Must-Watch Movie Recommendation and My Best Tips for Cast Iron
Last night my husband and I watched the movie Dark Waters, which tells the true story of a lawyer who uncovers evidence that DuPont has been knowingly poisoning the people of Parkersburg, West Virginia through the manufacturing of Teflon. He subsequently goes up against the giant chemical company DuPont in a lawsuit.
It was such a powerful movie and I highly recommend you see it. After learning about the dangers of PFOA, which is used to make Teflon, you will probably want to ditch your non-stick cookware.
I want to give you some alternatives and share my experience with a couple different kinds of non-toxic cookware.
GreenLife Ceramic Non-Stick Cookware. This is an affordable brand of ceramic cookware that claims to be non-toxic. Our family has several of these skillets and unfortunately after time, the coating has scratched off, exposing the aluminum core. I am not comfortable with eating flakes of coating OR the aluminum underneath. This is not an option I can personally recommend.
Stainless steel is a high quality, long lasting, non-toxic option. All of my sauce pans and soup kettle are stainless steel with vented glass lids. Besides using these for soups and sauces, I use them for anything with tomatoes in it, since cast iron should not be used with acidic foods.
Cast iron is indestructible, affordable, and completely safe.
Here are some tips for cast iron:
1- Season! Invest a little time up front to season your cast iron pans, which sets you up for success with minimal sticking of food. Here is the best instructions I have found for seasoning cast iron.
2- Preheat the pan! Place the cast iron pan on your stovetop and turn the burner on a few minutes BEFORE adding your food. This will preheat the pan and prevent food from sticking. You can hold your hand over the pan to check if it is hot enough yet.
3- Grease it well! After you’ve preheated the pan, use butter or oil to evenly coat the surface. The butter should sizzle if the pan is preheated enough.
4- Use a sturdy, flat bottomed cooking utensil to stir or flip your food while cooking (such as this “pancake turner”). With cast iron there is no need to fear damaging the surface, so don’t worry about scraping or scratching it.
*(Note: The movie does contain bad language so I would not recommend it for children younger than teenagers. You can see the specific questionable content on the Plugged In review here.)
5- Clean it properly! Watch the video below as I show you how.