A few months ago I liternally gushed over an eco-friendly company from Belgian called GreenPan. The small frying pan I tested was so superior to any other non-stick I had ever tried, it is now my all time favorite piece of cookwear. Use GreenPans on electric, gas, and halogen cooktops and some GreenPans can also be used in the oven. You will want to wash your pan by hand and avoid abrasive scrubbies or cleansers, but the food slides right off it anyway. The pans are guaranteed for five years, two on the coating.
Apart from great performance, what GreenPan offers is what they call “constaninability” (convenience + sustainability). The non-stick coating they use is called Thermolon. Traditional non-stick coatings are made with PTFE (PolyTetraFluoroEthylene). If you heat one of these pans on too high heat, the PTFE coating can start to decompose. The released fumes have been proven lethal to small pets like birds! On people, these toxic fumes can cause nausea and headaches. The non-stick,Thermolon coating on the GreenPans contains no PTFE and no silicone oil. The pans can absorb high heat resistance but if you overheat the pan, the coating won’t be destroyed and it won’t release toxic fumes. And I can attest to the fact that these pans are so non-stick the foot slides off them with no effort! The pans themselves are made of heavy gauge, hard anodized up cycled aluminum with an extra thick forged base that lets food cook quickly and evenly. While you don’t really need to add anything to make it non stick, a little oil or butter will enhance the flavor. For GreenPan ovenwear used for baking dough, the company does suggest brushing a thin layer of butter on the interior surface of the ovenware prior to its use. There is no need to dust the surface with flour.
For the holidays, a great gift idea, or a way to produce a lot of fun food for your “tribe” is the 13.5″ Round Pizza Pan from the Dubai Ovenwear line. Just FYI:This collection is named after the Dubai convention: From 11-13th of January, Dubai was the host of the offshore Arabia 2009 conference. Energy leaders spoke about creating opportunities to challenge and enhance the future potential of the oil and gas industry, global energy market and the planet’s environment. That’s certainly inspiring for a humble collection of bakewear!
While the GreenPan pizza pan is obviously designed for pizza or similar items, the Thermolon coating means you have a large, non-stick surface on which to make cookies or biscuits, create a party mix, or even heat up a frozen pizza or messy, cheesy fries. The rim is smooth so food won’t get stuck (making it easy to clean), and the large edge makes it easy to lift (and to cover with foil if need be). It even pinch-hits for a serving tray. This pan will become your holiday favorite!!! There are so many ways to use this one, round piece! Cooking tip: GreenPan™ ovenware with the patented Thermolon™ non-stick technology conducts heat more efficiently and rapidly, so you might want to set your oven temperatures lower during baking. The first few times you bake, watch foods closely as they approach being “done”. If they brown faster than expected, reduce the temperature until you get the results you want.
“Green” doesn’t mean inexpensive. The average retail price for the GreenPan pizza pan runs $36-$50.00 depending upon where you buy it. To be sure, you can get some cheap pan for a lot less and bake stuff onl it. But if you care about your health to the point where you would like the quality of the food you cook to be safer, you will love the GreenPan and consider the to be excellent investments. If you just want good pans that cook well, you can’t go wrong choosing GreenPans, either. You will also be happy to know that Green Pans with Thermolon™ ovenware, produce 60% less CO2 emission compared with the production of PTFE-coated bakeware and ovenware. A healthier planet –priceless!
Go green this holiday season! Get GreenPan gifts and items for your own, holiday entertaining needs at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Crate and Barrel, Target Stores, and a number of online kitchenware retailers. You can also get a lot more inormation about GreenPan on their web site www.green-pan.com
