h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Perhaps... But mighty handy, just the same.

What I want to know is, does becoming a father automatically bestow upon you all of the useless knowledge in the world?

*chuckle* ... Don't we all wish.

No no no... The pan and the teflon has a very small kind of hooks that fit exactly into each other, see?
But I have another question...
If teflon sticks to nothing, it can't stick to teflon right? And that would mean that every teflon atom/molecule
would be floating around by itself... We would just have teflon in gas form then right?

Unless the pans are kept very cold.

Why is that the pans never seem to be none stick for very long ???, Well my ones don't and I try to not use metal spoons and knives & forks on them, only plastic spatulars.

The other thing about Teflon. You know lots of it wears off eventually. That means it goes into the food. Argh.

This from the man that gave us Zöe...

My thourghts exactly, I had a sausepan that I used to mash potatoes in and I had to pick the bits of teflon out of the potato, Needless to say I threw the pan away. Imagine all those bits of teflon sticking to your intetine, Oh! I forgot It's nonstick isn't it, it would go straight through.

All pans wear off into the food.
That's why they say not to use Aluminum pans, 'cuz that might be the cause of Alsheimers, or something like that, and why egg whites beat up better in a copper bowl than ny other kind of bowl.
As for where Teflon comes from, I've been told it's a direct product from the US space department. And it's baked on the cookware, not pressed.

Basically, Teflon is only a bit non-stick. You shouldn't wash Teflon pans, just wipe them clean with kitchen paper. I find that a thin coating of sesame oil is a good way to 'prove' pans, especially omelette pans, and then to use clarified butter so's it doesn't burn.

Someone mentioned TVP - I ask, why do veggies insist on having stuff that tries to emulate meat? Why veggie burgers, why veggie sausages?

The best omlet pan is a cast iron griddle that has been well-seasoned.

Beets me

egg zactly.

Yes

Easy. They coat the pan with Teflon, then cover that with dirt. Move it toward a picture of Ronald Reagan (to whom, as any ful kno, no dirt would stick) and the dirt is so busy trying to get away from Ron that it forces the teflon molecules into the surface of the frying pan molecules. The molecules then start having sex, and as you know once the kids start having sex there's no stopping them.

Or not.

Not sure where I heard this, but teflon isn't really "stuck" to pans at all. It *is* applied to pans at high pressure which sort of makes it stay there for a while, but it really doesn't want to be stuck, so that's why it comes off so easily. Scraping it with metal utensils and such just makes it come off quicker.

So, I would imagine if you just let a teflon pot sit for a good long while by itself the teflon would eventually remove itself from the rest of the pan. Of course I've never tried this, so if anyone wants to waste a perfectly good pan and a lot of spare time, you can let me know how it turns out

To be honest I've never actually met a non-stick surface to which foodstuff really doesn't stick, so it's all a moot point.

Traditionally, I've had a 'hate hate' relationship with non-stick pans. Untill I purchased some expensive (in comparason to most non-stick pans) pans. These are the first pans, that truely don't ever seem to get any food stuck on them. I only clean them by rinsing. Unfortunately, I have not had them in my posetion for long enough to say how long it will last. I'll get back in a year or so and give a report on how they are doing.

Teflon can be denatured by too high a heat, and by scratching it with the wrong scrubbing tool. It really pays in teflon longevity to make sure that you always have a bit of oil or water in the pan when you are cooking, so there is something to ablate before the teflon does. It really pays in teflon nonstickityness to go out of your way to see if the tools you use to wash dishes have 'safe to use with teflon' listed on their packages.

It also seems to matter what brand you buy. I have had the best luck with Wearever. Even their cheap pans seem to last longer than other department store brands.



As for synthetic meat, it's because meat instinctively tastes really good. So much so, that there's a social function to having your dinner look like someone else's- it's an announcement that you are not insane, just different.