Is It Safe To Put Nonstick Pans In The Oven? The Answer Is Complicated
Few innovations are more beloved by home chefs than the efficiency-boosting, cleaning-friendly nonstick pan. But even the best nonstick cookware has its limits, and you must know how to use and maintain it properly in order to keep enjoying its benefits. One of the most common mistakes with nonstick pans is putting them in the oven when they're not made of the right materials for that kind of heat, or cranking said heat too high. This can not only ruin the pan but be dangerous. So if you like making dishes utilizing both the stovetop and oven, like baked eggs or cobblers, get to know exactly when you can put a nonstick pan into the oven and how.
The first thing to consider is the pan's materials. Off the bat, check handles, seals, gaskets, and any other trims. If anything is wood or plastic, forget the oven. Stainless steel and aluminum are safe, as are silicone coatings. The other material is, of course, the pan's coating, which can be ceramic or PTFE, a synthetic polymer that is also known as Teflon. Both are safe for the oven but have temperature restrictions. The exception is Teflon pans made before 2013 — it's only after then that they all became PFOA-free; PFOA is a toxic chemical that could have harm your health in the heat of the oven. You should be replacing nonstick pans every five to seven years anyway, so make sure any Teflon-coated pans you use were made in more recent years to be safe.
How hot is too hot for nonstick pans in the oven?
The next most important thing to take caution with is exactly how much heat you expose your nonstick pan to in the oven. Even the newer Teflon pans will start to degrade and give off dangerous fumes at temperatures above 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Ceramic coating doesn't have fumes or chemicals to worry about, so you can go a bit higher with it, though if you use it at extremely high temperatures too often, it may start to wear and crack.
Based on both of these materials, general guidance tends to view about 350-500 degrees Fahrenheit as the top of the range. Don't forget, too, that oven temperatures can vary up to 30 degrees between what you've set and what's actually happening inside. While placing a pizza stone inside is an easy trick to stabilize your oven, to be completely safe, factor that difference in, especially when using Teflon, and never go above 450 degrees Fahrenheit or so.
Because of the heat limits here, one total no-go zone is the broiler. Before you know it, the broiler can get your pan to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and beyond, so it's best to avoid it all together. For any pan in any situation, though, don't skip the step of seeking out information on your exact pan. Look at the instructions that came with it, check the website, or, when all else fails, email the manufacturer for guidance.