Is Nonstick Cookware Good for You?

Best Pots and Pans Set

When it comes to kitchen sets there are thousands of options, but how do you know what is the best choice for you and your family?
Stainless steel looks great, but heats slowly and is much too heavy for every day cooking. Tri-ply provides the best of all words, but food will stick if you aren't careful. Hard-anodized has some of the properties of nonstick cookware, but does not truly qualify as nonstick. Finally, cast iron not only sticks, but requires two hands to lift the heavy cookware.
That brings us to nonstick cookware, a convenient kitchen set that heats up quickly and is much less likely to stick than any other kitchen set.
Teflon, a brand name nonstick coating, was accidentally discovered by Roy J. Plunkett in 1938 and gained popularity in the kitchen in the 1950's, giving birth to nonstick cooking sets.
Nonstick cookware is usually made from aluminum, a lightweight metal that makes it easy to flip, turn and transform your dishes into culinary masterpieces. Nonstick cooking sets are much more manageable than their heavy, cast iron and stainless steel cousins.
In addition to being lightweight, nonstick cookware provides many benefits including, but not limited to:
• Food is less likely to burn and stick than with other kitchen sets
• Nonstick cookware requires less stirring and turning
• Much less fat is needed to cook in nonstick cookware
• Nonstick cookware requires less heat for the same task
• Nonstick cookware is much cheaper than other cookware
Nonstick kitchen sets are coated with layers of polytetraflouroethylene or PTFE to prevent food from sticking. Teflon is a brand name PTFE.
There has been concern in the media over the nonstick coating (PTFE) and whether it is truly safe for food.
Nonstick cooking sets are perfectly safe if used at suggested heat levels (below 349 °C ). But, if heated over 349 °C (660 °F), the PTFE coating will begin to melt, releasing byproducts into the food and air. While the melted PTFE is not deadly to humans, it can increase cholesterol in children under age 18 and cause polymer fume fever.

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