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Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula (www.theatlantic.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid.

In 2018, Turner published one of the earliest papers positing that black plastic products were likely regularly being made from recycled electronic waste. The clue was the plastic’s concerning levels of flame retardants. In some cases, the mix of chemicals matched the profile of those commonly found in computer and television housing, many of which are treated with flame retardants to prevent them from catching fire.

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

You can wash these pans with soap, you just shouldn’t abrade them. Soap isn’t going to remove the molecular bonding unless you’re scrubbing the hell out of it.

Also, Teflon’s a no go but I was under the impression ceramic is ok. Is anything wrong with that coating for cooking?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Ceramic loses its' non-stick properties quite fast, cause the coating gets micro-cracked.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm on year four of using a ceramic pan to cook scrambled eggs in butter at least 4 days a week and it is still pretty slick.

Is it other foods like acidic tomato sauces that mess with the coating?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Your coating might be ok for you still, while still having lost a lot of its' non-stickiness.

Usually, you can fry eggs on non-stick pans without butter (even if butter is delicious): can you sill do that?

It's usually not a chemical reaction like what's happening with acidic foods on the coating of a cast iron/carbon steel pan. Ceramics is quite brittle, so mechanical shocks can create micro cracks, which are hard to see but make food stick.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah our Fika ceramic pans aren’t that great anymore after 2 years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks - apparently modern soap is much milder on the seasoning, so it's not really a problem any more. I've never thought to question the advice that was passed down the generations. :)

Nothing wrong with ceramic from a food safety perspective. I love it in my cast iron pot, not sure I would go for it in a frying pan.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago

I was under the impression ceramic is ok. Is anything wrong with that coating for cooking?

Only that you shouldn't expect it to actually be non-stick, LOL. Personally, I don't see the point of it and consider it inferior to cast iron, carbon steel, enameled cast iron, or stainless-clad aluminum.