our food, blah, blah, blah. Goodness, we just can’t win. :)
I just received a cast iron skillet from my husband’s grandmother but it has some rust on it. I’m not really sure how to take care of that or how to properly care for cast iron. Any tips?
I would re-season it with coconut oil or palm shortening and it will be like new. :)
Do a search on you tube for seasoning cast iron pans. There are tons of videos. I did mine by first stripping it with the self clean cycle on my oven. After that, a good scrubbing with soap and still wool to get off any remaining crud. Then oiled it up and baked it. The last process is recommended to be done twice. This is the video I watched by the Culinary Fanatic. I followed his directions and got great results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6Tz3HnnCFs
I love the idea with the scarf!
I purchased Townecraft cookware in 1986 and it is still in excellent condition and has a lifetime warranty, even if I pass it on to my children. Just this week my son and his fiance’ had a Townecraft rep do a catered dinner for them to show the cookware after winning $250 toward the merchandise at a bridal expo. Imagine my surprise when it was the same gentleman I had bought my set from so many years ago! I highly recommend this cookware, even if you have to budget and save for it. I am not one to spend a lot of money on something but your cookware is used everyday for life, or as long as you are able to cook. I believe it is still also made in America. The demonstration explains the quality of the cookware over other stainless steel pans. Even my beloved cast iron is not sanitary compared to their design. In a tiny nutshell it’s because most all other cookware is very porous.
My mom bought towncraft about that long ago and loves it still to this day!! :-)
Hi Laura, do you use your Lodge griddle on a electric, flat top glass stove? Or do you have a gas stove? I’ve been wanting to get one of these large griddles, but wasn’t sure about the groove along the perimeter – how well it heats up? Because of the gap between the stove top and the cooking surface.
I have an electric stove, not glass top. I used to have glass top, but I don’t think I had bought my griddle yet. I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work on a glass top. :)
Re stainless steel and pancakes and eggs etc. I’ve been using my stainless steel (can’t remember the brand but it was an very expensive) skillet with a thick ‘bottom’ for years almost daily. As long as you heat the stainless steel hot enough and use butter the first couple of times, it should be no problem. After the first couple I use no butter (I know that would horrify you) and the pancakes don’t stick at all! Ps I did have a gas stove where it is easy to regulate the heat. I love love my stainless steel pan!
The were going thru enamel cookware every other year and I remembered that my mom always had the same stainless set. So in 1995 we splurged on 3 sets of Health Craft stainless steel cookware. We paid in a little each month and they sent us the pans a little at a time. I have 9 pans/pots with lids, a wok, steamer, egg poacher, dutch oven topper, and a food grater. I have every pan I could ever want for the stove top and I got an oil filled electric skillet too. Other than my cast iron collection, I have not needed anything else. We expect this cookware to outlast us.
One thing I really like about stainless/cast iron is that you can “bake” on the stove top. I have made countless cakes and meat loaf in the summer without turning on the oven. It’s wonderful! And they are a snap to clean. Even burnt on food will release with a brief soak of hot water.
I realize as I read this it may sound like I am bragging. Actually I was trying to point out that you can have all the healthy cookware your hearts desire. All you need to do is budget a way to pay for it. Ask if your dealer has an interest free payment plan (like ours did) or set money aside each month until you have enough. When we bought ours we were living on just under $30,000 a year. It took a long time to get all the pieces “(they shipped as we paid for them), but it was worth it.
Just curious if you’ve ever heard of princess house products? My sister in law is a consultant, so I hosted a party an got a pile of free stuff… including some of their wonderful 432849 non stick cook ware. It’s beautiful an totally Teflon free :-) as well as life time warranty. Celebrating home also has a good line of non stick if you’d pa her not use cast iron. I do love my stain less steel pans tho too!!
Sorry about the weird number that showed up!!
Cast iron skillets also help you get more iron in your diet. Great thing for us women who tend to become anemic.
Hey. I, too, am fixing to replace my cookware after many years of faithful service. I was interested to know your opinion on the Pampered Chef “stainless steel” cookware that has aluminum in between layers of Stainless. Their website says “Stainless Cookware is Tri-Ply Clad, a thick aluminum core between an interior layer of 18/10 stainless steel and an exterior layer of 18/0, for durability and faster, more even heating. ” Would that make it sketchy? I have almost always had teflon, so I want to make a good choice here.
Thanks!
It seems to me that most stainless steel has an interior layer of aluminum. I don’t believe that makes it unhealthy since it doesn’t touch the food, it only helps the pot to heat evenly. I’m thinking the Pampered Chef cookware would be great!
I have a set of Revereware stainless steel cookware. I bought it many years ago at a yard sale for a really good price. I bought it because my mom had some of the same pans and I remember how great they are to cook in and clean. I also use my cast iron skillets and dutch oven alot.
I was wondering about non-stick cookie sheets, baking sheets, and pizza pans. No idea if these are Teflon, but assuming these are bad as well. I haven’t tackled those items in my kitchen just yet, but wonder if there are a lot of healthier options out there for those. I assume there should be, but just haven’t looked into it yet. Would I need to look for stainless steel on those as well? Thank you!
You’re right, those are dangerous too. I plan to answer this question in more detail next week, but for now, I encourage you to check out a new discovery I made for a safe way to still use my aluminum or coated cookie sheets. “Healthy Cooking Products” makes a BPA free silicone mat that works awesome: http://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Ant-slip-Approval-Approved-Baking/dp/B00PKOMS9W/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1418438304&sr=8-4&keywords=healthy%20cooking%20products%20baking%20mat Again, more on this next week, but so far, I’m loving mine!
Hi Laura, I would like to replace my pots and pans. Would you please recommend a brand of stainless steel? I recently purchased a silicon mat and I really enjoy using it!
Hi all! I’ve been reading this discussion with interest. I’ve been working on switching over my pots to something besides the aluminum/teflon. My Mom and I went to the local antique junk store just today so I could look at their cast iron stuff. If you don’t want the weight of cast iron, these places usually also have a nice selection of old enamel ware too, which is steel coated with enamel. I found a lovely 10 inch skillet? saucepan? with sides that are about 5 inches high that will go great with my Lodge skillets I already have. I also got a nice ~6 cup sauce pan, found some lids for both pots, and got it all for under $50. I splurged on that 10 inch piece though :)
Cast iron is super easy to clean up and get it ready to use again. You can use your oven’s self clean if you want to take the time and energy for that, it should nuke pretty much anything that might be on there. Or you can dig in with some steel wool and elbow grease and take the rust and crud off that way. Then just season it a few times and enjoy a perfect non stick surface! Here’s a cool article I found about how to care for cast iron and debunking some of the myths that have come to surround it http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html
Laura, thanks for such an amazing blog, I don’t know how you do it all!
I got a used set of Scanpan for Christmas and I adore them! Nothing sticks to them but they are PFOA free. To me, cast iron and stainless are too hard to work with.