Setting the stage for inspired dinners like Cajun salmon with zucchini pasta and gut-healing cheese quesadillas, fry pans come in handy whenever you’re looking to give your dish a deep, crispy finish. Old fry pans that were made before 2013 could also contain PFOA, another nonstick chemical that has been banned from cookware due to potential health risks. (The American Cancer Society lists it as a potential carcinogen.) There’s some controversy about how damaging PTFE and PFOA compounds actually are to our health, and more research needs to be done on their impact. However, we do know that these oil- and water-based chemicals are really persistent in our environment and could damage ecosystems over time2. Luckily these days it’s easy to find pans designed to reach high temperatures without emitting potentially dangerous chemicals. Here are a few stainless steel, cast-iron, and nonstick options that can stand the heat:
Sardel 10" Skillet ($75)
Calphalon Premier Space-Saving Stainless-Steel 10" Fry Pan ($59.99)
Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron 11.75" Skillet ($204.99) You’ll also want to avoid heating up non-stick pans when they’re empty. Lastly, be sure to be gentle with them to avoid chipping.
Scanpan Pro IQ 10.25" Fry Pan ($139.95)
10" HexClad Pan ($109.99) Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
