Is a Teflon Pan with Many Knicks Okay?

N.,

I'm not a fan of Teflon in general, for all the reasons the other moms posted. Stainless steel pots and pans w/an aluminum core will last a lifetime (and then some), and you don't have to worry about anything wearing off on them.

My brother is a chef, and he tipped me off that you can get great pots & pans at T.J. Maxx and Marshall's. They are the overstocks and discontinueds from the major department stores, and the price is greatly reduced. I bought some there a few years ago. Also, if you don't mind secondhand, they do show up at Savers and Goodwill, too.

I heard the same things as the other two moms and so when my teflon pans started to show scratches, I told my mom and aunts last year that I had a Christmas list. They bought me all the new pans I needed and boy do I love them!

Angie

Get rid of your scratched up Teflon pots/pans. I have a few "rusty trusty" pans that I've had since college, and one day my mom came over and noticed them in the dish rack. She warned me about the risks, but I didn't have money to replace the whole set at one time. She bought me a whole new set for Christmas and explained that scratched/gouged Teflon pans can be toxic and get into your food. I didn't think it was a big deal till I made scrambled eggs one morning and found shards of it in my food. :/

Yes, few people claim to have gotten sick from it, but why risk it? A lot of places like Kohl's or even Target have nice sets of Teflon coated pots and pans for a reasonable price. And even if you can't get the whole set at once, it's worth it to buy a pan at a time to replace the ones you use the most. Hope this helps, and happy cooking! :)

N. - I'm a believer that Teflon in any condition is not good for us. I've thrown away all my teflon and teflon-like coated pans. Of course, some people, especially companies that produce teflon think it's ok. However, I don't want to take any chances with my family. I'm not willing to put their health at stake any longer so I've eliminated the toxic substance from my life.

Good luck,

any Teflon pan with knicks should be disgarded immediately. The nicks are indications that the teflon has probably been introduced into your food and could be a health hazard.

Definitely No! When we were in Florida in January there was a news story about a lady whose parrot keeled over after she had been cooking with a nonstick teflon pan. Apparantly, it even states on the directions when you buy a new pan that small pets and animals should not be in the cooking vicinity due to the toxic fumes. If it's not okay for small pets and birds...........I'm sure it is not good for us or our children.

throw all the scratched pans away. even if you can't see pieces of teflon in your food, its there. Better safe than sorry

If it is scratched in any way you should throw it out. Actually, we just started using only metal pans. They actually work very nicely as long as you use non-stick spray, or oil/butter for cooking.

No, it's not OK. They are only safe when they are intact! YOu could be ingesting that teflon. You should replace it.

We have gotten rid of all of our teflon pans. convenient they are, but toxic also. I would get rid of it for sure if there are knicks and scratches. that gets into your family's food. Throw them out. We use cast iron?! It is a great and inexpensive alternative.

Hi N.! I'm sorry to say that it's dangerous to cook with a teflon pan that has been scratched. Teflon itself is dangerous (it's recommended that people with birds not use teflon because of the toxic chemicals emitted while cooking) but I am in love with the idea of easy clean up so I have a couple non stick pans that I try not to use at high heat.
Most teflon, hard adonized, whatever kind of coating there is, is covering aluminum and whenever that barrier is breached then your food is in contact with aluminum which is a known neurotoxin.
Lot's of people will say...."I use them and no one in my family has ever gotten sick"......how very true! Many times we do not see an immediate reaction to things that are harmful to us.....but later on we reach a terrible result.
I hope that I didn't disappoint or depress you too badly! The best part is that you can start shopping around for a new favorite pan!

I personally use Teflon pans and also have heard all the stories about birds dieing, etc, etc. I believe that the Teflon pan is fine as long as it doesn't exceed an extremely high temperature not normally seen in cooking. However, if your pan is chipping I would definitely replace it. I just did that with a couple of my pans. You can't really tell for sure if you are getting the flakes in your food.

I think it would be ok, as long as the stuff isn't coming off in the food. I had a pan that I got about 8 years ago that I used all the time. I finally had to throw it out because the coating started to come off in the food one day when I used it. I hated having to toss it, but I just couldn't use it.

I recently have changed over all my cookware to stainless steel. It is all because of my search to make our home a safer, healthier place. Non-stick pans have a coating that helps things not stick. Unfortunately, this coating gives off chemicals that are toxic and get into the food you are going to consume. My suggestion would be to throw away the nicked non-stick pans and invest in something other than non-stick. I must say it gets some getting used to using something other than non-stick but I have been able to get rid of one more toxin in the home.

M. :)

Te others are right about getting rid of scratched, nicked, peeling nonstick pans. In addition, never heat your nonstick pans without something in them. They can emit toxic fumes.