What’s in your kitchen? I’m not talking about food this time… I’m talking about your cookware. If you are like most cooks in a hurry, you have at least a couple of nonstick frying pans, griddles, and other implements covered with that familiar gray or black, twinkly-finished coating. I sure did! I found them to be very convenient.

After using them for years — replacing as needed, when scratched, dented, or otherwise unusable — I began reading studies reporting that nonstick coatings give off toxic fumes when overheated. "Well, so what?" I thought. I am always careful not to cook on overly high temperatures, so where’s the danger? But then I read stories in pet magazines of how nonstick pans give off fumes that kill birds, even at LOW temperatures!

Are you familiar with the "canary in a coal mine" scenario? Coal miners used to take canaries into the mines with them, and if a bird passed out (or worse), the miners would retreat in a big hurry. Birds are very sensitive to airborne toxins. The miners knew this well.

If nonstick pans emit toxic fumes even at low temperatures, why take the risk? Consider getting rid of them now, before they can do any harm. And while we’re on the subject, think about getting rid of any aluminum pans you may have. Aluminum has been linked to degenerative diseases in some studies.

My recommendations for cookware are quality stainless steel and cast-iron.

Use stainless steel for stockpots, saucepans, a few frying pans, steamers, and similar implements. Use cast-iron for frying pans, griddles, and possibly for a wok. Carbon steel is another good material for woks. This should be enough to give you most of what you need for everyday cooking.

Instead of using one of those nonstick sandwich presses, you can press a sandwich between two different-sized cast-iron frying pans! Cast-iron takes a bit of preparation at first and after each use, but once you get it going, it is easy to clean. (More on that later.)

If you are following my cooking suggestions, you aren’t doing a lot of frying anyway, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble with stuck-on fried foods.