Shopping for a Frying Pan

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Michael569 said:

Maybe..... I'd love to see someone look into this. Follow a cohort of 100 people who use different pans and see their urinary and tissue levels (confirmed by biopsy) of different heavy metals change after a year. Otherwise, we're all just fearmongering and many of these arguments are based on thin air. I also like to believe that certain companies do adhere to certain corporate social responsibility and not all arguments and claims are BS.....but maybe I'm kidding myself 

Not maybe, definitely.

Just look at the reviews of the pan you linked. Look at how the coating scratches off in the pics. All ceramic coated pans scratch off like that. And where do you think that coating goes? In your food.

[Recress]

Thanks Leo, so stainless steel all the way? I hope I can find one easily, I was considering to pick the Ceramic one since I saw one on some cooking channel before.

[Snader]

1 hour ago, Hello from Russia said:

@Snader yeah, this is exactly what I was seeing. Do you have any idea if this is dangerous or not? 

The aluminium layers below are fine but if the frying area itself contains lots of aluminium then I'm a bit skeptical.

Basically SS is a mix of different alloys and it's not a surprise that it contains aluminium but I thought that the material they use to make pans would be pretty clean especially clean from dangerous materials such as aluminium. By default I think the quantity of it must be really small and harmless, but if the product information says it's aluminium then I don't know. 

 

[Leo Gura]

The core is aluminum. It is wrapped in steel. This should not be a problem. The steel is not merely a coating, it's a solid thick layer. No aluminum is getting through that steel.

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Recress said:

Thanks Leo, so stainless steel all the way? I hope I can find one easily, I was considering to pick the Ceramic one since I saw one on some cooking channel before.

Don't get anything coated. It must be solid so nothing can scratch off.

I mostly use bamboo cooking utensils. Very cheap and all-natural. Steel is great too.

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, Justine said:

Hi I use ceramic.

Brand -green pan, with bamboo utensils to prevent damage

Not all cookware is created equal. As the inventor of healthy ceramic non-stick cookware, GreenPan is the trusted go-to brand for non-toxic, easy to clean and easy to use pots and pans. Free from PFAS, PFOA, lead and cadmium allows you to create healthy meals with confidence. There’s no risk of toxic fumes or harmful pollutants being released either if you accidentally overheat your pan. Using minerals instead of plastic and upcycling stainless steel and aluminium adds to GreenPan’s already green credentials

Bullshit

Their coating still flakes off, just like any other non-stick coating.

Beware of companies who prey on your health-consciousness by offering you gimmicks and healthy-sounding words.

Pssst... hey kid... do you want to buy some green cigarettes? Free of lead and cadmium.

[Hello from Russia]

12 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Bullshit

Their coating still flakes off, just like any other non-stick coating.

Beware of companies who prey on your health-consciousness by offering you gimmicks and healthy-sounding words.

This is actually such a huge problem, meh. It really takes an ENORMOUS amount of consciousness and discernment to navigate all this marketing bs. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Hello from Russia

[Recress]

I finally bought a stainless steel multi purpose cooking pot. I made sure that its 100% steel based on the box. Also bought some cheap bamboo utensils. Health investments as its finest. Im going to throw away my scratch-off teflon pans now.

[Preety_India]

@Recress did you get it on Amazon? 

Would it be available in my country too? 

[Virtus]

@Leo Gura Is there something like "harmless" coating, because my mom tells me we have a pan with such coating 

[Leo Gura]

41 minutes ago, Virtus said:

@Leo Gura Is there something like "harmless" coating

I've never seen one.

Any kind of coating will be a non-natural chemical. And it will flake off into your food.

Take a fork and scratch your pan. Watch the coating flake off.

That's why all these pans tell you to never scratch them with metal. But over time they all scratch regardless.

Quote

because my mom tells me we have a pan with such coating 

What does she know?

[Hello from Russia]

Resisting your family's beliefs about health is like Applied Epistemology 101 test exam

Edited March 16, 2021 by Hello from Russia

[Snader]

I bought a 40 euro SS pan from Ikea and did some testing.

I have a stove that has 6 power options; 1-6. I tried to fry some vegan stuff and eggs on level 5 (like I've used to with my previous pans) but both of those stuck and burned pretty badly.

Next I tried the Mercury Ball Test which Osaid linked on this thread. According to that test level 3 is the proper with my stove, so I tried to fry my vegan stuff with that heat. It didn't burn but the heat seemed to be really poor. It didn't make any whoosh noise like it previously has when I've fried on a bit higher and even my mushrooms barely got any brown. It was still fine with what I cooked because that stuff is quite edible even without any heating or frying, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been able to fry any raw meat properly with that level of heat.

Today I fried eggs on level 4 and it seemed to be fine, it just takes a bit more time than I've used to. It stuck a bit but not too much. I think that same level is proper for other food too.

Plenty of coconut oil was used every time.

So in conclusion to fry your food on a SS pan properly it's just a matter of finding that optimal heat, which is probably lower than you use on other coated pans, so it requires a bit more patience. I personally need to work on that because I'm kind of a speed runner when it comes to making food  But I prefer suffering the extra few minutes every day instead of suffering from cancer caused by a toxic coating 

 

[Leo Gura]

@Snader Keep in mind, a $40 SS pan from Ikea is cheap crap. So it will not cook as well as a proper $150 SS pan.

Secondly, SS pans can produce very nice sears. You just need to find the right temp. SS pans have a bit of a learning curve. But once you learn it, making dishes is very easy.

Don't expect an SS pan to be as non-stick as a Teflon or Ceramic pan. It never will be. But the pan can last you decades, unlike Teflon pans which you gotta change ever few years. So in the end, Teflon pans are actually more expensive.

[mmKay]

On 14/3/2021 at 10:31 AM, Leo Gura said:

No one's got time for that shit.

 

Get into wok cooking guys. Get a home wok burner and have 3 minute meals. Only thing I've seen break in these in years is the handle

[amps]

I haven't used my frying pan since I got an instant pot. It has a stainless steel pot which you can use for sauteeing foods and it works just as well as a frying pan. I use it to cook all veg, meat, grains... I basically got no use for my other pans and pots anymore. Pressure cooking apparently preserves nutrients quite well too. I recommend getting one of those instead of dropping a bunch of money on a high quality frying pan. Frying stuff isnt optimal for good health anyways.

[OmAhHungVajraGuru]

I believe clay pots to be the most safe, eco friendly & the taste of cooking in clayware is unbeatable mainly because you have to slow cook otherwise the pot cracks. 

 

Some eastern nutritionists also believe that cooking in claypots retains nutrients from food that would usually be lost due to the heat. They also claim that the cookware itself adds trace minerals to the food making it conducive to health. 

I would assume that the quality of the soil matters to make sure nothing bad leeches into the food. 

Heres a video of how they make these, very eco friendly