Cooking: High Quality Cookware » nonstick cookware

Nonstick Pans & Pets

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:36:10 +0000

One of our readers recently sent in this reminder on the dangers of nonstick cookware:

As a pet owner, one thing that bothers me is people using nonstick pans (such as tefal pans) when they have pet birds. Without proper ventilation, these pans can actually harm or kill birds, as the fumes they let off whilst heating are very toxic. To make sure my birds will be okay, I prefer to use a heavy cast iron pan – they may be expensive to buy at first, but an investment in a Le Creuset pan will soon pay off – they do last forever.

Non-Sticking High Quality Cookware

admin — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:16:47 +0000

Today we live in a convenience world. Everything should be as easy and convenient as possible – it’s one of the reasons why our society is so successful because we often make the most efficient use of our time. Non-sticking high quality cookware fits right in.

We used to be bigger families a hundred years ago, with several generations living under the same roof. So each meal was cooked for a dozend people and afterwards there was a long cleaning procedure, scrubbing pots and pans for hours.
But today we are often single households, or a family with one or two kids. The old tools of the kitchen chef just don’t make sense anymore for most of us. We need something that is easy to use and easy to clean. All you need to clean nonstick cookware is a soft sponge and warm soap water. You shouldn’t put it in the dishwasher (even if the manufacturer says you can – it will definitely shorten the lifespan of your nonstick cookware).

While there are some cheap nonstick cookware items around I would strongly advice you NOT to buy them. Instead either go for a cheap aluminum pan or be ready to invest more money in your kitchen equipment and get a really good nonstick cookware set. That’s the thing with nonsticking cookware: either expensive quality or not at all! Cheap cookware won’t do you any good, believe me. Currently I don’t know of any kind of nonstick cookware that will last nearly as long as for example stainless steel cookware, but a good set will still last you for many years if you take good care of it. A cheap set however won’t be usable for a long time, often already wearing off a couple of weeks after you first used it.

Another benefit of nonstick cookware is that you will need much less oil. This also is a good accomodation to our modern lifestyle. We used to be hard physical workers, but nowadays we are what Peter Drucker called “knowledge workers” – we work with our brains, not our muscles. This caused a change in our dietary needs, specially we need much less fat.

So the point I really want to make here is – if you choose nonstick kitchen equipment then be ready to spend more and invest in a good high-quality cookware set.