Is it safe using non-stick pans after accidental overheating?

[Bencuri]

So my story is this: have just purchased a brand new pan with a non-stick coating. Forgot it on the gas cooker on medium heat with a pancake in it. When returned after 10 minutes the underside of the pancake was black. I washed the pan, it seems to me the non-stick layer has no cracks, discoloration or chipping, the layer did not get loose. And it is still non stick. Is it still safe to use it, or I should get rid of it to buy a new one? The layer is marble according to the packing, but it seems to be very teflon like. I don't know if anything like this exists, but if yes, I wouldn't be surprised if it was fake marble:  teflon in fact with some paint to make it look like marble. The country of origin is China, so who knows. The marble pans I have seen so far looked a bit different than this one. 

[Duvel]

Use it.

 

Firstly, a blackened pancake is not a good temperature indicator.

 

Then, perfluorinated polymers are very sturdy and do not really undergo many decomposition reactions at higher temperatures, but rather start to depolymerise at 600 oC+. This you would have noticed 😉 ...

Lastly, only at prolonged heating above 250 oC you could see some “creeping” in the polymer and thinning out the polymer layer, if you had some heavy stuff in your pan. Again, that blackened pancake won’t qualify.

 

So, I’d continue to use it.

 

 

[palo]

If it was a really expensive pan, I "might" consider it, but if not then toss it - decent non-stick pans aren't very expensive. Err on the side of caution.

 

p

[weinoo]

How was the pancake?