Safe Alternatives for Baby and Child

Do you rely like most of us on Non-stick Teflon cookware? You probably know that they contain Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), which has  been linked to cancer, low birth weight and suppressed immune system in lab animals. It’s also been found in most American’s blood including newborns.

We have tested a few safe alternative and PFOA-free non-stick cookware for Safbaby.com but weren’t satisfied enough to rave about them on our blog.

If you own a cast iron skillet and rarely use it because food sticks to it, try the following tip, it works!! No need to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive cookware!

Well-seasoned Cast Iron Cookware

By Augustine Colebrook:

Cast Iron is so great!  Not just for the health benefits, but in the well-seasoned pan is the best and easiest to cook with!

To get that well-seasoned pan,  find a cast iron skillet, pan or griddle either from your neighbor that doesnt use it, your grandma, the local thrift store, or outdoor store.

Under running hot water, use a brillo pad and scrub out any flaking black stuff, or red rust and get the pan relatively smooth (if it is new, you may want to do this anyway to remove the scary almost-non-food-grade preseasoning oil).

Fill your warm pan with oil of your choice (preferably coconut oil because it’s heat resistant) and put in a low oven (200F). Swirl the oil around to coat the insides of the pan, check periodically… the oil will get absorbed, take it out, rub more oil all over the pan and put more in the pan, swirling it around.

You may have to do this several time depending on how old the pan is…. after several hours and/or when the oil stops being absorbed, take it out and let it cool on the stove with any leftover oil in it.  Now you can cook in it!

I recomend just using fatty foods to begin with – avoid tomatoes or other acidic foods, that strips your seasoning.  Right after you have served food out of it, rinse it under running water and put right back on the burner you were using – turn it off…. this evaporates the water from rinsing and dryes the pan (you dont ever want it to sit with water in it).

Eventually, your pan will get to where you can cook eggs or potatoes in it with almost no oil.  Your pan becomes non-stick over time.  Once you have a well-seasoned pan, you can cook tomatoes etc. in it occasionally and it actually helps you get  that ‘iron’ from your pan because the acidity strips more out than other foods.

Not only is cast iron cookware some of the best health-wise, it is also some of the best chef-wise – so enjoy and use for generations to come!

Augustine Colebrook, CPM, LM
Professional Homebirth Midwife, Wise Women Care Associates
Co-Leader, Rogue Valley Holistic Moms Network
Member, Board of Directors, Medford Food CO-OP

Thank you Augustine to share this tip with us!

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