NON-TOXIC KITCHEN

The Kitchen Materials We'd Cook With (and the Ones We'd Avoid).

Most non-stick cookware sold in the US still uses PTFE or PFOA-replacement chemicals, both of which shed into food at temperatures a home cook reaches every week [regulatory review, peer-reviewed]. Air fryers are the same story with a smaller footprint. Plastic cutting boards shed microplastics into the food they're cutting [in vitro, peer-reviewed]. The good news: every cooking method has at least one well-tested alternative that performs as well or better. Stainless, enameled cast iron, and ceramic-coated pans all clear our criteria. Wood and end-grain cutting boards are easy swaps. Below are the brands our editors cook with at home, the ones we'd give as a wedding gift, and the ones we walked away from after testing. We also flag the trade-offs (weight, learning curve, oven temp limits) so the decision fits your kitchen, not ours.

45 reports · Edited by Lara Voss · How we test