Non stick and conures

[Chickensneezes]

Hey everybody, I'm new here and am bringing home my green cheek conure in several weeks.
For Christmas I received a Pioneer Woman non stick cookware set, and absolutely love it.
I called the company and was told the pots are completely PFOA free and coated with Quantum 2, but they have no information about if the pots contain PTFE.
Is it safe to use the pots since they're PFOA free, or is it still toxic? Does anyone know if Quantum 2 contains PTFE?
I really don't want to part with them as they're wonderful pots, but obviously my little parrot comes first.
Thanks for any advice!

 

[GaleriaGila]

Good for you for reaching out.
While you're waiting for comments, the SEARCH tab above should lead you to some previous threads.
I'm scared of anything but copper, iron, aluminum, and stainless steel.

 

[itzjbean]

I'm sorry I'm of no help on that front but I did find this thread which you might find helpful. Also, my mom LOVES Pioneer woman The stuff is just so colorful, I really like it!!

 

[Flboy]

It contains fluoropolymers!
Overheated? Dead bird! Ugly death!
This is from the folks that make it.
Quantum 2 - Housewares Coating Guide - Whitford Worldwide
http://www.whitfordww.com/pdf/literature/Use_care_Quantum2.pdf
http://www.whitfordww.com/pdf/literature/Quantum2_POP_2011.pdf

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

So............
Is there ANY non-stick frying pan that is safe???????????

 

[Bobioden]

The pans will be fine if you don't heat them to over 500 Degrees.

 

[Shoegoo]

So............
Is there ANY non-stick frying pan that is safe???????????

Yes. there are pans at BBY with a white ceramic coating that are safe. Walmart sells a copy as well. Also, I recommend Olive oil spray for cooking. They're both used every day at my house. Me and my Conure are still alive.

 

[Kentuckienne]

It contains fluoropolymers!
Overheated? Dead bird! Ugly death!
This is from the folks that make it.
Quantum 2 - Housewares Coating Guide - Whitford Worldwide
http://www.whitfordww.com/pdf/literature/Use_care_Quantum2.pdf
http://www.whitfordww.com/pdf/literature/Quantum2_POP_2011.pdf

The first link says made without PTFE/PFOA, that the release is from silicone ...if you NEVER heat an empty pan, but always have oil or food in it, it should not get hot enough for the coatings to break down. What you worry about is...what if you got distracted, say a pet starts biting another pet or a kid breaks an arm, some circumstance that makes you forget and leave a pan on the heat. You might go a lifetime without that happening or it might happen the first day.

These ceramic pans are probably the safest artificial non stick pans out there. Personally, I find that properly oiled and preheated stainless steel is nearly nonstick, and for most cooking I prefer the food to stick a bit so I get some nice browned bits to scrape up. A well seasoned cast iron pan is as nonstick as any pan on earth due to its carbonized coating...think graphite lubricant...non toxic. Cooks Illustrated has a very good cookbook for these pans and they are much more versatile and easy to care for than you think. Plus, dirt cheap! My best pan started out totally rusted, and you can just about see yourself in the shiny black coating.

It's not just the cooktop, nonstick pans for baking are almost raking over. Hard to find a cake pan or baking sheet that doesn't have a coating. I have some Volrath baking sheets, big heavy aluminum suckers, that work great. I just use grease or parchment paper.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I used to have teflon pots/pans (T-fal) which I coincidentally got rid of about six months before I got Skittles and invested in a set of Cuisineart Stainless Steel. I had no plans on getting another bird at that time, but I've no doubt that Skittles telepathically made me get rid of them in order to prepare me for his invasion. lol.

In all seriousness though, when I had Peaches, her cage was in the bedroom and my kitchen is on the opposite side of the apartment. I never had an issue with the teflon pots/pans and her- but Skittles is in the living room which is right off the kitchen, so that would have been an issue had I still had them.

If you can't/don't want to part with them, my advice is just to not use them around your bird and make sure your bird is far away from the kitchen where you are cooking. Ensure that you don't even come close to overheating them. You never know when that might happen.

I don't do any "major" cooking/baking til after Skittles goes to bed because he likes to get into everything. Ideally, you shouldn't cook/bake around your bird anyways- the steam/smoke can be hazardous but also, its hard to keep an eye on your cooking and your conure.

I would think that pans would be more likely to overheat than pots.

One last thing, maybe you could check with an avian vet? Maybe they will have some information and/or suggestions for you.

 

[JungleJapes]

I'm wondering about this too. I'm thinking of getting a bird but want to know how much fumes do the pans actually make. I am on the top floor and kitchen is downstairs. Will the fumes reach upstairs and in sufficient quantity to be an issue?

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

It depends on the quality of ventilation in your home and where the fumes exhaust too. I have no one above me and the ventilation goes straight up. I can burn toast in the kitchen and you will not smell it in the bedroom (which is where Skittles sleeps).

My apartment building was actually built in three sections. My bedroom is part of the first section so ventilation is ideal there.

I do all my 'major' cleaning in the spring when I can open the windows at night. I clean after putting Skittles to bed and before the summer humidity creeps in.

As for cooking, I use stainless steel cookware but I still save all my 'major cooking' for after Skitty goes to bed cause he is just too curious and I can't risk it. Parrots are VERY fast, so they can injure themselves faster than we can get to them. I am fortunate in one aspect. Skittles is most 'adventurous' or 'rebellious' in the afternoon when I am most able to supervise him. By evening, he is winding down and very much becomes a 'velcro bird' and will want to be as close to me as possible, which makes supervising him while I am doing things like cooking or cleaning much easier to do. So I do my 'safe cleaning' (ie washing dishes, vacuuming or laundry) or 'safe cooking' then and save the major stuff for later.

 

[Skye2017]

I have had birds for 10 plus years. I use nonstick cookware! I have never overheated a skillet, or had any problems. Like the above post said, I believe it would take overheating to 500 plus degrees! Everyone knows in our house to never cook above medium heat. Hope this helps!!

 

[wrench13]

A good cook, using stainless steel or cast iron cookware should never even need non-stick anything. The problem as we have read is when non-stick cookware is over heated, at which point the coating gives off fumes that are deadly to parrots. Can anyone guarantee they will never, ever leave a pan too long or have a pan in the oven when you pre-heat and forget to take it out? Also, the edges of stove top pans are hotter then where food is cooking ( the food tends to cool the area where its cooking ) but the edges, where flame might be licking over, gets hotter.

Geri is a professional grade cook and had lots of non-stick cookware when we met. When we got our first parrot together ( our little Maxie), all and I mean ALL her non-stick stuff was donated to our church. Our house is PTFE free, except when some numbskull relative give us some cooking do-dad that has a PTFE coating. It either gets swapped at the store, given away to someone who does not have parrots, or donated to our church. Death from PTE fumes is real.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Amen, Salty!

Nobody plans on ever burning or overcooking- it happens accidentally. I'm pretty vigilante and pay a lot of attention to my cooking, its one of the few things I can pride myself on. That being said, I've burned stuff, turned the wrong burner on, burned my hands and even set a hand towel on fire on the stove. All were accidental and all before I got Skittles.

Even though I have stainless steel cookware now, the only cooking I will do on the stove with him around is boiling water. He is caged while I'm boiling water, because parrots are VERY quick and he could easily fall into the water before I could grab him even if I were right next to the pot. It only takes a split second.