Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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We've always been teflon free. Stainless steel for everything - with the exception of pressure cookers. Currently my wife is using a mix of all-clad and revere. Cast iron is just too damn heavy for her and since we share the cooking - it makes more sense to buy pots and pans that she's able to lift.
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Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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Don't forget:
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Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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I hear you on the expensive part with Creuset. Never bought one new myself. So price never has been a factor. The are a family heirloom, or a yard sale score. Maybe a wedding gift if you're lucky.
I will say that I made my tomato sauce this year in a big enameled Creuset, and it turned out better than ever. I know that the acidity in tomatoes reacts with cast iron, and I now suspect that there is some reactivity even with stainless. The sauce from the Creuset was just head and shoulders above any tomato sauce I have made before. So for high acid foods, the enameled surface really seems superior to me. I do like a seasoned cast iron best for high heat cooking, no doubt. |
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Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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Le Creuset is HORRIBLY expensive everywhere. It is actually cheaper in the US than in France. Yes it is good, but...
1. It is expensive. 2. It doesn't come in enough shapes and sizes to cook for every situation. 3. It is expensive. 4. Properly seasoned cast iron is actually more non-stick than the porcelain 5. Did I mention it is expensive? I just bought a new load of BIG cast iron--a 14" deep skillet with lid (really a dutch oven with handle and the lid doubles as a griddle), a 20" skillet with lid, and a 16" lid for a skillet I already had--all of that was less than a small LeC. Now I need to upgrade my pot rack and make a new lid rack. I have exceeded the weight rating of my pot rack! |
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Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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Lucky for me I don't get the...gastric distress...that cripples some people 
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Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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| David, if you are in France and want good durable kitchen equipment you could try your local brocante. | |
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Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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Adam Le Creuset! you are joking I was looking in a shop yesterday where the price of a Le Creuset was over 200euro for a large cassrole. They are good yes but not 200 euro good plus the colour clash's with my hair . Leila Jeruslem artichokes not a problem as I refuse to eat them  as they make me feel ill. Tapinanbour is the name for this weed in france.
David |
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Subject: Teflon, free
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I use a very cheap cast iron pan and an ancient 'Dutch oven' which work beautifully.
For cooking involving lots of water, I use heavy-bottomed stainless steel pots. I have a wide-bottomed 10L pot which is great for general use, as well as jam etc. When I cooked professionally, we used steel pans a lot. I love them and always mean to get one for stifrying, which I find cast iron isn't ideal for. We used to be fanatical about maintaining the seasoning on 'our' steel pans, and it was one of the first lectures for a new dish washer: Do not, under any circumstances, make them shiny! Even more offtopic...Some vegetables react to cast iron, although I've noticed that it's less of an issue with a well-seasoned pan. I have an unpleasant childhood memory of Jerusalem artichokes boiled in a cast iron Dutch oven over an open fire: totally black, tasting like smoky dirt and making us fart something awful. I got over it, but it took a while! |
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Subject: Teflon, free
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France is the homeland of Le Creuset, the greatest cooking pots/pans ever. Not cheap here in the US, but maybe more available/affordable in France? If I had my way, I would use Creusets exclusively in the kitchen. Much better in every regard than cast iron, IME. Vive Le Creuset! |
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Subject: Teflon, free
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Cheap cast iron is much easier in the US. I have a ton of it (literally) from Goodwill, garage and estate sales, even new cheap.
We have been Teflon free for several years, 90% aluminum free, and probably 80% plastic free. The last bits are hard. |
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Subject: Teflon, free
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we have been on the path to teflon free for awhile now. almost there.
we have been able to find cast iron and enamel coated cast iron sets on craigslist.org for a decent price. weve also been gifted a few enamel coated cast iron pans. some are even made in France
we cant seem to find smallish saucepans in either variety, but we will keep looking. those are what we are lacking to be teflon free. my favorite is the 2 burner griddle. bacon and pancakes in/on the same pan, mmmmmm |
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Subject: Teflon-free cooking
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Today is our first teflon free day .
Here in France there are no cheap options for going teflon free , no nice lodge logic deals at the supermarcket or ebay and very few second hand possibilities . Its not that I think teflon has any health problems but I have come to the conclusions its a very well thought out scam to get us all to consume more . How long does a teflon pan last ? whilst a cast iron or plate steel one can last forever . Since I am unemployed we have to save up . So now we have One black cast iron large skillet two black cast iron veg pans one cast iron casserole two plate steel 'bayuer ' frying pans cast iron grill pan now to save to get the kitchen plastic free ....... David |
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