Show Hints by Mary C. Boender it m Home Agent response to first introduced ty two years has skyrocketed beyond manufacturers Beginning with a wide variety of both for use in oven I Vl for surface is now D liable with the reports Mary home can cook many foods in W-stick cookware with no and Rh or without shortening will not stick to Waning their cooking surfaces only a detergent and with a minimum of w ft at t won't stick to these utensils because their cooking surfaces have a plastic coating with unique properties Most of the non-stick fry pans employ one of a family of plastics which chemists call This plastic is manufactured both abroad and in this country where Du Pont produces it under the trade name of The resin forms a waxy-feeling whitish in It is essentially an Inert compound that resists attack by or combination with other and retains its properties at both very low and relatively lugh are asking such questions as How good are How valid are the advertising claims made for Will they retain their non-stick Continued use of this will give the real research and laboratory tests indicate that they are going to become a permanent part of the I cooking In spite of the enthusiastic response to type of there have been negative comments from some Perhaps the most significant had to do with the relative soft- ness of the which can be all too easily nicked and scratched by and spatulas used to handle food as it Manufacturers attempt to guard the vulnerable coatings by supplying wooden or plastic spatulas with the If metal are used they should be used carefully and gently to avoid damaging the The coating tends to spot and take on a brownish color as the pans are This does not seem to affect the pans' Prices for fry pans have a wide range of By all take advantage of a good but remember that a very thin pan may be a poor bargin quite aside from the coating as tion grows trie consumer has to keep an eye out for the possibility of quality Besides thinner thinner coatings of the thermoplastic may be or the coating may not be adequately bonded to the metal underneath in inexpensive cookware Non-stick skillets and griddles perform best when they have been preheated for about one When a few drops of water sizzle on the it is ready to Avoid putting Teflon coated utensils immediately into cold water when they are very Boender |