Non- Toxic Kitchen
I listened to a podcast the other day with the founder of Caraway Home (here is the podcast), and the guy said that 10 years ago he put a pan on the stove, forgot about it while taking a phone call with his dad, and left it on the burner for 45 minutes. He came back to the kitchen and the pan was totally burnt and smoking and him and his wife ended up getting Teflon poisoning. So what is Teflon? Teflon is the chemical used to make non-stick cookware. It is known as a PFAS which are chemicals known as “forever chemicals.” PFAS aren’t just in cookware, a lot of water is contaminated with PFAS. So when you boil your rice or noodles in unfiltered water, you are ingesting toxins from that too.
Teflon has links to every type of cancer, lower sperm counts, neurological disorders, and effects sleep. It only takes 2.5 minutes for Teflon to break down once you turn the flame on. So even if you’re getting the cleanest eggs or meat, but you’re cooking it on a non-stick pan, you are ingesting toxins into your body.
When buying cookware, you want to use either ceramic, cast iron, or stainless steel. These are all safe to cook with.
Cast Iron
I’m partial to cast iron just because that’s what I’ve always used growing up. Sierra Trading Post always has a ton of cast iron pans from Lodge. I recently bought a dutch oven there for $35 and I love it so much and can use it to cook anything from ground beef to soup. I use cast iron skillets even when making cookies. I feel like people are intimidated by cast iron, but they’re really not that complicated. Whenever I need to heat up something on the pan, I just add a splash of water and put a lid over it, and it’s warm in minutes. It helps to have a metal spatula when using these pans. When cleaning it, just scrub it clean (these copper sponges clean it very easily), I only use soup if it’s really greasy, and dry it off with a rag so it doesn’t rust. Fun fact, if you’re anemic, cast iron is a great choice for you because you’ll get some iron from the pan.
Ceramic & Stainless steel
Caraway has great ceramic and stainless steel options. I’ve never used them but they have good reviews. Kind of expensive, but all you really need is one pan. They also have cookie sheets, and utensils that are free of toxins and plastics.
Another thing you want to steer away from in your kitchen are plastics. Plastics are found in so many things in the kitchen, from Tupperwares, to utensils, and coffee machines. Once it’s heated, it’s leaching plastics into your food. Example: using a Keurig or Mr. Coffee Machine and the hot water is being strained throughout the whole plastic machine and then you’re drinking that coffee every single day, heating up your food in a plastic container in the microwave, or using a plastic utensil when cooking something on the stove. That is seeping microplastics into your body. Between water, food, and plasticware “an average person takes in anywhere from 18.33 to 71.69 grams per year of plastic particles.” That’s equivalent to eating a plastic grocery bag every month. Tastey, right?
Plastics in the kitchen and substitutions
Tupperwares/storage
Use glass instead. Mason jars are good for storing soup or any kind of liquid. Glass tupperwares are great. I have found a lot of these at Goodwill for like three dollars.
Cups and plates
Ceramic, glass, or wood are safe materials. Also can find these cheap at Goodwill.
Water bottles
Think of all the times you’ve been outside playing or hanging out and you have a plastic water bottle with you and it’s just basking in the sun. Yikes, not good. Opt for stainless steel, titanium, or glass water bottles.
Cutting boards
Wood cutting boards are great.
Coffee maker
We recently just threw out our Mr. Coffee machine after I listened to this podcast, and my mom ordered a Percolator. So far we really like it. Other non-plastic ways to make coffee are a french press, a pour over, you could probably find a stainless steel coffee machine too, just might be a little expensive.
Other kitchen tools that might have plastic to be aware of: food processor, tea kettle (sometimes the spout is plastic), air fryer.
If you have any more non-toxic non-plastic kitchen tools, please comment them down below!
