France votes to ban ‘forever chemicals,’ exempting frying pans

That stuff sticks to (aka reacts with) literally nothing. That's the point of it. The whole innovation of nonstick cookware was the fact they got it to stick to something. It’s not even dangerous if you ingest it, it doesn’t react with anything so it just comes back out.

What IS dangerous is the by products and intermediate products, as well as the stuff that comes off if you overheat it. (And also, like you said, when they get old)

This whole movement against non-stick is alright, but so many people do it for the wrong reasons. If you have nonstick, just use it and don’t buy nonstick next time. Throwing away perfectly fine cookware like that is like boycotting charmin by flushing down all your remaining rolls in one go and going to the store to buy new toilet paper from another brand.

[...] and don't use it for two decades, [...]

You mean that a pan has to age? Or is it a burn.

The problem is that non-stick has been marketed heavily to the point that the majority of cheap pans are non-stick, even though there's many purposes they're not suitable for. For example they shouldn't be used for high heat cooking, but how many people don't know that? And they're extremely toxic if the surface is chipped. Using the wrong utensils on the can chip them. Plus, there's a number of pans out there that make it look like they're a different material, but actually it's just the same thing rebranded. So even if people are using them wrong, it's very understandable why someone who's a casual cook wouldn't realize that they're endangering themselves by using the pans wrong.

Adding carbon steel to this, because I love my pan, and my mother-in-law (who lives to cook) can use it without arthritis pain. She always used to complain about the cast iron hurting her joints when she lifted our other pans.

What I'm also curious about is the ceramic coated pans. I've seen them advertised (I think Green Pan, whatever). I would like a lighter alternative to Le Crouset that I could cook acidic foods in.

It's on the non stick coating for a lot of pans and can easily flake off and be ingested if you damage it by using metal utensils. This is why you should never use metal on nonstick.

Its the non-stick in the non-stick pan.

Nonstick pans, though most of the harm is from manufacture, not end-use

Its used as the nonstick coating

Cast iron FTW. Seasoning makes it non-stick, and it's so much easier to clean compared to other cookware, not to mention it holds a fuckton of heat to give everything a nice sear, and I can put it in the oven.

I've never used stone pans, though, so IDK how they compare.

Do tell. Stoneware as a brand name, or material?

I'm more of an enameled cast iron enjoyer myself

Carbon steel can, too. Plenty of non-nonstick options. And, amusingly enough, many of the highest quality of these items are produced in France.

Yeah, I've never liked teflon either. The coating always seems to get scratched up no matter how careful you are with it (and some of those flakes end up in your food). But some people swear by it, so I could see them getting angry about a ban.

I use all those pans and love them but I have never gotten them to be remotely non stick for low heat cooking. They're great at searing, and you should never sear in a non stick, but for low heat cooking I haven't found anything that remotely comes close to Teflon.

Almost as good and much bigger pain to use? Yeah, great deal lol

I'd add carbon steel pans as well. They're the good tradeoff between stainless and cast iron.

Cast iron doesn't like dishwashers though

Actually, you heat the pan without oil first - this is important. To test the temp, you can add a splash of water. The perfect temp is when the water pools together and bounces around. Once the pan is nice and hot, add oil. Let it get hot - use med-high heat. From there it is non-stick and you can adjust to your cooking temp. If you are dealing with really sticky food, you can throw out that initial hot oil, then add some fresh oil, bring it just to cooking temp and add your food. It sounds slightly complicated and takes a little practice, but if you do this, your stainless steel pans will work better than non-stick pans. Also, for deep cleaning your pans, you can soak with spent lemons or oranges and rinds. Can also add baking soda for extra cleaning power. For the outside of your pans, use barkeeper's friend once a year. Incorporate all this and you have excellent buy it for life stainless steel pans.

Stainless Steel Debian is good enough for me.

I don't fully agree with this, I've had nonstick pans in the past, and I had to baby the shit out of them to make sure they didn't scratch, and they can only really be used in certain applications (never in the oven, don't preheat, etc.)

I tossed my cast iron pan into a 800 degree pizza oven the other day and did not worry about anything. I beat the crap out of it with metal utensils, that are sturdier and better than their plastic counterparts, and it comes out smiling.

Yes I do have to hand wash it, but even that is easier because I can scrape any stuck on food off with a metal spatula or chainmail scrubber. If that's a deal breaker, just go stainless and move on.

Only if you are putting the nonstick into the dishwashee.