Should I retire my scratched non-stick rice cooker?
I am the lucky owner of a George Foreman Multicooker which is essentially a fancy rice cooker with a removable steaming basket. It has a non-stick cooking surface they call "George-Tough" coating. Right. I googled around a bit. I didn't see any definitive identification on this stuff but I figure it's probably Teflon.
I left the cooker with a friend for a month or so while I was out of town. I brought it out to cook up some rice this evening and it appears that the non-stick surface has been badly damaged. After fumbling around with it, it appears that somebody tilted the lid at an angle and set it down inside the cooker. Presumably while it was still turned on.
Should I kick George to the curb or is there some way to salvage my favorite lazy man's kitchen tool?
Best Answer
There is no way to salvage it, no. The Teflon will stay scratched and flake into your food. Even after you remove the large flakes, it will continue shedding microscopic ones.
We cannot tell you anything about "should" or make decisions for you. If the risk of eating Teflon is acceptable to you, keep it. If it isn't, throw it out. Discussions on the long-term health effects of consuming Teflon in tiny amounts fall into the "is it healthy" category, which is unanswerable for us. As always, there are the people who say it's terrible, and the ones who say it's no big deal. You have to find other sources and decide whether you want to believe them.
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Can you still use a scratched rice cooker?
Is it safe to use a scratched rice cooker? Non-stick coating on rice cookers can release dangerous chemicals when they get scratched. Experts do not recommend purchasing non-stick pans and rice cookers because they end up on landfills where they teach toxic chemicals in the environment.What do you do when non stick coating comes off?
If the coating is noticeably flaking or peeling, you should replace the pan. The coating could flake or peel into your food and while you may never get sick, there is the possibility that you will ingest toxic compounds from it because of this.What happens if you eat Teflon flakes?
Teflon on its own is safe and can't harm you when you ingest it. Particles of flaked or chipped pans that find themselves in food pass through your digestive system don't pose any health risks.Is non stick coating toxic?
Generally speaking, Teflon is a safe and stable compound. However, at temperatures above 500\xb0F (260\xb0C), Teflon coatings on nonstick cookware start to break down, releasing toxic chemicals into the air ( 13 ). Inhaling these fumes may lead to polymer fume fever, also known as the Teflon flu.Do You Need a $350 Rice Cooker? — The Kitchen Gadget Test Show
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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