These days traditional nonstick cookware is made using PFOA-free PTFE (which is also typically free of PFOS, another harmful PFAS). You’ll see it marketed under names like T-fal, Dura-Slide, or hard-anodized aluminum. While PTFE itself is considered less harmful than other PFAS, there is still a broader concern. Thousands of PFAS compounds remain unregulated, and there is ongoing research into the class of chemicals as a whole. A label that says “PFOA- and PFOS-free” does not necessarily mean the product is free of all potentially risky chemicals in the PFAS family.
What does “nontoxic cookware” mean?
While not necessarily the first recorded use of the term, the idea of “nontoxic” cookware was largely introduced to consumers when GreenPan released the first PFAS-free ceramic nonstick frying pans in 2007. Since then, “nontoxic cookware” has come to mean “PFAS-free nonstick cookware.” While there’s nothing inherently incorrect about this characterization, it’s important to recognize the degree to which it has become a marketing buzzword these days.
While “nontoxic cookware” typically refers to ceramic nonstick, which is made from silica using a method called the sol-gel process, any cookware that’s made without the use of harmful chemicals like PFAS can be considered “nontoxic.” That includes some tried-and-true options you probably already know and love: stainless steel, cast iron, and carbon steel.
Ceramic nonstick comes closest to mimicking the ease of traditional Teflon, but it doesn’t hold up over time the way uncoated pans do (more on that below). That’s why we recommend getting comfortable with stainless, cast iron, and carbon steel. With the right technique, your food won’t stick to them either, and they’ll last a lot longer.
The best ceramic nonstick cookware: GreenPan Valencia Pro
Greenpan
Valencia Pro Ceramic Nonstick 12″ Frypan
About ceramic nonstick: Ceramic nonstick pans are made of metal (typically stainless steel or aluminum) and lined with a silica-based coating that makes them nice and nonstick—for a few years, at least. The exact makeup of that coating varies brand to brand, which is why we’ve spent years testing lots of ceramic nonstick pans to find the ones that best deliver on their nonstick promise.
