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.

  • andyburke@fedia.io
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    7 hours ago

    Plastic and food shouldn’t mix.

    We fucked up real bad. Gonna be a long road to fix this shit.

  • bizarroland@fedia.io
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    7 hours ago

    Also, if you have a cast iron pan that is extremely rusted, get a brass bristle drill attachment and blast all the rust off with it.

    After you have finished that and cleaned it, season it like the other poster mentioned and it will be as smooth as almost any Teflon you’ve ever used.

      • bizarroland@fedia.io
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        6 hours ago

        I have found cast iron pans in the trash that were trashed because they were Rusty. Cleaning them, de-rusting them, and reseasoning them was enough to put them back into service and they are some of my favorite cast iron.

      • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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        6 hours ago

        excess iron can be dangerous but how can anyone cook without fat… unless they wash it heavy duty soap every time.

  • cabbage@piefed.social
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    8 hours ago

    Do yourself a favour and start using proper cast iron or stainless steel frying pans as well. You gotta learn how to use them, but it’s a whole different level. I’m never going back to non-stick.

    To get started with a new pan:

    1. Pour a bit of oil in it
    2. Dry it ALL up with a paper towel
    3. Heat up to high temperature, let cool.
    4. Repeat three times or so. This creates a coating of hardened oil.

    Never, ever, wash with soap. If you do by accident, repeat the above process to coat the pan again.

    When cooking:

    1. Heat up pan
    2. Add oil
    3. Add things into pan only when hot
    4. Use water or wine to deglaze when things get a little stuck. That’s where you get deliciousness from - it’s a feature, not a bug.

    I use an old cast iron that’s a bit rugged in the bottom for pancakes. It’s the most amazing thing ever. I found it in the trash one day. The cast iron allows me to use a steel spatula when it needs to be thin, otherwise I use wood.

    • almar_quigley@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      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?

        • edric@lemm.ee
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          3 hours ago

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

        • snooggums@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          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?

    • athairmor@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      A new cast iron pan should be washed with soap and water. They’re usually coated with something you don’t want to be eating to keep them from rusting from the factory to your home. You scrub that off and then season it.

    • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      I wash my cast iron with dish soap after every use and I can still slide eggs around in the pan. Definitely agree, though. I only have 1 non-stick pan that I almost never use. Stainless steel and cast iron are really the only 2 types that you need

    • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
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      6 hours ago

      I thought this is only something done to cast iron. Should you do this with stainless steel pots too?!