The Current - Why you should toss the teflon and grab a cast-iron pan

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

TV personality, chef and author Andrew Zimmern is on a quest to convince North Americans to ditch their teflon pans for cast-iron skillets, amid growing scientific and public concern over the chemicals that make pans non-stick. PFAS, or forever chemicals have been linked to some cancers and health problems affecting the liver, kidney and immune-system. He says cast-iron pans are not only safer, but they're better to cook with.

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Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. So, what is the secret to a perfect fried egg? Well, according to the celebrity chef, Andrew Zimmern, it's what you cook the egg in. Last iron skillet, a tablespoon of butter. You can do this in baking fat. I like to hard sear my fried eggs in butter, and the butter turns brown.

And the reason is very simple. If I don't do that, then I don't have those wonderful, crispy burnt edges. Oh, my goodness, I'm hungry already. You might remember Andrew Zimmern from his popular travel show, Bizarre Foods.

He was a chef on a quest to understand the world's most unique tastes. Well, now he has a new quest to convince North Americans to toss their non-stick pans for a cast-iron skillet. This is in part because of the growing scientific concern over the chemicals in non-stick coating,

something called PIFAS, known as forever chemicals. They've been linked to an increased risk of some cancers, health problems affecting the liver, kidney, and immune system. Andrew Zimmern recently wrote an essay in the New York Times. The headline was, relax America. There is life after non-stick pans. Andrew's in New York City.

Andrew, good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me. I'm really glad to have the chance to talk to you. You wrote in the Times, for decades, Americans have been sold the slick fantasy that if your eggs don't slide out of a pan, like a Vegas card trick, you're doing it wrong. How did we become addicted to a non-stick pan?

Like we become addicted to so many things. Convenience, convenience, convenience, and then sold marketed to a false bill of goods. They are not necessarily always cheaper. They are not the ideal metal platform to cook in. In other words, you don't get the same seared brown effect on other foods that you cook because of that ultra-slick surface

and they don't clean up any faster and in fact there are more limitations the biggest one being that huge warning about not taking a metal spatula to your pan so they've bred

an entire you know league of rubber and silicone utensil that have their own problems. I came to this issue with nonstick pans, though, through the groundwater issues around the factories

that produce these forever chemicals. Some of the most poisoned areas in the United States are the areas in and around these factories. And as I started to dig into this, I realized, you know, my gosh, we actually have no need for these forever chemicals. In other words, if there was a trade-off that benefited the public good,

you could have another side of the argument. There is no reason for companies to be making these poisonous substances that are used in mascara wands as well and lots of other places. And it's, sure, you know, we've all seen the scrappy Teflon pan and you wonder where does some of that weird fabric wind up. It does wind up in us. It is proved to be harmful. But it's also the groundwater contamination around them.

And since we've been making beautiful omelets and eggs for, you know, a thousand years in carbon steel and, you know, probably as long as in a same version of cast iron, as well as so many natural coatings that don't have forever chemicals like different enamels and other scientific advances. I was stunned that in the United States, we still have this obsession, these late-night commercial hucksters, selling people these fake copper pans that food slides out of in a very abnormal way. Why is cast iron better? I mean, because people are used to that, and they think, well, that's what I have to cook in. If I want the egg to slide out, as you say, why is cast iron a better option? Well, there's cast iron, and then there's carbon steel, and then there's coated cast iron,

and then there's cladded, stainless steel. And all of them have different weights. They diffuse heat differently. I love and treasure my old cast iron pans. I don't reach for a 14-inch cast-iron skillet that weighs 15 pounds to make a single fried egg in the morning. I reach for a small 8-inch carbon steel pan that cost me about $22 that I season the same way as I do my cast iron. And anything I put in there sears properly, I get a nice crust and a textural effect when I cook. And then whatever I'm cooking comes right out of the pan without sticking.

So it really depends on what the usage is. We have a lot of different types of pans to cook out, although that quote of me that was airing was from my Instagram account where, you know, I actually made a fried egg in my big heavy cast iron pan because I wanted to show people how to do it, how to wash it, how to season it. I love my cast iron pans, but there are people who are freaked out by them. They are scared. Do you understand that why are people frightened?

by the cast iron pan. They're heavy, I think, is one reason, and that's also the knock against Le Cruze pans, which I absolutely adore and stout and all those other brands that are heavy enameled cast iron. I think the biggest reason is that a lot of cooks have stuck the cast iron pan in the sink, gone back to the table to have a glass of wine with their friends

after filling the sink with a little bit of water, and then they forget the pan in there and they come back a little while later, and there's a rusty film on it, I think things like that visually upset people. But in fact, all you have to do is take a soft, semi-abrasive natural cloth and rub it on there and dry the pan, put it on a low flame or in your oven rubbed with a little oil and re-season it.

Can I ask you about cleaning it? Because, again, there are all sorts of, you should never scrub it with soap and water. You shouldn't put it in water at all. I was taught that you actually clean it with a little bit of salt. Yes. So is it difficult to clean, from your perspective, is it difficult to clean the cast iron pan? No.

No, there's a half dozen great ways to do it. You do yours with salt. Some people do a little salt and baking soda. I do mine with just water, but I have pans that I am constantly seasoning. Every time I heat up the pan, I brush it with oil, I then cook with it, I then wash it out, with hot water and a non, you know, semi-abrasive cloth, it takes it back down to its slippery patina. And then I put it back on the stove after I've dried it. And I heat the pan up and rub a little more oil in it.

And I just keep restoring that beautiful, slip-free patina very naturally. But sometimes, you know, accidents occur. someone else uses the pan and some food sticks or something goes in there that's abrasive. And at that point, I just stripped the whole thing down with soapy water and a lot of elbow grease and oil it and put it in the oven for a few hours and, you know, then let it cool and put it, you know, season. In other words, do the original seasoning again that typically you only have to do the first time you buy the pan. I think the big thing also, people object to price without realizing that, you know, cast iron skillets are some of the cheapest cookware that we have, as are many brands of

carbon steel pans. I have a carbon steel walk that nothing sticks in. I think you could pour concrete in it and it would slide right out. I don't know that I would advise you cooking concrete in the pan. But we just have a couple of minutes left. One of the things you have to do is try and convince people that this is the way forward. And you've said that preparing food isn't about shortcuts, it's about attention. How do you convince people that the shortcut that they seem to get out of a cast iron pan? The shortcut out of the non-stead pan, pardon me, isn't really the goal. Yeah, because we've been sold something that's been intended to simplify our life.

And I truly believe that, that, you know, cooking can be a yoga in the truest sense of the word for people. When I'm cooking, which I will do after cooking all day at work, I'll come home and cook for my family, it relaxes me. I'm not thinking about my 15 or 20 other problems. I'm enjoying myself. I'm focused on the task at hand. It's, you know, food can be a meditative experience like fiddling around on a musical instrument for a while or whatever someone's hobby is, painting little toy soldiers. When we focus our brain and get away from the piece of it that is troubling us, right, that lizard part of our brain and focus on something that requires all of our attention,

it has emotional, spiritual benefits for us that I've experienced over the course of my life. And I would like to remind people that when we're sold a shortcut, it often comes with a much higher price to pay. the cast iron pan sing its praises Andrew Zimmern it's good to speak with you thank you very much thank you sir

Andrew Zimmern is an Emmy Award winning chef and writer he wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times relax America there's life after nonstick pans this has been the current podcast you can hear our show Monday to Friday on CBC Radio 1 at 8.30 a.m.

at all time zones you can also listen online at CBC.ca.ca slash the current or on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.