What is the max temp. that may be used with a non-stick All-Clad skillet?

[torolover]

On the instructions it saids that the non stick all clad pan can be put into oven no hotter then 500F.

 

I put the pan on my electric smooth top burner on only level 2.  After 10 minutes, I checked the temp of my pan with my infared gun and it was over 500F!

 

Is this OK?  

 

Or does this mean I can only cook at level 1 to be safe?

 

Thanks!

[William Colsher]

Why did you heat an empty pan?

At 500 F most any cooking oil will be smoking hot and about ready to burst into flame. In actual use you'll never come close to that with any quantity of food in the pan.

[Shalmanese]

non-stick maximum temperature.

[Martin Fisher]

On the instructions it saids that the non stick all clad pan can be put into oven no hotter then 500F.

 

I put the pan on my electric smooth top burner on only level 2.  After 10 minutes, I checked the temp of my pan with my infared gun and it was over 500F!

 

Is this OK?  

 

Or does this mean I can only cook at level 1 to be safe?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Questions only All-Clad can answer.

[torolover]

Thanks for the tips guys!  I assumed at level 2 the pan is at low heat.  I was really surprised that level 2 can give me temperatures of over 500F!

 

I told my wife not to use the pan at medium heat which is level 5.  Since level 2 already can reach 500F, probably I should tell her the max heat she should use is level 1?!

 

With food,  what is the maximum heat level I should use?  Level 1, 2, 5 or something else?

[Paul Kierstead]

As noted, 500 is extremely hot. With food, if whatever you are cooking isn't burning, then the pan isn't 500. As long as the pan isn't empty, or very near empty, and your food isn't burning, it is very unlikely you are anywhere even in the the vicinity of 500. Just don't leave it a long time on the burner empty (or almost empty, oil alone will not suck away enough heat).

[paulraphael]

I heat pans to 500F or more all the time. It's a matter of storing up as much energy as possible to compensate for a weak burner (I have a typical home range ... probably not much more than 12,000 btu/hr). It takes several minutes to preheat a pan, then the oil goes in, and within a few seconds the food goes in. The food drops the temperature of the oil and the pan dramatically and almost instantly. All that loud sizzle is water turning to steam, pulling gobs of heat energy into the air. The extreme pre-heat is a hedge against the pan temperature dropping too much, turning your sear into a stew.

 

You can't do this with teflon. I'll preheat a teflon pan till it's pretty hot, but I try not to go above 400F or so. The teflon won't break down until much hotter than this, but there's also the concern of cooking oil polymerizing on the surface. Depending on the oil this can happen at temperatures not much higher than 400. If oil polymerizes on stainless steel, you can scour it off with BKF. If it happens on spun steel or cast iron, you've added to the seasoning. But you'll never get it off of teflon. The resulting polymer is tougher than the teflon itself. A non-stick pan with cooked-on oil goes into the recycling.

 

I consider non-stick pans specialty cookware. They're good for eggs. They're good for fish that has the skin on, although I prefer to use stainless steel and good technique. If you're putting a hard sear on something, there's never any reason to use teflon, so this limitation shouldn't be an issue.

Edited April 3, 2015 by paulraphael (log)

[btbyrd]

I think the biggest issue for the OP is leaving an empty pan on the burner for 10 minutes.

[boilsover]

An empty pan is going to exceed 500F eventually on any but the lowest settings.  I once timed a cast iron skillet on an electric coil set to high, and it exceeded my IR thermometer's 900F max in just a few minutes.

 

I would never preheat a PTFE pan to more than 350F.  It is at about this temperature that Dupont's own data indicate ultrafine particles begin to leave the pan.  There are independent studies confirming offgasing at 396F.  Boucher, M., Ehmler, TJ and Bermudez, AJ. 2000. Polytetrafluoroethylene gas intoxication in broiler chickens. Avian Dis 44(2): 449-53.  While neither the particulates or the gas alone is toxic, in combination, they are.  Johnston, CJ., Finkelstein, JN., Mercer, P., Corson, N., Gelein, R and Oberdorster, G. 2000. Pulmonary effects induced by ultrafine PTFE particles. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 168(3): 208-15.

 

Dupont (and all the manufacturers who use it) give the 500F figure because that's where the PTFE really begins to break down into compounds that may sicken you or kill birds.   They also do it for a reason that should scare you:  If a PTFE pan is once grossly overheated, its lining is partially converted into low molecular weight PTFE.  Then if this pan is RE-HEATED to 486F, toxic particles are emitted.  Seidel, WC., Scherer, KV, Jr.., Cline, D, Jr.., Olson, AH., Bonesteel, JK., Church, DF., Nuggehalli, S and Pryor, WA. 1991. Chemical, physical, and toxicological characterization of fumes produced by heating tetrafluoroethene homopolymer and its copolymers with hexafluoropropene and perfluoro(propyl vinyl ether). Chem Res Toxicol 4(2): 229-36.

 

Much past 680F--easily attainable on your stovetop, by the way--PTFE will pyrolize and evolve some seriously toxic chemicals.

 

Even if you are not bothered by the potential hazards of cooking on PTFE, you may be concerned that your $$ All-Clad may not live past age 1 or 2.  Those cooks who reserve PTFE-lined pans only for cooking eggs commonly report that their pans last far longer, up to 5 or 6 years, rather than the 1-2 years' performance of pans that have been heat-degraded.

 

I have ONE PTFE-lined pan, a Swiss Diamond.  I preheat it only to the point I can't put my palm down in the pan.  And I NEVER leave the room when it's on the hob.