Is Your Cookware Safe??

Most moms in America use Teflon coated pots and pans because they're easy to clean and thus save all kinds of time and energy.  Who wants to spend hours in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner, right?

The truth about Teflon:

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• According to Wikipedia, Dupont, the maker of Teflon cookware, claims that Teflon's "melting point" is 621*F, BUT, it's mechanical properties degrade above 500*F.  {According to tests, your skillet heats to around 736 degrees in 3 minutes and 20 seconds.}
• DuPont publicly acknowledges that Teflon can kill birds, but the company-produced public service brochure on bird safety discusses the hazards of ceiling fans, mirrors, toilets, and cats before mentioning the dangers of Teflon fumes.  {Click here for more information.}  At least getting eaten by a cat is a natural, food chain kind of way to go.  It's so much better than being suffocated by lethal, toxic chemicals!  :) 
• According to tests by the Environmental Working Group, hundreds of people each year become sick due to exposure to the chemicals that are emitted by the Teflon at high heat levels.  Most of the time, though, they confuse these side effects with the common flu. 
• Teflon offgases toxic particulates at 446°F. At 680°F Teflon pans release at least six toxic gases, including two carcinogens, two global pollutants, and MFA, a chemical lethal to humans at low doses. At temperatures that DuPont scientists claim are reached on stove top drip pans (1000°F), non-stick coatings break down to a chemical warfare agent known as PFIB, and a chemical analog of the WWII nerve gas phosgene.  {Copied from this site because I'm not smart enough to say it myself.} :) 

So now....we have a decision to make:  What kind of cookware are we going to use in our homes?  What exactly is safe for our families?

My recommendations:

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1.  Cast Iron!!  My favorite!  It's easy to clean if you keep it well seasoned.  It's sturdy and tough.  It will last you your entire lifetime or longer.  {Most of mine belonged to my great grandmother and they're just as good as new!}  You can use them in the oven or on the stove. You don't need any special utensils.  Cast Iron was the cookware of choice until 1957 when Teflon was used to make the first "non-stick" pans...even though nothing sticks to cast iron??
2. Stainless Steal!  These are pretty.  {I like shinny!}  Steel wool scouring pad will clean even the burnt food off in a moment.  They are natural, so you don't have to worry about chemicals.  You can cook even the most acidic foods in them without worry of corrosion.  They may not last 3 life times like cast iron, but they should last many years and certainly longer than the Teflon covered pans that start to flake after a few weeks.
3. Glass and ceramic.  Both are natural and safe to cook with and easy to clean if you take a steel wool scouring pad to them.  

If you have all or mostly Teflon pans and you'd like to make the switch, don't stress out over it!  Just start weeding out the pans you don't want and gradually replacing them with safer ones that you love and trust.  It may cost a bit, but little by little it is possible.

And don't forget - the BEST place to find cast iron and other cookware is at yard sales!  So many people don't realize what they're getting rid of.  They think it's just Grandma's old junk.

TAKE IT!!

If you don't want it, you can send it to me!!

:D  

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This post is linked up with:
The Homestead Barn Hop