non-stick pans and wood fires?

[Justin Baker]

I have an msr quick skillet. It's a non stick frying pan. I've read that teflon is totally safe to ingest but it can become toxic at high temps.
Is this an issue with campfires?
I'm always very careful with heat so I don't burn anything, usually cook things on a small twig fire with the pan propped up on a couple rocks. Just want to make sure I'm not poisoning myself.

[Bob Gross]

We are really mixing up concepts here, aren't we?

The MSR web site says that the Quick Skillet has a hard anodized finish to make it non-stick. So, why are we talking about Teflon?

Teflon will burn at hot temperatures, it smokes, and it comes loose from the metal vessel.

–B.G.–

[Justin Baker]

The pan has a coating which can be scratched/chipped off.

I don't know what hard anodized means but I thought it was something they did to they metal and not a coating??

I'm confused now as well.

[Bob Gross]

"I'm confused now as well."

I could not agree with you more completely.

If you take a metal such as aluminum and subject it to an acid bath with an electrical potential present, a microscopic layer is formed on the aluminum surface. This is some variation of aluminum oxide, and it is much harder than plain aluminum. As a result of its slick hardness, food can't burn onto it quite as easily as with plain aluminum. Of course, if you get the aluminum surface hot enough, then any food might burn and stick.

I suppose that it is possible to add a non-stick coating over a hard anodized metal, but that would seem to be counterproductive. It seems like the non-stick coating would have a hard time sticking to the hard, slick surface.

So, when you are scratching and chipping away, do you think that you are removing aluminum oxide or do you think that you are removing Teflon?

–B.G.–

[Justin Baker]

This was from an accident when I tried to see if my frying pan would fit on the bottom of my bear canister. It got stuck and I had to pry it off with a screwdriver,

[Bob Gross]

That does not look like aluminum oxide. It looks like a coating close to Teflon.

If you purchased it from REI, you might consider returning it.

Hard anodized aluminum will not flake off that way.

–B.G.–

[Justin Baker]

It's not flaking off. That is the result of stabbing it with a metal screwdriver while trying to pry it off. The coating is fine otherwise. Actually, the coating is amazing. I can cook all kinds of stuff without oiling the pan first.

[Bob Gross]

I looked around the Internet and found reviews where the user complained of the non-stick finish coming off in flakes.

–B.G.–

[Art …]

Teflon is pretty much proven to be bad for you.
Teflon cookware is essentially off the market nowadays for general kitchen use.

nothing like packing in to a beautiful mountain setting to poison yourself.

[Jerry Adams]

you can get wood fire to be hot and ruin teflon, or a reasonable temperature, which is easier if you have a small twig fire. It's hard to not damage teflon even at home. You can tell if it's getting too hot when you put in a couple drops of water or butter or… (or you can tell if it's too hot because the teflon burns, flakes off and you have to throw pan away : )

my titanium pot has some sort of thin coating. It has come off some. Maybe when I wash it at home rather than in my food?

I'de rather have HA than teflon. For eggs maybe you need teflon? For fish maybe teflon isn't needed so HA is better?

[Justin Baker]

Who and where is Teflon proven to be bad for you? Everything I've read says that teflon is totally safe to ingest unless you heat it up way too much.

Unless you are getting it off one of those quack science sites that list all of the danger of overheated teflon without making any mention of it needing to be overheated for those things to occur.

[Justin Baker]

Jerry, it's looking like my pan is HA with a teflon coating.

[Jerry Adams]

If you over heat Teflon, it loses it's non-stick property so food starts sticking.

You're probably right, okay to eat Teflon flakes, but doesn't sound appetizing.

I wonder if over-heated teflon is only unhealthful from the fumes, or if after you've over-heated it and turns dark, those flakes are un-healthful.

[Jerry Adams]

oops, I got caught in cross-fire – Art said it's unhealthful – it does seem unappetizing at the least

I just bought a couple non stick pans, forget if it's Teflon brand. Good for eggs.

America's Test Kitchen says to buy cheap non stick pans, because they wear out quickly. No reason to buy an expensive pan you have to throw out after a year or two.

[Bob Gross]

"Who and where is Teflon proven to be bad for you?"

There are a few of us around who remember Teflon when it was first introduced as a non-stick coating on fry pans. This might have been fifty years ago. That early Teflon had some problems. It would scorch and degenerate and then release from the metal. Part of the problem is that the user never knows exactly what temperature hit the coating or exactly how much damage was done to it. So, the user never knows for sure if it is degenerating and being ingested. Not good. It is, however, a fairly inert substance, and that is one reason why it was developed in the first place. After the early complaints, Teflon II, or whatever they called it, attempted to replace the early stuff in the marketplace. I believe that it is more successful. Still, it can flake off.

If users fear Teflon II, then they should try the various non-stick cookware that is not coated. That would include uncoated hard anodized aluminum.

–B.G.–

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