Disaster averted. Another nonstick cookware rant

[David S]

How many times have you read the warnings here about nonstick cookware and thought "That'll never happen to me?" Well, I'm one of those folks. However, I did grudgingly get rid of my nonstick Calphalon when I got Tango, my first parrot. I replaced it with a set of heavy stainless and my old faithful cast iron skillet. I guess I'm just paranoid enough to be afraid that an accident **could** happen. Well that accident happened yesterday.

I live in an old house with an old stove; one which the burners are turned on with push buttons. Yesterday I was trying to get the birds fed, Grant (my 10 y/o son) fed and returned to his Mom's house and get on the road to pick up Diego... and in my haste, I told Grant to just climb up on the counter and find himself something to eat in the cupboards. He did..... and somehow he accidentally hit the button for one of the burners and turned it on high. My cast iron skillet was on that burner (I use it so much it stays on the top of the stove). I had just gotten out of the shower and smelled something "hot". At first I thought it was the heat pump but went into the kitchen anyway. The skillet was smoking and almost white hot. I removed it from the burner, turned the burner off and opened the kitchen door. There wasn't much smoke in the house at all, and Gideon and Marley were none the worse for wear from the incident..... BUT... what if the pan HAD been nonstick? What if I hadn't removed all of that from my home two years ago? Every "what if" I can think of equates to two dead birds. Because I heeded the many warnings posted here, those two birds are alive and healthy and quite well.

If you use nonstick cookware and think that this "accident" can't happen to you, think again. And if you want to continue using your nonstick cookware, thinking this won't happen to you, just picture your beloved fids dead in the bottoms of their cages. It CAN happen to you.

[Lisa B]

Thanks for the warning again.....
sadly, many people will not listen.
I never had them in my home to begin with, mostly because I had birds before they even came out.
I'm glad nothing happened, and all is safe.
I only wish I could say the same for a friend who lost an array of Macaws, and a Amazon because of Teflon related/coated items.

[kp_in_scott]

Oh David, that is so scarey! I'm soooo glad you have that big ol cast iron skillet.

[Belinda]

Wow - that's really scary. What do you do if you're living at home and your parents won't hear of getting rid of the non-stick stuff - especially for the birds.

[FeatherLover]

David, how's Grant? Hope he didn't burn his little knees.

[The Outlaw]

What you do is print this out and let them read what can and often DOES happen.

[Doug W]

So scary...but so good for all to read. Get rid of that Non-Stick. It just isn't worth it.

[Alyce Johnson]

Tell them about all the settled lawsuits for *human* health problems in the city where Teflon is primarily manufactured. The stuff is deadly to people, too! It's just slower to get to us, unless you happen to live closer and get higher doses of the chemicals involved. But it *can't* be good for humans if it *kills* birds!

[Doyle'sMommy]

What a close call! I gave all my non-stick cookware to my Mom. I hated to see it go, but you make a committment when you get a bird, and their safety should come before your conveinience.

[Valo's Moirana]

I'm currently cooking with ONE pot which I "stole" from my BF (go figure that I don't cook much ), since all my others are nonstick and I refuse to touch them. I should just give them away and your story is the final motivation I needed - I'll pack them up tonight and have my BF take them the next time he comes to Colorado.

Thanks for your story!

PS: One thing that goes along the same line are plants - I have tons of plants which I love, but I had to move them out of fid's reach, and since Valo almost got to one of them (which he shouldn't) I'll have to give most of them away as well but as Doyle's Dad said, you make a committment to the bird...