what kind of pots and pans?

[santosha]

i was wondering what kind of pots and pans are the most "natural"? see, i'm thinking all that non stick nonsense is possibly pretty toxic, aluminum = alzheimers... you get my drift. so what do you use to cook in?

tia

[Arduinna]

I use hard anodized aluminum pans alot. But I also love my regular cast iron, and enameled cast iron. I also have some stainless steel stockpots that I use for canning.

[LaLa]

I'd love to switch to iron skillits, but haven't yet. We'll be getting some alluminum pans from MIL for holidays and I have one iron skillit that I need to season first before using.

I can't wait to get rid of the tephlon coated pans! I hate those things!!!

[Peppamint]

Hi! I use stainless steel pots with aluminum discs on the outside bottom for even cooking.

We quit using non-stick last year after it started flaking into our food even though I only used wooden utensils in it.

I'd use iron skillets, but I have a ceramic top stove so that's not possible.

Good luck!

[americle]

Check out an earlier thread:
http://216.92.20.151/discussions/sho...threadid=10410

Here is a copy of the reply I posted there. Hope it helps:

As far as cookware goes, I use primarily enameled metal, like Le Cruset. Not cheap, but WONDERFUL. I started using it after reading Rebecca Wood's "Whole Foods Encyclopedia" (a must-have kitchen resource for the health conscious!) and finding her website, www.benourished.com. On her website she has some wonderful recipes and information, plus a question and answer forum. It was there I found this question addressed, and I've cut and pasted it from her website below. Hope it's helpful!

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Q: What's the healthiest cookware to use? -- Shelly Ann, Lucas, TX.

A: Imagine me offering you two steaming cups of tea. One hand holds a Styrofoam cup and the other a ceramic mug. Without even thinking, you automatically reach for the mug.

One taste of hot tea in a Styrofoam cup and you know you're drinking more than tea. Even though the cup looks stable, it's not. And have you noticed how dried foods stored in plastic bags start to taste like plastic? It's because food ions react with synthetic or metallic ions.

The poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) found in plastic wrap leaches into food according to a Consumer Reports study in June 1998. People eating plastic wrapped cheese, for example, could be ingesting high levels DEHA, a hormone disrupting toxin. Please favor non-reactive containers and covers and do NOT use plastic wrap in a microwave.

Fatty foods and acidic foods react more quickly than other foods. Therefore, never store oils, vinegar, tomatoes or wine in flexible plastic containers because these foods more quickly draw chemicals from plastic. (A heavier, inert plastic container is, however, acceptable). And do not store food in plastic containers that once contained chemicals.

Beyond Styrofoam and plastic, consider the reactivity of your various kitchen tools and cookware. There's good reason why glass and ceramic beakers are used in a chemistry lab where its critical that containers don't taint the experiment.

Non-Reactive Cookware includes earthenware, ceramic, enamel and glass. Quality enamel pots, such as Le Creuset and Chantal are actually a fused glass surface. With proper care, a fine enamel pot lasts a lifetime; whereas, inexpensive enamel cookware from variety stores has such a thin enamel layer that it chips easily and is not worth its purchase price. Once chipped, discard enamel kitchenware or enamel fragments will find their way into your food.

Glass coffee pots and casserole dishes are non-reactive and affordable. Lead-free earthenware and ceramic cookware emit a far-infrared heat, the most effective and beneficial heat for fine cookery. They are found in some kitchen supply shops or from your local potter.

Also, favor non-reactive kitchenware such as wooden spoons, bamboo steamers and paddles and glass storage containers.

While anodized aluminum pots are not reactive, manufacturing them is toxic to the environment, so I can't endorse them. In the anodizing process, the etch reacts with aluminum and the resulting highly caustic outgas is vented into the atmosphere. Neither do I recommend CorningWare or VisionWare because these products contain synthetic polymers.

Reactive cookware includes stainless steel, aluminum, synthetically coated cookware and plastic cookware. Heavy-gauge stainless or surgical steel is the least reactive metal. Remove food from metal as soon as it is cooked to minimize its metallic taste. Once stainless steel has been scratched through normal scouring the leaching of metallic ions is more noticeable.

Cast iron pots are good for quick breads, pancakes and crepes and for sautéing vegetables. Do not, however, cook soups, liquids or acid foods in cast iron as these foods leach harsh-tasting iron from the pot. Keep in mind that acidic and fatty foods in general react more quickly than other foods.

Cooking with aluminum or aluminum foil enriches your food with aluminum to the detriment of your health. Avoid Teflon and all other synthetic coated cookware. They contain polymers that react with and/or chip off into your food. When dry heated, these polymers emit fumes that are lethal to parakeets. Parakeets or not, who needs noxious fumes flooding the kitchen.
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[Pynki]

Well we have a flat top/glass top range, and we use cast iron.. My dh got it for me last summer from sam's club because they were on sale and i am perpetually anemic... So anything that will help is a good thing..

Warm Squishy Feelings....

Dyan

[Peppamint]

Can you use Le Cruset with ceramic top stoves? TIA

[americle]

busybusymama -- I don't know, to be honest. Here is their website; you may find out there:

http://www.lecreuset.com/

[Peppamint]

Originally posted by americle
busybusymama -- I don't know, to be honest. Here is their website; you may find out there:

http://www.lecreuset.com/

I'll check the site out... thanks!

[Peppamint]

Okay to use on glass-topped stoves

Using Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron
Le Creuset cast iron is suitable for all heat sources and is tested and approved by the Good Housekeeping Institute for use on glass-topped stovetops. However, owing to the natural weight of cast iron, it is advisable to lift the cookware on and off the burner instead of sliding them across the surface. Care should also be taken not to bang the cast iron down on the ceramic surface.

Looks like it's safe to use as long as you're careful. I'll have to save up some money and buy some later!

[adb252001]

We use Le Creuset. Well, partner does. Very expensive and a wedding gift otherwise i wouldn't buy them.

[Peppamint]

Originally posted by adb252001
We use Le Creuset. Well, partner does. Very expensive and a wedding gift otherwise i wouldn't buy them.

You don't like them?

[adb252001]

busybusymomma I don't cook so if I did I would probably buy them but, the kitchen is my partners playroom

[Peppamint]

Originally posted by adb252001
busybusymomma I don't cook so if I did I would probably buy them but, the kitchen is my partners playroom

Okay, good. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't something you disliked about them!

[Seeking Refuge]

I have two Le crueset pans that I never use because I think they are hard to clean. I have stainless steel pots and pans with encapsulated copper bottoms that I like just fine. I posted a non-toxic copper cleaner under the recipes thread that gets the bottoms clean and shiny.

I do use wooden and bamboos spoons and spatula to cook with and I never touch the non stick stuff.

Take Care,

Steph.