Cuisinart Greenware Cookware
December 8, 2009
Moms – here is a gift to add to your Christmas wish list!
For months, I’ve been scowling every time I use my skillets. Marked with years of use, I just wasn’t confident that we weren’t eating the black flaky nonstick coating. So, when I was asked what was on my birthday wish list, I excitedly said new skillets!
What I got was better than just new skillets – I got a whole new set of cookware from Cuisinart, their Greenware collection. We’ve been using it for two months and couldn’t be happier! I chose the Greenware collection because I wanted affordable PFOA free and PTFE free cookware and I found it came highly recommended from other users.
Why PFOA and PTFE free? Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a synthetic chemical that does not occur naturally in the environment. The EPA has been investigating PFOA because it is found at very low levels both in the environment and in the blood of the general U.S. population, remains in people for a very long time and causes developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals. PFOA is used as part of the production of PTFE - which is widely known as Teflon. A 2005 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study detected PFOA in finished PTFE products including PTFE/Teflon cookware. A February 2007 New York State Department of Health study detected PFOA in the gas phase coming from new nonstick cookware and microwave popcorn bags.
A study released in 2009 from UCLA found that pregnant women and women of child-bearing age with elevated levels of PFOA (Teflon) and PFOS experienced higher levels of difficulty conceiving and were 2x as likely as being diagnosed with infertility.
Cuisinart recommends that when using the Greenware cookware, you should cook at a lower temperature. So if you normally cook something at high, you should try medium or medium-high. I’ve found this to work fine. Bonus: energy savings (and $$).
When cooking with any non-stick cookware (including cookie sheets, pie and cake pans), make sure to take these precautions :
- don’t preheat on high
- don’t put the cookware into an oven heated at 500+ degrees
- run the exhaust fan while cooking
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