Teflon?

[Janet]

I keep hearing about the dangers of Teflon. Should we totally avoid cooking (especially our birds food) in Teflon. Is it only bad if it burns or are there dangerous fumes released just when heated? I want to rid the kitchen of all Teflon, but my husband disagrees. Would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[LordTriggs]

Teflon fumes are dangerous, heating too high, heating without something in the thing that contains teflon, breakdown over time of the protective layers all lead to fumes and can kill your birds in minutes.

Why is he so attached to teflon? If it's the non-stick side of it there's tonnes of non-stick cookware that is Teflon free. I use Ceramic cookware 100% PTFE and PFOA free. Was pricey but it's good quality and I find it a lot better than the Teflon stuff I had before

 

[wrench13]

My wife is a avid cook, but we got rid of ALL our Teflon cookware a long time ago. We cook on stainless steel now. Teflon shows up in odd places in the home so be aware. THings like space heaters ( on the heating coils) and other heating elements. Teflon is used as a rust and corrosion preventer, and so is a caution especially the first few times the unit is used, and the Teflon cures and outgasses. Be aware that Teflon can be called other things too, or just be a part of a coating.

Cast iron also graces our kitchen too. A properly aged cast iron pan or pot will be essentially non stick and you can hand them down to your grand-kids as they are virtually indestructible.

 

[SilverSage]

Teflon is a hard no. Unless he thinks the risk is worth it to find out your fids have essentially drowned as the fumes cause fluid to fill the lungs, killing the birds in minutes.

We use stainless steel, which you can make “nonstick” with a handy trick with coconut oil, though I don’t bother honestly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SailBoat]

Lots of great advise above!!!

But when dealing with 'us guys' sometimes having us do our own research is just a better approach. Have him complete an Internet Search using: What are the dangers of PTFE or PFOA to Parrots

 

[Sunnyclover]

I am a chef (so this was painful for me) but the week we got Ollie we got rid of everything in the entire house that we thought could possibly contain Teflon. We even got rid of the rice cooker, the slow cooker, the deep fryer, baking cooling racks, cake tins, muffin tins, cookie sheets and pans... literally everything. We have since replaced these items with bird safe ones. I would DARE use anything unsafe for my birds...I would not even do it if they're sleeping or even if they are in another room. In fact I wouldn't even do it if they were not in the house for some reason. We don't even have any of it at our house because what if company comes and wants to cook breakfast or something like that and I'm asleep or showering and BAM my birds are dead. I don't want that to happen to us and I wouldn't risk it for all the perfectly cooking fish in the world.

 

[Janet]

Then it's settled!! Teflon is leaving the kitchen as soon as I get home from work. It's definitely not worth the risk! Thank you all so much for the input.

 

[Owlet]

Teflon fumes aren't entirely safe for humans either. Made convincing my dad to get a new pan set much easier
Teflon Coating Dangers

 

[Jen5200]

Agree with all of the above! I found that weird things like my toaster oven had teflon in it. I just looked at it as an excuse to do an overhaul of my kitchen stuff, and frankly much of the stuff that had to go ended up with much better quality replacements in order to get rid of the risky items

 

[Janet]

Looking on Amazon right now ... are any of these better than another? Any concerns with T-fal or reference to Multiclad or Tri-Ply?
- Cuisinart MCP-12N Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel
- T-fal Ultimate Stainless Steel Copper-Bottom Heavy Gauge Multi-layer Base
- Calphalon Classic Stainless Steel
- Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless Steel
- Chef's Star Professional Grade Stainless Steel
Just want to be sure my selection is safe.
Thank you again for your input!

 

[NightEule5]

Teflon fumes aren't entirely safe for humans either.

Yep. I'll absolutely second this as well as all the advice above. The PTFE fumes can cause flu-like symptoms in humans and PFOA is a carcinogen (causes cancer) on top of being toxic. Apparently, upon doing a quick search to Wikipedia, PFOA is found in the blood of 98% percent of the US population. It's found in stuff other than Teflon as well (although I've seen lots of Telfon products that are PFOA free).

Although PTFE breaks down at around 200°C - 260°C and many oils smoke at lower than that, I wouldn't chance it for birds or humans.

Edit:

Agree with all of the above! I found that weird things like my toaster oven had teflon in it.

Why they still use it is beyond me. If it can contain known carcinogens, shouldn't it be illegal? It was originally developed as a refrigerant (if I remember correctly), but has lots of other uses (hence it being found in unusual stuff). It's also, or was being tested for use on, satellites as well. So many uses for other than dangerous use in cookware. Why don't they just use it on stuff like that?

 

[MonicaMc]

Looking on Amazon right now ... are any of these better than another? Any concerns with T-fal or reference to Multiclad or Tri-Ply?
- Cuisinart MCP-12N Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel
- T-fal Ultimate Stainless Steel Copper-Bottom Heavy Gauge Multi-layer Base
- Calphalon Classic Stainless Steel
- Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless Steel
- Chef's Star Professional Grade Stainless Steel
Just want to be sure my selection is safe.
Thank you again for your input!

If they say PTFE and PFOA free, then you are good to go! I would assume that all of those are, but I also know that at least two or three of those brands also sell other pans that *do* contain PTFE.