Teflon Cookware

If your pans are $75-$100 industrial grade then sure, you can pay $50 bucks and have them recoated with Teflon (R) - see the company below:

OPI Inc.- Teflon Application, Teflon Coating, Fluorosurfacing

PO Box 759. Sheboygan, WI 53082 USA Phone 920 459 5100. Fax 920 459 5110, Freight Address: OPI Inc 2208 South 19 St Sheboygan, WI 53081 USA ...
www.lubecoat.com/ - Cached - Similar Otherwise - head to the nearest evil empire big box store and pay $5-$10 for another pan

$50 + S&H is too much money. How about if I were to remove all the remaining coating and grind and polish the aluminum to a smooth surface and use them without a non-stick coating? These pans are the home quality $20-30 pans. I have noticed on the TV cooking shows, most of the cooks use plain aluminum cookware without non-stick coatings or cast iron. I'm certain this is a widespread problem of non-stick cookware. A good procedure for restoring cookware with or without teflon would be welcomed by many.

Remember that Teflon is carcinogenic when inhaled or ingested.

So, if you sand, scrape, or remove the coating you should do so in an area where the dust and particles will not contaminate you or the area you live in. A respirator is a very good idea.

Good chefs use high quality cookware. The differences have more to do with heat distribution and how well they perform in that domain. Generally, they have more metal and the distribution of the metal is well engineered for performance.

There is commercial teflon cookware, but Teflon can only stand temperatures up to "med" without flaking.

Most restaurant kitchens use stainless or hard-anodized aluminum (Calfalon) which is very dark gray and can can look like teflon. This lets them leave the pan on the burner so it's ready when needed. Teflon is used for lower temperature cooking.

I have considered using a spray on / bake on teflon type product on aluminum pans - even purchased the product, but just haven't bothered trying to apply it. At home we use cast iron fry pans - we've got 4 in various sizes. Easy to use with only a little cooking oil, and easy to clean if you burn anything - try doing that on aluminum cookware !

That would be best. We use cast iron skillets and pots for all our cooking, once they are seasoned correctly they don't stick at all. We like them better than Teflon (R) and there's nver a chance of eating a fleck of Tef Even if they aren't seasoned correctly, the sticking is pretty easy to clean. Seasoning alum or cast iron will be the trick, and cleaning with only hot water (no soap) bothers some people. Soap takes the seasoning away. Get the water hot enough and the germs die.

I prefer cast iron but cast aluminum pans are okay. If you remove Teflon and season the pan as you would cast iron should be fine. To clean I just pour water into the pans and bring it to a boil usually releases anything stuck.

What would be the best way to remove the teflon?

I used a scraper, actually it was the one on the end of a barbecue brush, I just made sure it was true and sharp. I was careful not to dig the corners in.

Don't do it inside, but if you get the pans real hot, the teflon will burn off.

I just bought a set of Paula Dean pots. Stainless steel with copper bottom, no teflon.

I bought them cheap at an outlet store because one lid was missing, too expensive otherwise. They are awesome, no sticking yet, been about 6 months.

Sand blast it off is the usual way but sand paper will do. Might try one of those abrasive impregnated wire wheels. Aluminum Oxide is said to cut it pretty good.

I like cast iron, but they are sometimes too heavy to handle, especially when trying to flip food over in a pan. I like aluminum for it's lightness.

Clean?? Oh, thee heathen. Sprinkle some coarse salt in, heat it to maybe 150°F (That's lessee, something in Celsius - heck, just stick with F), then just wipe it out with a good coarse cloth.

The best part about cast iron is that you can buy perfectly good ones with maybe 50 years of seasoning at estate sales around here for $7 or $8.

If you worry about germs, light the gas flame, flip the pan upside down for 30 seconds, and you're right as rain.

Not sure, but I would try a light grit sand paper on a round drill-bit attachment, being careful to not pit/groove the aluminum. Since the cooking utensils have chipped some away we should surmize that any other abrasive material will work. Wear a dust mask and safety glasses!! I googled removing teflon from pans and found a bunch of different methods. I saw some chemical ones too, I vote for sanding/grinding with a fine medium.

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try.

180 grit emery cloth (suitable for wet cut down) and water with liquid dish wash detergent removes the Teflon coating with some diligent scrubbing.

Teflon is not carcinigenic and quite inert. It is an integral part of many artificial internal organ devices.

A wet cut down is quite a safe operation.

Bioramani

"Teflon is not carcinigenic and quite inert."

Not if it is reduced to dust and inhaled. OSHA permissible exposure limits are 5 mg/m3 respirable dust or 15 mg/m3 total dust.

Using water as an agent to carry it away is a good idea.

I found this interesting, it's directly copied from wiki teflon page:

The pyrolysis of PTFE is detectable at 200 °C (392 °F), and it evolves several fluorocarbon gases^[10][11] and a sublimate. Animal studies indicate that it is unlikely that these products would be generated in amounts significant to health at temperatures below 250 °C (482 °F),^[12] although birds are proven to be much more sensitive to these decomposition products.^[11][13]

While PTFE is stable and nontoxic, it begins to deteriorate after the temperature of cookware reaches about 260 °C (500 °F), and decomposes above 350 °C (662 °F).^[14] These degradation byproducts can be lethal to birds, and can cause flu-like symptoms in humans.^[14]

Meat is usually fried between 200–230 °C (392–446 °F), and most oils will start to smoke before a temperature of 260°C is reached, but there are at least two cooking oils (safflower oil and avocado oil) that have a higher smoke point than 260°C. Empty cookware can also exceed this temperature upon heating.

Degradation products of Teflon heated to over 550 deg. F (288 C) include cyanide gas and hydrogen fluoride gas. I quite smoking in 1973 when working with powdered PTFE because of the warnings.

Try googling this: NON_STICK SURFACE REPAIR SPRAY

Most are spray on and need a 550ºF bake.

Once you get the teflon off, you may want to find a shop that will anodize it. Anodized aluminum surfaces are said to be durable and non-stick. No experience with it, but I think anodizing would be cheaper than re-coating with teflon.

Let us know if you do and it works.

Sandpaper, with a water solution (I like the idea of the dish soap but it does make it harder to sand a salt water solution and light grit sand paper is the best method overall) to keep down the dust generated is the best way to clean them, make sure you get it all off though as it will peel off with cooking if not.

As for what is better to use I myself use a stainless steel set, very little sticking and if I DO forget I have some refried beans cooking in a pan for a day or two (happens once in a while) stainless steel (SS) has been the easiest for me to clean up afterwards! SS is lighter than cast iron (although for cooking steaks and fajitas indoors cast iron is the best!), they hold heat significantly better than aluminum (AL heats up fast but also loses heat fast so if you add a cool liquid to a hot pan the temperature drops quickly - overall AL is fine for things that do not need good temperature control but I would never fry anything in oil in aluminum since the temps are all over the place causing food to hold more grease/oil) and clean the easiest. My preference is stainless steel (oh yeah and with the right application of heat things rarely stick (except as noted above when I forget I am cooking things on a low heat)

At TVP45, salt cleaning at 150? Are you yanking my light saber?? I have not heard of that salt trick - I'll try anything once... Prices for used are about the same in the Pac NW as your area. I recently purchased a 14" deep Dutch Oven for $4 at a yard sale because it had caked, burnt food left in it, and the lid was rusty. I took the wire handle off the pot, and placed the pot and lid in our BBQ for about 2-3 hours at 450deg F (if I can beleive my BBQ therm) and both came out like they were brand new and ready to season. After a couple minutes with a wire brush, then some Crisco all over it and back in the BBQ at around 300deg for 5-10 min it was ready to use. New this would have cost $65-$75, plus I like restoring things that can be brought back to a perfectly good condition - just like Ronseto wants to continue to use his stuff.

At Ronseto - So that this is not "off topic" - the process for seasoning is above and if you'd like to yack via private email about cast iron and/or aluminum pot/pan seasoning just holler. I don't know what kind of material you handles are, so maybe the "heat treat" might not be for you.

Throw the pans away, you are being too cheap (I suffer under the same problems and ideas!)....

Either buy new ones (or iron ones) and NEVER put them in the dishwasher, EVER! That will give them a 2 - 4 times longer lifespan.

Never overheat Teflon, it ruins it quickly.

Cast iron needs salt as someone mentioned to get the surface right (and never wash it as someone else said), but it needs a temperature far hotter, like 200°C, not 150°F......200°C is almost 400°F.

Using an Induction hob reduces the possibility of burning dramatically, but you need the right pans to work. Test using a small magnet, if the magnet sticks, they will work.

There are some pans that are OK for induction, but the magnet will not stick, usually marked as induction OK....

Induction is far far safer than any other heating method as they will never get hot enough to set fire to oil....they just switch themselves off!!!

Also heating is completely even across the pans bottom.....

Search on CR for other blogs about induction.

Its also several times more efficient than other heating methods and releases far less heat into the kitchen, important in summer.....also the hob never gets really hot, only warm. Less danger for kids (of any age between 1 and 99 years!)

Induction is the cat's meow. Unfortunately, it hasn't taken hold here as well as it has in Europe. It is also very expensive here.

Doesn't have to be.

We use portable units that cost around €40 for single units, €80 for doubles.

We have 2 x doubles and 1 x single.....

We even take a double camping......portable is best. When we need the area in the kitchen they go in a drawer....

Fitted units cost from about €500 upwards, but I have no experience of those....

Way cheaper than here. Looked into importing, but the voltage differences and warranty issue made it impractical.

Even the table top ones are not cheap (if you want anything with a decent power rating).

There was someone else in the USA on CR4 and I believe he was able to buy single units at around $60 each.......at that price, if they go wrong after a couple of years, you just throw them away.....

While buying a non stick cookware, the first thing that needs to be checked is the coating which is used.Non stick cookwares coated with Teflon is harmful for Human Body. It has a substance called Carcinogen which can initiate cancer. There are several coating which are 100% natural.Ecolon is one of them. Neoflam is manufacturing non stick cookwares coated with Ecolon.

As an update, I removed all the coating with 400 grit wet or dry; then polished it with a polish impregnated cloth wheel. So far, nothing sticks to the pan. I am rhrough with teflon. From now on, it's either cast iron or commercial grade aluminum cookware. Cooking is one of my interests and I must have reliable cookware in my kitchen. Thank you all for your advise and good information.