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Why you can’t cook in a scratched pan
Burnt food in such a frying pan is the least nuisance. Can I continue to use cookware with a damaged non-stick coating?
A nonstick skillet, they say in advertisements, is the first thing a health conscious person needs to get hold of. After all, you can fry in such a dish practically without oil. This is really helpful. Especially if you remember what fatty dishes our grandmothers got when they cook potatoes or even scrambled eggs in a frying pan without any coatings there.
But what is useful, under certain conditions, can pose a threat to health. Many have heard of the myth about the dangers of frying pans with a damaged non-stick coating. In fact, it all depends on the type of coating: ceramic, titanium or even diamond.
“We often cook in aluminum pans. In order not to harm yourself, it is recommended not to clean it with metal brushes (this damages the previously formed protective layer of aluminum oxides on the surface of the dishes) so that food does not interact with metal (aluminum). It is dangerous to cook compotes and soups in such a dish. Fruit acids react with aluminum, and aluminum salts are formed, which, entering our body, cause damage to cell membranes (cell membranes). For the same reason, you should not use pans with a damaged teflon layer: there is unoxidized metal underneath, and it begins to oxidize during the cooking process on the damaged surface of the pan. “
The most dangerous is a scratched Teflon coating – since it contains perfluorooctanoic acid, it is a carcinogen that can affect the human body. In particular, on the liver and thyroid gland.
A number of researchers believe that when heated, Teflon is dangerous not only for humans, but also for poultry. If a parrot lives in the kitchen, the substances released from the dishes with a non-stick layer enter the air and can cause illness in birds, shortening the life span. So such a frying pan is dangerous not only for those who eat from it.
Manufacturers of Teflon cookware consider their products to be safe, but they advise you to carefully read the instructions. For example, you should not heat the pan to 230 degrees (this means that it is not recommended to bake food in it in the oven) and use dishes with a damaged coating. If the pan is damaged, then Teflon will enter the food and at the same time into the air that the family breathes in the kitchen.
By the way, with such a coating there are not only pans, but also multicooker bowls, baking sheets, waffle iron, toasters.
How do I repair a scratched coating?
There are tips on the Internet on how to independently remove a damaged Teflon layer using sandpaper, a drill and a stiff brush. But even a cookware manufacturer advises against resorting to such manipulations. It is impossible to polish the pan by completely removing the non-stick layer at home. You can, of course, ask the masters to make a new coating, but this service will cost almost like a new frying pan.
So, if you are worried about your health and the health of your loved ones, it is better to put the scratched dishes in a far corner and use only for storing something.
What about other coatings?
Ceramics considered the most environmentally friendly material, but also the most fragile – it is easy to scratch, the material is sensitive to temperature contrasts. But at the same time, such dishes are not afraid of heating up to 400 degrees, unless, of course, you decide to fill it with ice water immediately after the oven.
Stone or granite the coating is less afraid of knives and forks than others. It’s not easy to spoil it. But the price of such pans is much higher.
Titanium pan good in that the material does not enter into any reaction with products. But many housewives are simply uncomfortable using such dishes, they are very heavy and cumbersome.
What destroys the protective layer of the frying pan?
High temperature when roasting or baking.
Dishwasher safe.
Do not pour cold water on non-stick pans until they have cooled down.
When stirring, do not use metal spatulas.
The pan should not be heated when it is empty, as the moment of overheating occurs rather quickly.