Alternatives to Deadly Non-Stick Cookware

Since I’ve had a bird, I have had to make some small sacrifices in my daily life to accommodate my feathered friend. And believe me, to me these sacrifices were small compared to losing my parrot to deadly fumes. If giving up non-stick cookware seems too big of a sacrifice, you may need to reconsider having a bird.

The nice thing is that most non-stick cookwares we are used to have alternatives without those deadly chemicals. For instance, giving up the non-stick pan was a no brainer. I just replaced it with a stainless steel pan. While the non-stick pan could be cleaned just with one quick wipe, the stainless steel pan needed to soak in soap for a few minutes and then a light scrub. The cleaning wasn’t the problem but the food just didn’t cook the way I wanted on that. So I continued to search for the best alternative.

A few appliances that I had to give up included my electric waffle iron, and george forman electric grill. I have not since found a replacement for the waffle iron but it’s a loss I can go without. The grill on the other hand seemed a greater loss because I enjoyed steaks cooked on it. It took me a few months of searching till I found a solution. I did not come across a single electric grill without the non-stick coating. Someone recommended I try cast iron so I bought a cast iron pan with the lines in it like a grill. I learned to cook steaks, burgers, hot dogs, etc on it and taste as good (if not better) than going out for those. I used to have a non-stick pancake griddle which I replaced with a flat cast iron pan. On both pans, I lightly grease the bottom with cooking spray or oil before use and they are practically non-stick for a single session.

Cleaning cast iron is a slightly different story. If you cook things on it that aren’t messy, it’s actually very easy to clean. Just a wipe down with a moist paper towel and oiling the surface to season it. The oily surface of the seasoned pan becomes almost like a nonstick surface if you maintain it properly. If you do cook something messy, cleaning is a different story. You’re not supposed to soak cast iron so you need to do some hard scrubbing with some steal wool sponges. But not to worry, you can always scrape it clean, season, and reuse it. It’s not the easy one wipe cleaning like non stick, but it’s not as difficult of a sacrifice as it may seem. And honestly, I think the food comes out better prepared on cast iron anyway.

I gave away all my non-stick pots and cookware since I have no use for them anymore and it’s safer than having someone use one by mistake. A few days ago I forgot my cast iron pan on the burner for 3 hours which made me realize how lucky I was that it was not non-stick because then my birds would have been dead. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can get by with non-stick cookware. I’ve read so many sad stories about people who killed their birds that way so I wouldn’t want to take any of those chances.