I Got so tired of the normal cooking pans. The teflon breaks, the handle gets loose. Even worse the older teflon pans before 2015 are toxic. The substance PFOA gives cancer and is banned in The Netherlands. No idea about the rest of the world!

Which pans are toxic and which are good?

So we know that the old teflon is toxic and the new teflon is healthy? I doubt it, the teflon still breaks and gets into your food. We simply don't know the longterm effects of teflon in the body. Pans with a plastic handle are also not great. The plastic slowly melts/burns away. You breath in those gasses.

So let's go on:

• Aluminium pans are not great because of the aluminium. It's linked to Alzheimer and other diseases. The amount you get inside is very limited if you avoid acidic foods in the pan. Deodorants are a bigger source of aluminium and are much more harmful!
• Copper is often lined with tin, because of this you should also avoid acidic foods. It's safe if they are lined with stainless steel.
• Stainless steel is perfect
• Ceramic is perfect

Now we are back to the hyped cast-iron. It must be perfect right? Not completely cast iron gives away iron in acidic foods. Iron isn't great for older men with hearth problems and that never donate blood. A blood donation depletes your iron levels.
Conclusion it doesn't really matter what type of pan you have as long as you avoid teflon and acidic foods like tomato, lemon juice and vinegar in cooking pans. So sorry for the click-bait title, I thought more pans were toxic :D

So why is cast-iron better?

There are many reasons non related to health why cast iron is better:

• It heats up food evenly
• So damn pretty!
• They don't break
• You can put the pan from stovetop in the oven
• Easy to clean without soap.

The only reason I can think of why people don't like it is because they are freaking heavy. Especially some smaller women can't easily life the bigger cast-iron pans. A dutch oven is even much heavier so be aware!
buying castiron.

What to buy?

The best place to buy cast iron is second hand. Newer models often have a lower quality iron. You can detect lower quality by the bigger pits in the iron. When you buy cast iron check if it has no cracks, that it has a flat bottom, non flaking rust is fine, completely made of cast iron. Just search on Ebay, family, friends and a garage sale.

Preparing cast iron

If you got your pans new or 2nd hand you have to season them. Seasoning is creating a non stick layer of carbon. This will create much smoke and needs to be done outside. I clean my pans with a fine metal pad and than heat them up. When they are hot I apply cheap olive oil. Apply if very THIN and remove excess oil with a paper towel. Just watch the video to make it all clear.

Use

Using it is very simple. You can put it outside on the fire, in the oven, on the kitchen top it doesn't matter. The only things you shouldn’t do is let it stand in water. It will obviously rust. Don't clean it with soap and clean it with a fine metal pad. The plastic cleaning pads work too but that's again not healthy. You get microplastics inside from using plastic.