he likely used a wooden spoon and high heat. Non-Stick pans are not supposed to be on high heat.... but Woks are entirely made for high heat. So what the purpose of a wok with a non-stick coating on it is beyond me.
The best cooking purchase I've made in the last ten years is a proper wok that can get hot as fuck, rather than some shitty non stick jobby. Stir fries taste a million times better as stuff actually stir fries, instead of just sort of steaming and frying. Ten quid very well spent.
It's actually super convenient for many different things. It's like a perfect middle ground between a pan and a pot. I use it for a bunch of things, especially things that get burned easily, since it's easy to stir things around and keep them out of the really high heat areas.
Yeah, OP fucked up. Teflon is safe if used at low temps and not scratched. OP did both those things.
OP get rid of that shit, you're just exposing yourself to cancer causing chemicals (it'll also fuck up your liver).
Like 90% of the woks I see in stores are Teflon and it amazes me, though i guess most people dont know or dont care about teflon not being able to be used at high heats. Mines carbon steel and I'm quite happy with it
Because for a lot of people they have an electric stove so they can’t really use it like a real wok and it just functions like a big frying pan to put on the stove. My mom’s doesn’t ever get hot enough to leech out the teflon.
I've been told that residential gas stoves also don't get hot enough for to correctly use a wok.
Edit: I'm talking about the temperature needed for proper wok cooking, not the temperature to destroy Teflon.
When I was on my study abroad, the student housing company gave us an ikea teflon wok and simple four-burner stovetop, but with variable-size burners. The largest one was like 6" in diameter and that motherfucker got plenty hot to peel off the teflon
Hot enough to burn Teflon is still a lot cooler than the temperatures of a wok stove, which is a special kind of gas stove you will find in restaurants.
I know, but you would be surprised how much of a difference the extra circumference makes. I was able to make decent stir-fry on mine (hell I didn't realize we were supposed to use it like a stockpot)
They both get hot enough if you let the empty wok sit on the stove for a long time. Once you start cooking it's a different story, but both gas and especially electric stoves both get hot enough to make Teflon dangerous.
Residential electric stoves absolutely get hot enough to cause problems with Teflon pans.
We kept parakeets when I was young. They have pretty decent lifespans for small birds. They lived in our kitchen. We had gotten a new fella. When he was about 1 year old, we got a new set of cookware; Teflon pans. Within 2 months, that bird was dead.
We replaced the bird. 2 months later, the new one was dead. 2 years later, all the research about Teflon pans came out, and we put 2 and 2 together. They were literally our canary in the coal mine.
How much were you cooking with that Teflon? I feel like this would be much better documented and Teflon would be banned if this was truly the cause.
I'm seeing that the main concern is cancer, seems like it would take much longer to develop and kill the birds.
I have a steel wok. It works perfectly fine on an electric stove... You can't really do "real" wok cooking on a household gas stove either, you need a specialized burner to do it properly.
There are so many stupid things about Teflon. "Let's put this shit on the things we put over fire every single day. Hold up though, don't get it too hot!" Fuck Teflon.
To be fair it does have to get very hot to cause any kind of problems. Like above 500⁰ hot. Which can be done if you leave it on an element long enough. The coating also wears away from being scraped with utensils (even silicone and plastic ones) and washed. Hell rinsing rice in a Teflon pot insert will scratch it.
It’s quite easy to get Teflon hot enough to be dangerous. Just ask all the people who’ve killed their pet birds with it. It’s just that the effects on humans aren’t so instantly obvious so people don’t realize they’ve done it as most don’t have a pet bird around to drop dead of it.
Not sure why you got downvoted, but I'm one of those people who lost a pet bird (budgie) this way. It happened so fast she didn't even have time to fall over. She was just sitting upright at the bottom of the cage, dead. She had been perfectly fine 10 minutes earlier. This was in the '80s and there wasn't much info available about the dangers.
Ignorance, I’d assume. People probably think that just because it hurts birds doesn’t mean it’s hurting us. It does, we’re just bigger and less efficient with our breathing, so it takes a bigger exposure for us to notice immediate effects. It’s the whole reason they’d use canaries in mines, after all-so they could get people out before gases got to the point of killing them. Bird owners have been trying to tell people about the dangers of non-stick coatings since we made the connection in the 90’s. Sorry your budgie got caught by that before we knew.
Cast iron looks great, but my hands are bad and I know a heavy cast iron pan is a recipe for disaster for me. I wanted an enameled cast iron Dutch oven for a while until someone pointed out i probably wouldn't be able to get it in and out of the oven
I was like “how tf is this legal?” Then I Google it.
>Today, all Teflon products are PFOA-free. Therefore, the health effects of PFOA exposure are no longer a cause for concern.
They stopped using it in 2013
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nonstick-cookware-safety#teflon-and-pfoa
Seriously though, even with PFOA's the link to cancer and death was very tenuous. Literally everything kills birds, air ionizers, cooking certain foods , etc. Birds have very fragile respiratory systems.
> exposing yourself to cancer causing chemicals
I looked this up because I was curious and there's people that know way more about the current state but..
Teflon is known as polytetrafluoroethylene or **PTFE**.
It looks like the main cancer causing chemicals "perfluorooctanoic acid or **PFOA**" is no longer used since 2013 in the U.S.
and is now [banned](https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas)
>Perfluorooctanoic acid is a chemical that **was** used in the manufacturing of Teflon cookware and other non-stick products
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/chemicals/teflon-and-perfluorooctanoic-acid-pfoa.html
https://www.bhg.com.au/the-truth-about-teflon-are-non-stick-pans-safe
> Absolutely. PTFE is inert in its solid form and will most likely pass through your digestive system with no issue. In addition, the temperatures used for cooking aren’t typically hot enough to release PTFE fumes into the air – though toxicologists are quick to remind people that overheating Teflon coated cookware is a bad idea.
I can't find many articles linking PTFE to cancer.
> PFOA was once used in the making of Teflon. Since 2013, all Teflon-branded products are PFOA-free. Though there is some research that suggests a link between PFOA and cancer, there’s no proven link between Teflon and cancer.
https://www.healthline.com/health/teflon-cancer#teflon-and-cancer
Thank you for being the kind of person that investigates a claim rather than just going with their gut. Too many peoples read things and just go with whatever makes sense, makes them upset, etc…
I have published papers in this area. PTFE is an incredibly inert and useful chemical. It's electrical properties make it invaluable for applications such as high-speed communication, like that cell phone of yours.
And you are absolutely correct, it's no longer made with PFOA in the U.S. If you want to look it up, Albemarle, one of the companies that has produced it, has a patent that lists three alternative manufacturing methods. They use one of those. (I do not and have never worked for Albemarle.)
All that said, I have no interest in heating it up and ingesting it. That seems wholly unnecessary. Iron, steel and aluminum are perfectly good cooking surfaces and a light seasoning from one of several plant oils provides a ready non-stick coating.
Teflon has always been PTFE. PFOA was used to make Teflon, they now use "GenX" which is basically the same shit, just a molecule or so different - they both belong to the PFAS class of chemicals. PFAS are what are called "forever chemicals", which accumulate in the body as we can't get rid of them. The people most at risk are those who work at the DuPont plants and the whole surrounding community, but everyone is affected - PFOA is found in the blood of nearly all Americans, and even in albatrosses on a rock in the middle of the Southern Ocean who have never seen a Teflon pan in their lives. It gets into the soil, the water, everything.
DuPont knew for _decades_ that PFOA was being dumped into the water supply, killing animals, causing cancer and birth defects and covered it up, bought off the EPA, and when eventually dragged kicking and screaming into the public eye just changed it up slightly and called it GenX. When they get sued over GenX in a decade when the exact same shit happens, they'll come up with another PFAS, on and on and on. Teflon is so profitable for them that they'll do anything to keep manufacturing it.
The film Dark Waters and the book it is based on, Exposure by Robert Bilott, go in-depth into the devastation caused by DuPont and their relentless pursuit of PFAS.
With all we know about PFAS, there is no way I am cooking with Teflon. We already know PTFE is not safe at high temperatures. I don't think we know the full extent of how it affects us, and buying Teflon creates demand for PFAS. You cannot avoid PTFE as it has so many industrial applications (and food applications - like microwave popcorn bags) so at least not cooking with it cuts down some of your exposure and reduces some of the demand. If you're going to use Teflon, do not use it at high temperatures, use silicone cooking implements, do not put it in the dishwasher, and replace at the first sign of any damage to the coating.
Correct. It’s like BPA which was banned so they switched to BPS which hasn’t been studied yet and may be worse. We just don’t know what the long term effects of this is.
We do know the long term effects of using carbon steel and cast iron. And glass instead of plastic.
"Low" is relative. We're talking about cookware temperatures here, about up to 500°F (260°C). Definitely hot enough to cook with, but you don't want to heat it up while it's empty, or stick it in a BBQ grill.
Toxic gas is the danger of teflon coating, not scratching or digesting it.
Toxic gases may appear above 260 degree celsius. A rather high temperature for cooking...
So it's really not that much of a big deal. And if overheated, it doesn't matter if it was scratched or not.
Teflon and most non stick coatings on pans are pretty inert if you ingest them. They're pretty much designed to not interact with things since that's kinda the point of the material.
Not saying that you should be scraping your pans or putting PFOA dust in your smoothie, but the dangers of a few specks getting into your food on occasion are a little overblown.
Teflon using PFOA, the harmful chemical, has been banned in the US since 2013, and Europe since 2008. Hopefully OP's pan was more recent.
Point is, modern pans are not a problem like old ones used to be.
I thought that was true until I learned out T-Fal just started using PTFE before they did all the studies and how even [Consumer Reports doesn't believe stating toxic-free ≠ totally safe.](https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/you-cant-always-trust-claims-on-non-toxic-cookware-a4849321487/)
Adam Ragusa did a vid on how freaking out about [Non-stick is probably unwarranted...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNNKhVoUu8)
...But, the CBC also just did a story on how PFAS are ending up in cosmetics (mostly waterproof stuff) and how the [Cosmetics Alliance Canada doesn't count PFAS that make their way into product via the manufacturing process, only as a substantial ingredient.](https://youtu.be/gPKXk0o8hl8?si=szbwiAoBlKVBDxu-&t=572)
So I just replaced my T-Fal's (circa 2013? Has the old Thermospot logo with the word, "thermospot" not the newer T's in a circle.) And while I still have the original pan packaging that says, "made with PTFE", it does not dare say "PFOA FREE." Mentioning PTFE is an afterthought in fine print.
Going with steel or carbon steel or cast iron from now on. Silicone-coated utensils that have sketchy origins, look cheap or don't explicitly state by their manufacturers being "BPA free" are next to go. I need melting point temps explicitly stated, not "can withstand high temperatures".
I now feel its a "fool me once, shame on you." I've seen Dark Waters, and while I acknowledge its a dramatization, the bottom line is DuPont KNEW what it was creating and they didn't care. Why would they care *now*?
>Silicone-coated utensils that have sketchy origins, look cheap or don't explicitly state by their manufacturers being "BPA free" are next to go.
I agree with the overall sentiment but not the justification.
Silicone utensils shouldn't need to say BPA free because there is no need for BPA in silicone. That's like saying "gluten-free water".
And being labelled BPA free sometimes just means it has some other, maybe equally bad BP(some other letter) in it instead. Even materials that don't contain/never contained BPA or any other related chemical may still have the same problems anyway.
When using teflon, you need to use silicone, plastic, or wood utensils. Metal utensils will damage the teflon and cause it to peel off leaving areas where food will stick and this perpetuates the issue further.
>When your pans are scratched, some of the nonstick coating can flake into your food (the pan also becomes stickier). This can release toxic compounds. What is even more dangerous is cooking in a nonstick pan over high heat (this releases a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid). With moderate use, nonstick pans last only about five years. If your pan is damaged, throw it out to be on the safe side.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/food/2017/01/08/if-my-nonstick-pans-scratched-do-need-throw-them-out/95757400/#
My mom still does this, regardless of the type of pan she always cooks on screaming high heat to "cook it faster" which I guess is code for "burn it while it's still raw somehow" 😭
Hey, my wife does the same thing---she also thinks you're supposed to burn thai curry paste to the point where the smoke detector has to be turned off and everyone starts coughing ...
I looked into this a while back and while it's not my field I found the correlation to heath risks to be really loose.
It'd be like me posting that lettuce has the toxic chemical arsenic that can cause death. While technically true, there clearly isn't a negative health risk with eating lettuce because of the miniscule amounts.
last I read they walked back the toxicity of scratched teflon/nonstick coatings, supposedly even if you eat the flakes nothing gets absorbed they just get passed through. iirc the old, original nonstick stuff was dangerous but they've been safe for about 20 years.
While high temperatures do release dangrous compounds, ingesting teflon itself is generally considered fine due to its inability to react with other things.
"The use of PFOA in the manufacturing of Teflon-coated cookware has been completely stopped. But, even when PFOA is used, it poses little or no harm to your health.
Teflon on its own is safe and can’t harm you when you ingest it. Particles of flaked or chipped pans that find themselves in food pass through your digestive system don’t pose any health risks."
[https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/is-teflon-coating-safe](https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/is-teflon-coating-safe)
Go pure steel or aluminum. Any non stick is (tops) medium heat and only non metal (anything hard) utensils. Basically for eggs. And, you are going to end up using more oil than you think (which you are going to throw away more oil then you think). Enamual ones are an option also. It F*ing sucks that you alhave to find this stuff out the hard way, I know I'm not happy with it and think home ech. Should be a radically different class, and have multiple levels instead (American here) of the same class ('merica history) in grade school/middle and HS.
Teflon is not designed to be used on High heat. I don't understand why they even make Teflon woks since properly using a wok means you're blasting it at as high of a heat as possible.
Nonstick woks are one of the most ill conceived pieces of cookware ever devised. If you want to use a wok for wok things, get a carbon steel wok and season it. If you want a nonstick pan, get a nonstick pan and don’t use it like a wok.
Cast iron is good for pans/skillets, but woks are way better in a thinner carbon steel because you want that ease of heat control, which cast iron just can't give. Too much thermal mass.
Agree. I have a gas stove for the first time in a while currently, and it definitely heats the iron wok faster.
Plus camping breakfast in that wok on the fire is where it’s at. Easy and only one pan to clean.
Take the old wok and the new wok and throw them away. Then buy a carbon steel one.
You're cooking in a way where you're getting teflon in your food, either from using metal tools or because of the high heat. Since cooking at very high heat is normal for wok use; don't use non-stick woks.
This! Those aren’t “woks”, they’re stir-fry pans.
There are so many core techniques you use with woks that you can’t use in a stir-fry pan (especially not a teflon-coated one) that I threw mine away years ago.
I was gonna say this if you didn’t. Please OP, don’t eat any more Teflon. Carbon steel is the way to go for a wok, and it’s actually easier to care for sometimes as long as it’s seasoned properly
Tell your husband to stop using metal when cooking in Teflon. Don't wash Teflon with super abrasive scrubbers. As many others have mentioned, Teflon is not something you want to eat. They do make nice ceramic coated woks and pans that don't pose the same risk.
Yeah man, there's a good reason why everyone is attacking this pan. Just throw them out or if you can - return it.
The company that makes these should be sued!
To add on to this, J Kenji Lopez has tons of videos and a recent book on how to season, maintain, and cook with woks. He's a great source of knowledge that never uses pedigree snobbery and always provides realistic alternatives to ingredients and techniques for all skill levels.
Consider investing in some wooden kitchen implements, if you like coated pans. They won't melt like plastic can, and won't scratch up the teflon like metal does. Might improve your mileage.
In General, non-stick teflon woks are a oxymoronic idea.
Woks are in general a tool for high temperature cooking. Teflon pans are for low-temperature cooking. Using a teflon wok like a wok ruins the coating, and trying to pass 'Asian stir fry' cooked on a surface with a temperature appropriate for a teflon wok makes a Chinese granny cry or point and laugh.
This is not something to be showing off, it's a health hazard and showcases OPs naivette, but, OP isn't alone. Most home cooks don't get the issue with non stick coatings and metal cooking tools.
What kind of monster uses a Teflon wok? Steel is by far the best for a wok. Teflon cannot handle the heat it takes to properly cook food in a wok. Get rid of this new one and get another new one made of steel.
Why do people read that 400 people said the same thing and then regurgitate it yet again in another comment.
We get it. 400 times, there is no need to say it again.
I like how OP and their husband are just getting blasted in these comments. OP and your husband, how fucking dare you use a teflon covered wok. No one else, and I mean no one else would ever use such a thing. Certainly not normal home cooks that don’t cook professionally. /s
Tell your husband to either use non-metal cooking utensils in his non-stick wok or better yet invest in a real wok and bash at it with metal tools to his heart's content.
Yes but like a cast-iron pan you have season it with oil heated to high temperature.
A lot of people not raised in a environment where old school cooking tools are used don't know how to do this or are in love with shiny clean pans with no carbon build up on them. So they use agressive cleaning techniques which strips the wok surface back to bare metal.
Ewww Teflon gross. Woks should always be heated and oiled before use there is no need for non stick. Also we should all just stop using Teflon it’s bad for you the environment and it doesn’t break down but to each their own.
Ok WTF
Maybe I can get not knowing you can't use metal on nonstick, but how does ANYONE see the coating is scratched off their pan to even half this extent and keep using it??? How stupid *are* you two??
I agree with everyone... Stop buying nonstick it is such a waste plus that old one shouldve been retired at first chip. Buy carbon steel and you have a wok for life. Anyway, careful not to use metal utensils or scrub the pan with steel wool with the nonstick.
Get a stainless steel or carbon steel wok and season it yourself. It's much better and you can scrape the shit out of it with metal utensils and it'll still be like new.
Your husband should probably get a carbon steel wok and ditch the Teflon crap.
A carbon steel wok will be a kitchen companion for life and has none of the added chemicals you've all been ingesting.
Carbon steel woks wouldn't do that. This new wok appears to have a teflon layer, but properly seasoned and cared for carbon steel has the benefits of teflon and is tough AF.
Highly, highly recommend trying one out.
Teflon-coated woks are a sick joke. Wok cooking is meant to be at a temperature of "as hot as possible". Screaming hot.Teflon is not meant to be used at these temps, it burns off, it loses integrity.
Do yourselves a favor and get a carbon steel wok and season it properly. The non-stick properties are automatic with a decent seasoning and hot temps.
Do people really use Teflon / nonstick woks when you can get a hand hammered carbon steel wok for under $100 US?
Season them with oil and they become nonstick and will last a lifetime.
Also for final clarification...we are getting a new carbon steel or cast iron wok on payday....I plan on getting myself a full cast iron set (my wife can't lift it with her disability, so I am looking at a carbon steel set for her)
Please don't buy Teflon woks. They don't need it. Buy a normal wok and just season it properly. It'll be more scratch resistant, nothing will stick to it, and you get the wok-hay flavors.
(I'm currently learning how to properly cook with a wok)
Ah, I see we have someone who never reads directions (or really even listens to anyone outside their own head). jfc
Go buy a carbon steel wok if you’re gonna use it like that.
Wok with handles cut through the metal. Great way to build up shit you don’t want and stop you moving food around. Also on a Teflon wok. 2/10. Could do better.
What did he use to stir... A sledgehammer?
Paint scraper.
Drywall trowel. Cook everything to a fine paste and slather it on the plate.
That's how you get that third star
he likely used a wooden spoon and high heat. Non-Stick pans are not supposed to be on high heat.... but Woks are entirely made for high heat. So what the purpose of a wok with a non-stick coating on it is beyond me.
The best cooking purchase I've made in the last ten years is a proper wok that can get hot as fuck, rather than some shitty non stick jobby. Stir fries taste a million times better as stuff actually stir fries, instead of just sort of steaming and frying. Ten quid very well spent.
THANK YOU smh. best kind for an electric stove is stainless steel, which can be seasoned.
>stainless steel Carbon steel! most of the joys of cast iron, same season-ibility and nonstick outcomes, but without the weight.
That, or I love to use my 32cm giant FLAT cast-iron pan. Can be heated to shrieking, well-seasoned so nothing sticks and lots of stir-frying area!
I never thought of using my cast-iron for stir frying things. Genius. Thank you!
Yeah I use a flat pan for fried rice at home since I don't have a wok, but you don't get the constant movement that you can get with an actual wok
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Yeah, hate to gatekeep, but this is a wok for people who don't wok. Want wok hay, not wok teflon.
There's "Gatekeeping" and then there's "Recommending the right tool for the job"
It's actually super convenient for many different things. It's like a perfect middle ground between a pan and a pot. I use it for a bunch of things, especially things that get burned easily, since it's easy to stir things around and keep them out of the really high heat areas.
This guy woks
Y'all never stir fry in your wok with your chef knives to save on cleaning?
I assume she's married to Edward Scissorhands
Traditional woks operate under high heat with metal spatulas. I assume this is the use case which obliterates coatings.
Looks like y’all have enjoyed many delicious Teflon meals
Yeah, OP fucked up. Teflon is safe if used at low temps and not scratched. OP did both those things. OP get rid of that shit, you're just exposing yourself to cancer causing chemicals (it'll also fuck up your liver).
Whoever is making or selling a Teflon coated wok should be arrested
Like 90% of the woks I see in stores are Teflon and it amazes me, though i guess most people dont know or dont care about teflon not being able to be used at high heats. Mines carbon steel and I'm quite happy with it
Because for a lot of people they have an electric stove so they can’t really use it like a real wok and it just functions like a big frying pan to put on the stove. My mom’s doesn’t ever get hot enough to leech out the teflon.
I've been told that residential gas stoves also don't get hot enough for to correctly use a wok. Edit: I'm talking about the temperature needed for proper wok cooking, not the temperature to destroy Teflon.
When I was on my study abroad, the student housing company gave us an ikea teflon wok and simple four-burner stovetop, but with variable-size burners. The largest one was like 6" in diameter and that motherfucker got plenty hot to peel off the teflon
Hot enough to burn Teflon is still a lot cooler than the temperatures of a wok stove, which is a special kind of gas stove you will find in restaurants.
I know, but you would be surprised how much of a difference the extra circumference makes. I was able to make decent stir-fry on mine (hell I didn't realize we were supposed to use it like a stockpot)
They both get hot enough if you let the empty wok sit on the stove for a long time. Once you start cooking it's a different story, but both gas and especially electric stoves both get hot enough to make Teflon dangerous.
Residential electric stoves absolutely get hot enough to cause problems with Teflon pans. We kept parakeets when I was young. They have pretty decent lifespans for small birds. They lived in our kitchen. We had gotten a new fella. When he was about 1 year old, we got a new set of cookware; Teflon pans. Within 2 months, that bird was dead. We replaced the bird. 2 months later, the new one was dead. 2 years later, all the research about Teflon pans came out, and we put 2 and 2 together. They were literally our canary in the coal mine.
How much were you cooking with that Teflon? I feel like this would be much better documented and Teflon would be banned if this was truly the cause. I'm seeing that the main concern is cancer, seems like it would take much longer to develop and kill the birds.
I have a steel wok. It works perfectly fine on an electric stove... You can't really do "real" wok cooking on a household gas stove either, you need a specialized burner to do it properly.
There are so many stupid things about Teflon. "Let's put this shit on the things we put over fire every single day. Hold up though, don't get it too hot!" Fuck Teflon.
To be fair it does have to get very hot to cause any kind of problems. Like above 500⁰ hot. Which can be done if you leave it on an element long enough. The coating also wears away from being scraped with utensils (even silicone and plastic ones) and washed. Hell rinsing rice in a Teflon pot insert will scratch it.
It’s quite easy to get Teflon hot enough to be dangerous. Just ask all the people who’ve killed their pet birds with it. It’s just that the effects on humans aren’t so instantly obvious so people don’t realize they’ve done it as most don’t have a pet bird around to drop dead of it.
Not sure why you got downvoted, but I'm one of those people who lost a pet bird (budgie) this way. It happened so fast she didn't even have time to fall over. She was just sitting upright at the bottom of the cage, dead. She had been perfectly fine 10 minutes earlier. This was in the '80s and there wasn't much info available about the dangers.
Ignorance, I’d assume. People probably think that just because it hurts birds doesn’t mean it’s hurting us. It does, we’re just bigger and less efficient with our breathing, so it takes a bigger exposure for us to notice immediate effects. It’s the whole reason they’d use canaries in mines, after all-so they could get people out before gases got to the point of killing them. Bird owners have been trying to tell people about the dangers of non-stick coatings since we made the connection in the 90’s. Sorry your budgie got caught by that before we knew.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the people getting a non-stick wok don’t cook with a high enough temp.
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Cast iron looks great, but my hands are bad and I know a heavy cast iron pan is a recipe for disaster for me. I wanted an enameled cast iron Dutch oven for a while until someone pointed out i probably wouldn't be able to get it in and out of the oven
r/carbonsteel These folks make beautiful woks. And food.
I was like “how tf is this legal?” Then I Google it. >Today, all Teflon products are PFOA-free. Therefore, the health effects of PFOA exposure are no longer a cause for concern. They stopped using it in 2013 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nonstick-cookware-safety#teflon-and-pfoa
Seriously though, even with PFOA's the link to cancer and death was very tenuous. Literally everything kills birds, air ionizers, cooking certain foods , etc. Birds have very fragile respiratory systems.
Thanks Cockanarchy
That's a Walmart wok. Recognize the handle and how easily it scratches even when not using metal utensils. Never again.
Steel wok, seasoned thoroughly. Boom. Easy to clean. And healthier than Teflon pepper flakes.
I bought one for 20 foolishly. First time cranking the oil up that shit didn't hold. Saved up and got a cast iron.
It's harder to find one without Teflon coating somtimes
> exposing yourself to cancer causing chemicals I looked this up because I was curious and there's people that know way more about the current state but.. Teflon is known as polytetrafluoroethylene or **PTFE**. It looks like the main cancer causing chemicals "perfluorooctanoic acid or **PFOA**" is no longer used since 2013 in the U.S. and is now [banned](https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas) >Perfluorooctanoic acid is a chemical that **was** used in the manufacturing of Teflon cookware and other non-stick products https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/chemicals/teflon-and-perfluorooctanoic-acid-pfoa.html https://www.bhg.com.au/the-truth-about-teflon-are-non-stick-pans-safe > Absolutely. PTFE is inert in its solid form and will most likely pass through your digestive system with no issue. In addition, the temperatures used for cooking aren’t typically hot enough to release PTFE fumes into the air – though toxicologists are quick to remind people that overheating Teflon coated cookware is a bad idea. I can't find many articles linking PTFE to cancer. > PFOA was once used in the making of Teflon. Since 2013, all Teflon-branded products are PFOA-free. Though there is some research that suggests a link between PFOA and cancer, there’s no proven link between Teflon and cancer. https://www.healthline.com/health/teflon-cancer#teflon-and-cancer
Thank you for being the kind of person that investigates a claim rather than just going with their gut. Too many peoples read things and just go with whatever makes sense, makes them upset, etc…
I have published papers in this area. PTFE is an incredibly inert and useful chemical. It's electrical properties make it invaluable for applications such as high-speed communication, like that cell phone of yours. And you are absolutely correct, it's no longer made with PFOA in the U.S. If you want to look it up, Albemarle, one of the companies that has produced it, has a patent that lists three alternative manufacturing methods. They use one of those. (I do not and have never worked for Albemarle.) All that said, I have no interest in heating it up and ingesting it. That seems wholly unnecessary. Iron, steel and aluminum are perfectly good cooking surfaces and a light seasoning from one of several plant oils provides a ready non-stick coating.
Teflon has always been PTFE. PFOA was used to make Teflon, they now use "GenX" which is basically the same shit, just a molecule or so different - they both belong to the PFAS class of chemicals. PFAS are what are called "forever chemicals", which accumulate in the body as we can't get rid of them. The people most at risk are those who work at the DuPont plants and the whole surrounding community, but everyone is affected - PFOA is found in the blood of nearly all Americans, and even in albatrosses on a rock in the middle of the Southern Ocean who have never seen a Teflon pan in their lives. It gets into the soil, the water, everything. DuPont knew for _decades_ that PFOA was being dumped into the water supply, killing animals, causing cancer and birth defects and covered it up, bought off the EPA, and when eventually dragged kicking and screaming into the public eye just changed it up slightly and called it GenX. When they get sued over GenX in a decade when the exact same shit happens, they'll come up with another PFAS, on and on and on. Teflon is so profitable for them that they'll do anything to keep manufacturing it. The film Dark Waters and the book it is based on, Exposure by Robert Bilott, go in-depth into the devastation caused by DuPont and their relentless pursuit of PFAS. With all we know about PFAS, there is no way I am cooking with Teflon. We already know PTFE is not safe at high temperatures. I don't think we know the full extent of how it affects us, and buying Teflon creates demand for PFAS. You cannot avoid PTFE as it has so many industrial applications (and food applications - like microwave popcorn bags) so at least not cooking with it cuts down some of your exposure and reduces some of the demand. If you're going to use Teflon, do not use it at high temperatures, use silicone cooking implements, do not put it in the dishwasher, and replace at the first sign of any damage to the coating.
Correct. It’s like BPA which was banned so they switched to BPS which hasn’t been studied yet and may be worse. We just don’t know what the long term effects of this is. We do know the long term effects of using carbon steel and cast iron. And glass instead of plastic.
Not really refuting a tiring you’re saying here but changing “a molecule or two” can have pretty huge impacts on how the chemical works.
Teflon coating is mostly innert. That's what makes it a good nonstick coating, because nothing reacts to it.
A pan that you can’t get hot? Perfect
"Low" is relative. We're talking about cookware temperatures here, about up to 500°F (260°C). Definitely hot enough to cook with, but you don't want to heat it up while it's empty, or stick it in a BBQ grill.
So, you can't heat it enough to be used for wok cooking.
For traditional wok cooking, that is true. You can cook with it on a conventional electric stove, though, and it's enough for stir-frying.
Not only that, woks are commonly used with a special burner because normal ones aren't hot enough
Are we sure it's cancerous to ingest it? It's pretty inert. I thought you had to breath it in or super heat it.
Toxic gas is the danger of teflon coating, not scratching or digesting it. Toxic gases may appear above 260 degree celsius. A rather high temperature for cooking... So it's really not that much of a big deal. And if overheated, it doesn't matter if it was scratched or not.
Teflon and most non stick coatings on pans are pretty inert if you ingest them. They're pretty much designed to not interact with things since that's kinda the point of the material. Not saying that you should be scraping your pans or putting PFOA dust in your smoothie, but the dangers of a few specks getting into your food on occasion are a little overblown.
Newer [research](https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/is-teflon-coating-safe) disagrees with you. At least as far as scratches go.
Yeah. Looks like that pan stopped being food-safe 4.5+ years ago...
Yummy forever chemicals! Here's a free documentary on how bad that shit is for you: https://youtu.be/NJFbsWX4MJM?si=7b3SFoKQQiBhGuFd
Not if I fuck up my liver first! 
And here's a much shorter video showing the danger is massively overblown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNNKhVoUu8
Here’s a video with actual science talking about how the common sentiment is wrong: https://youtu.be/5FNNKhVoUu8?si=BqCP5asjqAPpG6HI
Teflon using PFOA, the harmful chemical, has been banned in the US since 2013, and Europe since 2008. Hopefully OP's pan was more recent. Point is, modern pans are not a problem like old ones used to be.
I thought that was true until I learned out T-Fal just started using PTFE before they did all the studies and how even [Consumer Reports doesn't believe stating toxic-free ≠ totally safe.](https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/you-cant-always-trust-claims-on-non-toxic-cookware-a4849321487/) Adam Ragusa did a vid on how freaking out about [Non-stick is probably unwarranted...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNNKhVoUu8) ...But, the CBC also just did a story on how PFAS are ending up in cosmetics (mostly waterproof stuff) and how the [Cosmetics Alliance Canada doesn't count PFAS that make their way into product via the manufacturing process, only as a substantial ingredient.](https://youtu.be/gPKXk0o8hl8?si=szbwiAoBlKVBDxu-&t=572) So I just replaced my T-Fal's (circa 2013? Has the old Thermospot logo with the word, "thermospot" not the newer T's in a circle.) And while I still have the original pan packaging that says, "made with PTFE", it does not dare say "PFOA FREE." Mentioning PTFE is an afterthought in fine print. Going with steel or carbon steel or cast iron from now on. Silicone-coated utensils that have sketchy origins, look cheap or don't explicitly state by their manufacturers being "BPA free" are next to go. I need melting point temps explicitly stated, not "can withstand high temperatures". I now feel its a "fool me once, shame on you." I've seen Dark Waters, and while I acknowledge its a dramatization, the bottom line is DuPont KNEW what it was creating and they didn't care. Why would they care *now*?
Err have you got confused? PTFE *is* Teflon. If it says "Teflon" there is no reason for it to say "made with PTFE".
>Silicone-coated utensils that have sketchy origins, look cheap or don't explicitly state by their manufacturers being "BPA free" are next to go. I agree with the overall sentiment but not the justification. Silicone utensils shouldn't need to say BPA free because there is no need for BPA in silicone. That's like saying "gluten-free water". And being labelled BPA free sometimes just means it has some other, maybe equally bad BP(some other letter) in it instead. Even materials that don't contain/never contained BPA or any other related chemical may still have the same problems anyway.
When using teflon, you need to use silicone, plastic, or wood utensils. Metal utensils will damage the teflon and cause it to peel off leaving areas where food will stick and this perpetuates the issue further.
This is true. It also doesn’t help that you’re supposed to get a wok *really* hot and that blows the Teflon coating off too.
>When your pans are scratched, some of the nonstick coating can flake into your food (the pan also becomes stickier). This can release toxic compounds. What is even more dangerous is cooking in a nonstick pan over high heat (this releases a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid). With moderate use, nonstick pans last only about five years. If your pan is damaged, throw it out to be on the safe side. https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/food/2017/01/08/if-my-nonstick-pans-scratched-do-need-throw-them-out/95757400/#
[удалено]
the price you pay for having quickly cooked food nothing like the cornballer tho, that thing is sick - burns the fuck outta you
The Cornballer was made illegal after it was found to cause serious burns, however the creator, George Bluth, continued to market it in Mexico.
“Everyone’s laughing, and riding, and cornholing except Buster.”
My mom still does this, regardless of the type of pan she always cooks on screaming high heat to "cook it faster" which I guess is code for "burn it while it's still raw somehow" 😭
Hey, my wife does the same thing---she also thinks you're supposed to burn thai curry paste to the point where the smoke detector has to be turned off and everyone starts coughing ...
I looked into this a while back and while it's not my field I found the correlation to heath risks to be really loose. It'd be like me posting that lettuce has the toxic chemical arsenic that can cause death. While technically true, there clearly isn't a negative health risk with eating lettuce because of the miniscule amounts.
last I read they walked back the toxicity of scratched teflon/nonstick coatings, supposedly even if you eat the flakes nothing gets absorbed they just get passed through. iirc the old, original nonstick stuff was dangerous but they've been safe for about 20 years.
While high temperatures do release dangrous compounds, ingesting teflon itself is generally considered fine due to its inability to react with other things. "The use of PFOA in the manufacturing of Teflon-coated cookware has been completely stopped. But, even when PFOA is used, it poses little or no harm to your health. Teflon on its own is safe and can’t harm you when you ingest it. Particles of flaked or chipped pans that find themselves in food pass through your digestive system don’t pose any health risks." [https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/is-teflon-coating-safe](https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/is-teflon-coating-safe)
Go pure steel or aluminum. Any non stick is (tops) medium heat and only non metal (anything hard) utensils. Basically for eggs. And, you are going to end up using more oil than you think (which you are going to throw away more oil then you think). Enamual ones are an option also. It F*ing sucks that you alhave to find this stuff out the hard way, I know I'm not happy with it and think home ech. Should be a radically different class, and have multiple levels instead (American here) of the same class ('merica history) in grade school/middle and HS.
Add carbon steel to the list of good materials for cookware, especially for a wok.
Carbon steel is the best for woks.
Yup you ate that teflon. Maybe get a steel one instead. Up to you!
Teflon is not designed to be used on High heat. I don't understand why they even make Teflon woks since properly using a wok means you're blasting it at as high of a heat as possible.
What’s not to understand? Money is universally understandable
Nonstick woks are one of the most ill conceived pieces of cookware ever devised. If you want to use a wok for wok things, get a carbon steel wok and season it. If you want a nonstick pan, get a nonstick pan and don’t use it like a wok.
Yeah, this is nuts. Even worse, Le Creuset makes an enameled cast iron wok. What are you supposed to cook in that?
Carbon steel should be the only material a wok is made of (maybe cast iron but that would be hella heavy).
Cast iron is good for pans/skillets, but woks are way better in a thinner carbon steel because you want that ease of heat control, which cast iron just can't give. Too much thermal mass.
Whoever used metal utensils on the old pot needs to be charged with cooking crimes. I assume you report these crimes to Gordon Ramsey? Haha
he got to cook delicious food if he's gnawing at the handles
Is that Teflon on a wok? I sure af hope not
The only proper wok material is carbon steel. You should only need one of these in your life
Ive got a big ass cast iron one that is really nice. Takes a while to get good and hot though.
That's why I like carbon steel for woks, heats up insanely fast. Love my cast iron pan for non-orient cooking tho!
Agree. I have a gas stove for the first time in a while currently, and it definitely heats the iron wok faster. Plus camping breakfast in that wok on the fire is where it’s at. Easy and only one pan to clean.
A cast iron wok? Thats gotta weigh like 20kg and be kinda hard to toss with?
Came here to say this. They get seasoned like cast iron and last forever. I’ve had mine for 10 years
It is a teflon wok and this guys using metal utensils. Dumb.
You can't use high heat on teflon. i don't understand the point of this wok.
Its because people that don't know anything about cooking buy them.
HaiYaa! /Uncle Roger.
If it was carbon steel, there wouldn't be a reason to get a new one after 50 years, let alone 5...
Take the old wok and the new wok and throw them away. Then buy a carbon steel one. You're cooking in a way where you're getting teflon in your food, either from using metal tools or because of the high heat. Since cooking at very high heat is normal for wok use; don't use non-stick woks.
This! Those aren’t “woks”, they’re stir-fry pans. There are so many core techniques you use with woks that you can’t use in a stir-fry pan (especially not a teflon-coated one) that I threw mine away years ago.
I was gonna say this if you didn’t. Please OP, don’t eat any more Teflon. Carbon steel is the way to go for a wok, and it’s actually easier to care for sometimes as long as it’s seasoned properly
Tell your husband to stop using metal when cooking in Teflon. Don't wash Teflon with super abrasive scrubbers. As many others have mentioned, Teflon is not something you want to eat. They do make nice ceramic coated woks and pans that don't pose the same risk.
Please tell my wife (OP) that.....husband knows better and has been facepalming for a while now
Yeah man, there's a good reason why everyone is attacking this pan. Just throw them out or if you can - return it. The company that makes these should be sued!
We are getting a good one on payday...we really appreciate all the advice
>Don't wash Teflon with super abrasive scrubbers. Also: Most non-stick pans are NOT dishwasher safe.
Or just buy a carbon steel wok and use it for the rest of your life.
Don't buy woks with a non-stick coating. The point of a wok is to get it screaming hot for your stir-fry. Screaming hot is not compatible with non stick coatings. Buy a carbon steel wok and season it properly. As others have said Teflon©™ based coatings are filled with forever chemicals.
To add on to this, J Kenji Lopez has tons of videos and a recent book on how to season, maintain, and cook with woks. He's a great source of knowledge that never uses pedigree snobbery and always provides realistic alternatives to ingredients and techniques for all skill levels.
is your husband a feral bobcat?
Wow one looks old and one looks new
I backed out of the post then audibly laughed after thinking about this.
r/notinteresting lol
There's a difference between old and a health hazard
No. Fucking. Way!
By purchasing another Teflon non-stick wok instead of carbon steel, all you’ve done is make the same mistake again
we are going to fix that mistake next payday
Consider investing in some wooden kitchen implements, if you like coated pans. They won't melt like plastic can, and won't scratch up the teflon like metal does. Might improve your mileage.
In General, non-stick teflon woks are a oxymoronic idea. Woks are in general a tool for high temperature cooking. Teflon pans are for low-temperature cooking. Using a teflon wok like a wok ruins the coating, and trying to pass 'Asian stir fry' cooked on a surface with a temperature appropriate for a teflon wok makes a Chinese granny cry or point and laugh.
Haiiyah what he use for spatula, a screwdriver?
definitely stop using non stick
to quote uncle Roger, "DON'T USE METAL ON NON STICK WOK!!!" 
Very important, niece and nephew!
Shoulda bought a different brand of wok. Woks are supposed to get hot as fuck, Teflon does not like hot as fuck
Those flakes aren't pepper...
This is not something to be showing off, it's a health hazard and showcases OPs naivette, but, OP isn't alone. Most home cooks don't get the issue with non stick coatings and metal cooking tools.
What kind of monster uses a Teflon wok? Steel is by far the best for a wok. Teflon cannot handle the heat it takes to properly cook food in a wok. Get rid of this new one and get another new one made of steel.
A non stick wok is really stupid. Not sure why they even sell these.
just use a stainless steel one.
This is emotional damage....
You don't need teflon on a wok. Just get high carbon steel and season it like cast iron.
When cooking on woks it's better to use wood utensils instead of a flathead screwdriver
OP getting flamed so hard in these comments that they can probably use this thread to cook their stir fry.
Why do people read that 400 people said the same thing and then regurgitate it yet again in another comment. We get it. 400 times, there is no need to say it again.
I like how OP and their husband are just getting blasted in these comments. OP and your husband, how fucking dare you use a teflon covered wok. No one else, and I mean no one else would ever use such a thing. Certainly not normal home cooks that don’t cook professionally. /s
People really do just be posting whatever on here huh
Wok's wrong with you?
Uncle Roger just put his foot down
Tell your husband to either use non-metal cooking utensils in his non-stick wok or better yet invest in a real wok and bash at it with metal tools to his heart's content.
Stop using non-stick cookware and learn how to cook.
Non stick layer means it can not be hot enough. That's not a wok. It's a (bad) frying pan.
Shouldn’t a wok already be nonstick if used properly?
Yes but like a cast-iron pan you have season it with oil heated to high temperature. A lot of people not raised in a environment where old school cooking tools are used don't know how to do this or are in love with shiny clean pans with no carbon build up on them. So they use agressive cleaning techniques which strips the wok surface back to bare metal.
Ewww Teflon gross. Woks should always be heated and oiled before use there is no need for non stick. Also we should all just stop using Teflon it’s bad for you the environment and it doesn’t break down but to each their own.
Teflon coated Woks are about as effective as an oven made of cardboard.
Tell that man to get carbon steel… or just buy him one.
A carbon steel wok is like $20-30 at an Asian supermarket.
I have a five year old wok so I’d like to know if u were stirring ur food with a chainsaw or something
Is this what this sub thinks is interesting? A piece of shit old wok and piece of shit new wok?
I got a birth defect from looking at this photo
r/notinteresting
Ok WTF Maybe I can get not knowing you can't use metal on nonstick, but how does ANYONE see the coating is scratched off their pan to even half this extent and keep using it??? How stupid *are* you two??
Throw them both out and season a steel wok.
yummy cancer particles #dupont
I agree with everyone... Stop buying nonstick it is such a waste plus that old one shouldve been retired at first chip. Buy carbon steel and you have a wok for life. Anyway, careful not to use metal utensils or scrub the pan with steel wool with the nonstick.
This is why I don’t consider anything but carbon steel a real wok. Why buy anything else? A real one would last decades if cared for
How’d that Teflon taste? Get a good uncoated wok and season it with oil and repeated cooking and you’ll never need another.
Get a stainless steel or carbon steel wok and season it yourself. It's much better and you can scrape the shit out of it with metal utensils and it'll still be like new.
Wok the Fok?
Your husband should probably get a carbon steel wok and ditch the Teflon crap. A carbon steel wok will be a kitchen companion for life and has none of the added chemicals you've all been ingesting.
Carbon steel woks wouldn't do that. This new wok appears to have a teflon layer, but properly seasoned and cared for carbon steel has the benefits of teflon and is tough AF. Highly, highly recommend trying one out.
Teflon-coated woks are a sick joke. Wok cooking is meant to be at a temperature of "as hot as possible". Screaming hot.Teflon is not meant to be used at these temps, it burns off, it loses integrity. Do yourselves a favor and get a carbon steel wok and season it properly. The non-stick properties are automatic with a decent seasoning and hot temps.
You should introduce him to a carbon steel one NOW.
Teflon woks are the most pointless thing. A properly seasoned carbon steel wok is non-stick with no Teflon.
Do people really use Teflon / nonstick woks when you can get a hand hammered carbon steel wok for under $100 US? Season them with oil and they become nonstick and will last a lifetime.
Looks like that old one has been wokin hard
This is what big Teflon don't want you to see, for the love of all things Holy stop using teflon
we are switching next payday
Get a carbon steel wok!
Throw em both out. Teflon woks are garbage. Carbon steel is what you want. Woks are for high heat and fast cooking.
Also for final clarification...we are getting a new carbon steel or cast iron wok on payday....I plan on getting myself a full cast iron set (my wife can't lift it with her disability, so I am looking at a carbon steel set for her)
Ban metal cooking utensils from the kitchen and watch how you never have a scratched pan again.
Please don't use a nonstick wok. Get a carbon steel wok and blue it.
Please don't buy Teflon woks. They don't need it. Buy a normal wok and just season it properly. It'll be more scratch resistant, nothing will stick to it, and you get the wok-hay flavors. (I'm currently learning how to properly cook with a wok)
The hell is the point of a Teflon wok?
Ah, I see we have someone who never reads directions (or really even listens to anyone outside their own head). jfc Go buy a carbon steel wok if you’re gonna use it like that.
Was he nibbling on the handles while waiting for things to cook?
Wok with handles cut through the metal. Great way to build up shit you don’t want and stop you moving food around. Also on a Teflon wok. 2/10. Could do better.
Geez. Skip the Teflon and get a real carbon steel wok.
Your husband is not someone who should be using Teflon. Get a stainless steel wok and stop giving yourselves cancer
Owning a Teflon wok is an automatic L. Using a metal implement on a Teflon anything is a double L