by Rebekah Mobley-Kasner

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 22, 2009

Your food touches it, you wash it, but there is more to the cookware you use than meets the eye. Walking the aisles of retailer from Wal-Mart to Williams-Sonoma you will be inundated with options. Aesthetics aside, most people encounter two fundamentally different choices: stainless versus non-stick cookware.

What's between your food and the pan? The magic behind the no-mess, no-stick wonder of non-stick lined pans is simplea chemical compound laced with the man made Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Manufactured by DuPont Inc., PFOA is found in all non-stick coated cookware, including Telflon, SilverStone, and TFal name brands. While commonplace, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has labelled the chemical "a likely carcinogen." That being said, the pans when used properly are safe to use according to both EPA and independently conducted research.

While stainless steel pans lack the insulation containing "likely carcinogens", they also lack the ease of use. Cooking with stainless steel requires more grease usually cooking oil and more clean up time. The dirty stainless steel pan cannot simply be wiped clean with soap and water.

So why when I'm in the kitchen do I reach for a stainless steel pan instead of a non-stick?

Working with non-stick pans comes with the cost of limitations. Using metal utensils scratch the coating. Repeatedly extreme heat tends to wear poorly on the pan lining. Plus, non-stick pans come with cleaning restrictions: hand wash only with nonabrasive material, which means no steel-wool scrubbers.

Although the restrictions themselves are irksome, the limitations attached to the use of non-stick are in place for a reason. By breaking that non-coating seal, you are essentially increasing your exposure to PFOA. According to the EPA, when PFOA is used under extreme heat (500 degrees Fahrenheit and above) the chemicals becomes hazardous. Furthermore, the result was tragically deadly when Telflon spilled into the Ohio River, poisoning a West Virginia town. For the incident, DuPont paid millions of dollars in damages. Therefore, even if you believe the chemical company's official statement that when used properly, non-stick coatings are safe, the fact remains that the EPA has mandated the chemical's discontinuation by 2015. The most disturbing of all is PFOA laced fumes kill small birds on contact. Which leads to the critical question: how safe can PFOA be for humans?

I like cooking with sizzle-gas burner turned up to high and the oil in the pan almost smoking. My saute technique is a free-form dance wilted by Telflon's limitations. Plus, stainless steel cookware brings a shiny class to any kitchen. Although easy to use and even easier to clean, non-stick pans lack the character and charisma to withstand my use. Regardless, I vote on the safe and stylish side of this debate buy stainless steel and feel free to turn up the heat.

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