I wonder how many of us here really don't use teflon pans, because of birds
I'm not gonna lay: I use it. I don't cook too much, but I know it's dangerous for birds. I don't use blow-dryer around birds.

I'm glad you asked this, Margaret, because I felt like I had a skeleton in the closet

I personally don't use our teflon pans, I use cast iron. HOWEVER, I live in a house with two college-aged guys who I guarantee you 1)wouldn't take care of cast iron correctly, and 2)wouldn't be bothered using something they can't throw a mess of food-like substance in, turn into a hot blob of something somewhat edible, scoop it out, wipe down, and put away. Our kitchen isn't directly connected to the room the bird is in and I have a huge sign on the oven hood to turn on the exhaust fan and DO NOT overheat the pan when they're cooking with a non-stick pan, signed by Yoshi.

There is a sort of "green eco-pan" out there which is non-stick and doesn't contain PTFE, but quite honestly I don't have the money to replace our pan set yet. Once I have some set aside that will be our first kitchen replacement so I don't have to worry about it.

I clicked "yes and remain anonymous".
I've been using teflon before it was commonly known to be dangerous to birds, so once I found out it was "dangerous" I'd been doing it for years with no ill effects. So why throw out perfectly good cookware? You have to really, really burn it badly to produce fumes. And if you suck at cooking like that, you shouldn't be cooking. OR don't cook and talk on the phone in the next room at the same time. Don't leave the kitchen at all while you're cooking regardless of nonstick cookware or not.

I was just telling my daughter yesterday not to mention on the forum that we use nonstick cookware!
Roftl HaHaHa Crazy

It IS very nice that we can discuss openly these things and not worry about being jumped all over. So I guess you can move my vote to "yes, I use nonstick cook wear"

Haha, whew! I felt the same way and didn't want to even bring it up because I thought it was some cardinal sin... I honestly wasn't sure what qualifies "overheated" that releases PTFE at toxic levels, but was pretty sure we don't do that. I'd be interested in what ScooterNScotty has to add, though, I hope she joins in. The guys have been good about turning on the fan and keeping the burner low (mainly our tenant, I do most of Nate's cooking anyway). Like I said, I hope to eventually phase out our teflon even because overheated teflon isn't great for HUMANS, either, and I knew that before I knew it could kill birds. But... I'm not throwing away a full set and spending hundreds on a new one.

I love you guys!!


... hey I have an emoticon now!!!! :LyzGrace: Haha, Margaret you picked out a Camp Orchard Hill counselor to a tee!! Crazy pigtails and all!!

I do use them but the kitchen is upstairs and the birds are in the basement. Unfortunately I'm not in charge of the house so I don't really have the convenience of switching them to stainless steel or cast iron. There have been a few times where the birds have been exposed to the area, but the pans weren't burning and the encounter was fairly short.

I don't think I could ever comfortably use non-stick cookware in the same open space that has birds in it. I absolutely can't guarantee that I won't burn anything, and even "medium" heat stresses me out. The good chance of killing my birds due to my irresponsibility is too much for me. When I do have my own living space, I will not use non-stick pans.

Like Roz, I had been using teflon for years and Bryan did the same for years before and the birds show no ill-effects. Also mentioned, you really have to bake the hell out of your pans to give out toxic amounts of fumes. There are soooo many items you use in your house that are harmful on minut levels. Anything airborne is a risk, but I have the same opinion about all of this as I do about parents who practically wrap their children in cling film to "protect" them (and this may be harsh to some, but it is MY opinion) - You can make your home "SAFER" for your pets (and children) but where do you draw the line? Your TVs and computers and phones give off radiation, there are allergins floating in off the street, even if you use non-teflon cookware, you will on occassion burn your food, which produces carbonized smoke.... you can't wrap your birds in cling film to protect them. Yes, their lungs and breathing in general are more sensetive than a humans, but like all beings, the more you keep away from them, the more they will be susceptible to.

Along these same lines of harmful paranoia (again my opinion) are these "deadly" foods. I agree about the avocado and chocolate and anything else that actually has an ingestible toxin that can and will kill birds. But I actually had one bird owner a few years back tell me that cheese was "very harmful" because birds didn't have the capability to digest it. That meat and eggs were also harmful because of food-born bacteria that "only humans can handle". And I had the same question a few months back about fish... I eat it all the time, if its cooked can my birds eat it? The outpouring of comments on that one kind of startled me - dear God don't feed them fish!!! In the meantime, my birds practically rip it off my plate and they're all happy, healthy and breathing.....

OK, so I'm a bad parent. I believe in building tolerances and letting them enjoy what they enjoy. Does that mean I am going to force-feed them harmful foods and burn all my cookware around them? No, not a chance, but I'm not going to hover and watch them every 10 seconds to make sure they are still breathing either. You have to put a limit on your limits.

Just my 2 cents....

On a side note, I did recently purchase Earthpans from QVC. They look and feel like teflon, but are made of heat cured sand, which gives off no fumes, toxic or otherwise. Love them.

We were using stainless steel prior to getting into birds, so there was no need to change for us. However, I did have a teflon pancake griddle that I chose to stop using for the safety reasons. I searched around and found a reasonably priced ceramic pan that I will now use for pancakes. So I guess we're all "safe" up here.

I don't use teflon pans, but I do have a couple. My apartment is so tiny that I'd not be willing to risk it.

I said yes even though I personally don't use them. We have a couple of non-stick teflon that my husband and daughter refuse to give up - mainly for cooking eggs. As soon as they're gone we wont be replacing them though. The majority of our cooking is done on Stainless and cast-iron. I've got two cast-iron skillets so well cured that they're essentially non-stick, they're what I use to cook eggs without any problems - but I've been using cast-iron for years and years and years, well before I even thought about birds (before I ever knew about teflon).

Our kitchen/living/dining/bird area is one open space, so I don't have the luxury of closing the door to "contain fumes". (I don't believe that's possible anyway.) I've just told my family that if they don't want to be the ones responsible for murdering the birds, they may not, under any circumstances, turn the stove up past medium heat when using those pans, and they cannot be used other than for regular meal-time cooking (to lessen the chance that someone will be distracted and it will boil dry or be forgotten).

Cast iron and copper here, I'm southern.