Don't Scratch Your Non-Stick Pots & Pans!!!

    If you've ever spent your hard-earned dollars on non-stick pans, you know how easy it is to scratch one. Once scratched, they become trash. It isn't safe to continue to use them -- especially Teflon-coated pots and pans. Ingesting the coating can be really bad for you. I've ruined a few in my day. I know you can go to a big box store and buy a whole set of cheap pans for $20.00, but for well-made heavy ones it's really sad to see them go in the trash -- and I use them a lot, especially for my "One Pan" meals. So, how do you scrape out a nasty mess from the bottom of the pan? Easy...get a tough little silicone scraper.

I used to use a wooden spatula or a plain plastic one when I needed to scrape out some gunk at the bottom of a pan. The wooden ones work pretty well, but don't have quite a sharp enough edge to really get underneath anything left on the bottom. The plastic ones do have an edge, but you can't really use them on hot pots. Just off the stove is the best time to remove leftover food bits. Try that with a plastic spatula and you have a black (usually, unless you have another color!) gooey mess to deal with. I've left melted black lines on my skillets with the cheaper plastic spatulas...nasty. When they cool off, it's really tough to get them off.

You can already buy silicone bowl scrapers. They've been around a long time and work great when you are attempting to get every last bit out of your bowl. I use it all the time when making my "Mock Almost-Mousse" dessert. It's good till the last...umm...drop or, more accurately, bit. But they are way too soft to use to scrape at food residue, especially baked-on or cooked-on pieces. Now you can buy ones that are cleverly designed with a plastic support for the heavy silicone blade. Simply put, they work. I have scraped off overcooked egg chunks and brittle, cooked-on cheese bits with ease. All done in a still-hot skillet, without any damage to the non-stick coating.

I cook often in my RV, on the road, so anything that makes cleaning easier is always going to be tops in my book. Add to that fact it's small and easy to store and you have an RV utensil drawer keeper. They come in various colors and styles, but I liked this one. Small enough to store easily in a small space and large enough to scrape a lot of stuff in a short period of time.

Of course, with my new non-stick CERAMIC frying pan, I may not even need one. But for my Teflon coated pots...it's a MUST!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com