Left nonstick T-Fal frying pan on low heat for hours. Is it unsafe/unusable?

Drez

I'm usually very careful about these things but a few days ago I wasn't. I cooked a single egg at low heat and left it on for hours. It now has a sticky residue on the pan which seems hard to get off. I dunno if that's from the food or what.

It could have been like 6 hours, I cannot recall entirely.

Thoughts?

Enc

T-Fal are somewhat known for being cheap on their coating, which is why they run in the 24-50 range for a nonstick. I'd assume anything you would need to do to remove the egg completely will take the coating with it.

Replace it with a stainless steel one and a bottle of Barkeeper's Friend and you'll never have to do this again. ~40 bucks tops.

SanderJK

The immediate danger of Teflon is flaking. If the Teflon has melted, the flakes can end up in your food. From what I've seen this should be easy to spot.
Those flakes are sharp, and can damage your intestines.

So if you think that happened, get rid of it.

In general, Teflon coatings deteriorate over time. They serve a purpose, but they should be treated as limited lifetime products.

Drez

Enc wrote: »

T-Fal are somewhat known for being cheap on their coating, which is why they run in the 24-50 range for a nonstick. I'd assume anything you would need to do to remove the egg completely will take the coating with it.

Replace it with a stainless steel one and a bottle of Barkeeper's Friend and you'll never have to do this again. ~40 bucks tops.

I literally got this as a Christmas gift (as part of a larger set), about 6 weeks ago, so I'm loathe to dispose of it unless it's actually necessary. I appreciate the suggestions, though.

I mean, obviously health comes first.

The thing is - I had cooked and used the egg immediately when it was done, so the low flame was heating an essentially empty pan.

Drez

SanderJK wrote: »

The immediate danger of Teflon is flaking. If the Teflon has melted, the flakes can end up in your food. From what I've seen this should be easy to spot.
Those flakes are sharp, and can damage your intestines.

So if you think that happened, get rid of it.

In general, Teflon coatings deteriorate over time. They serve a purpose, but they should be treated as limited lifetime products.

Thanks. I don't see any flakes, just like a goopy substance that has stuck to the surface of the pan. I scoured with the rough side of a sponge and that seemed to work a bit but I'm worried. I don't want to dispose unless I have to but I definitely don't want to get ill over a gift.

Cauld

I would let it soak in some soapy water overnight and try to clean again in the morning. Rough side of the sponge should probably be avoided when using nonstick. Don't want to start scratching off that coating.

dispatch.o

Teflon doesn't break down until like 500° so it's probably okay from a beginning to off gas toxic fumes from being on the stovetop.

From a will it ever work for eggs again perspective, it depends on whether or not the little bits of fat and protein bonded with the Teflon and won't come off without peeling it away.

I have two pretty nice all-clad nonstick pans I use for eggs and such that have cleaned up after a similar event. I've also thrown away nice pans because I don't put pepper in my eggs, so black flecks are an automatic discard. Only one real way to see if it comes off.

I have developed a habit of always moving a pan to a cold burner once I'm done with it. Even if you don't ruin the pan cooking on residue sucks.

The Wolfman

Make sure the underside of the pan is all right too. I once forgot a pot of boiling water on the stove for a good couple of hours. It was a very old metal pot of at least 10 years. Anyways the water all evaporated like it would, and there was some residue in the pot (probably the minerals and stuff from the water). The bottom though was something else. It was an old pot, so it was naturally darkened with age. But after it all cooled down, a lot of the black underside flaked right off, exposing almost raw copper underneath. In the end it was like I simply cleaned the ever bejesus out of it, but I was a little worried it would no longer heat evenly.

Local H Jay

Trust me, those kinds of pans are on low heat for literal hours at busy restaurants; if it was extreme heat I'd definitely be worried but it's probably fine.

Enc

Local H Jay wrote: »

Trust me, those kinds of pans are on low heat for literal hours at busy restaurants; if it was extreme heat I'd definitely be worried but it's probably fine.

Restaurants use Teflon pans only for eggs, and cast iron or steel for everything else. That's fine if the OP is only ever going to use eggs and rubber implements, but as a houshold chef probably not.

Cook something up with it and see if you get flakes, if you do, to the trash.

JaysonFour

Throw another egg or two on there and see if the black flakes show up in the white food.

On the other hand, you might be better off just chucking it if only for your peace of mind, because if you're going to keep asking yourself if it's going to flake every time you pull it out, you may as well chuck it and replace it or call the manufacturer and see what it has as far as a warranty.

Drez

Thanks, all.

I think I'm going to chuck it and buy the exact same thing off Amazon. Or maybe I'll call them first but I think I'm done using it, just in case.

But I'm going to look into Stainless Steel pans, too.

I hope the mods don't mind me re-purposing my own thread, but since we're on the subject anyway, can anyone recommend a good pasta pot? I'd like to make up to 2 pounds of pasta all at once. The only thing I have is a 5 quart pot that boils over when I use 4 qts of water and that only makes 1 pound of pasta. It's OK for 1/2 a lb which I make sometimes when I just want a semi-quick meal for myself only but...

Anyway, I was looking at these, which frankly look almost identical:

https://smile.amazon.com/Cooks-Standard-Classic-Multipots-Stainless/dp/B078MWB6DX/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1549635041&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=pasta+pot&psc=1
https://smile.amazon.com/Cuisinart-77-412-Classic-Stainless-12-Quart/dp/B0000UV01S/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1549635041&sr=8-7&keywords=pasta+pot

Thoughts?

Xaquin

they should both be the same!

good on you for using smile!

Drez

My smile actually supports Child's Play.

dispatch.o

Alton Brown suggests never using less than a gallon of water no matter how much pasta you're actually making. It's something I adopted and it's a pretty good bit of advice.

Elvenshae

Drez, I've got the bottom one off your list of options, and it works great.

Drez

Elvenshae wrote: »

Drez, I've got the bottom one off your list of options, and it works great.

The Cuisinart? Awesome, thanks.

Fiendishrabbit

I need pictures of spiderman your cooking pan!

Tefal pans made after 2012 are generally not made with teflon, and as such the coating could just be very very carbonized egg. Ceramic and Titanium Pro coatings are generally not harmed by cooking on low heat, only a very long time on high heat will kill the coating.

Edit: It could be just goopy fat too. Anyway. My recommendation is to 1. Wash it with hot water and a brush. 2. Dry it off with kitchen paper. 3. If that isn't enough, then put it back on the stove, boil water in it while scrubbing and repeat steps 1 and 2.
After you've got it clean, heat the pan for 30 seconds and then apply a thin coating of vegetable oil.

CelestialBadger

Why not get an answer from the horse's mouth?

https://www.t-falusa.com/Cookware/c/cookware+&+kitchenware

shadowane

dispatch.o wrote: »

Alton Brown suggests never using less than a gallon of water no matter how much pasta you're actually making. It's something I adopted and it's a pretty good bit of advice.

He doesn't believe this anymore actually.
https://altonbrown.com/cold-water-method-pasta-recipe/

Soggybiscuit

shadowane wrote: »

dispatch.o wrote: »

Alton Brown suggests never using less than a gallon of water no matter how much pasta you're actually making. It's something I adopted and it's a pretty good bit of advice.

He doesn't believe this anymore actually.
https://altonbrown.com/cold-water-method-pasta-recipe/

I've used this method, and it's awesome. The first time you do it you should absolutely make his Cacio e Pepe, and yes, it will take your tastebuds to flavor town.

mts

Do you need to actually measure the water for that orb is it basically cover the pasta

Soggybiscuit

mts wrote: »

Do you need to actually measure the water for that orb is it basically cover the pasta

You can measure if you want, but every time I've done, I basically use enough to cover well (nothing sticking out of the water) plus a little extra. I would say I use around 1.5 -2 quarts each time.

Simpsonia

With regard to pasta water, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at serious eats recommends as little water as possible. Even going so far as to use a saute pan and just barely enough to cover. The main reason is that the less water you use the more concentrated the pasta starch will be. This starchy water is the foundation to literally every real Italian sauce. The more starch, the better it will be at clinging to the noodles.

Enc

Simpsonia wrote: »

With regard to pasta water, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at serious eats recommends as little water as possible. Even going so far as to use a saute pan and just barely enough to cover. The main reason is that the less water you use the more concentrated the pasta starch will be. This starchy water is the foundation to literally every real Italian sauce. The more starch, the better it will be at clinging to the noodles.

This assumes a lot about the pasta being used and the dish being made. Sometimes you want that starch, a lot of times you don't.

Unknown

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JaysonFour

You also have to remember that the kinds of pasta that we as Americans put meat sauce on (literally most every kind of pasta out there) and the kinds of pasta Italians put meat sauce on (your big, bulkier solid noodles) are two different things. I think spaghetti is usually served with a lighter sauce in true Italian food, and the starch might be needed to hold that together...