All our non-stick products have Thermolon™ coating for fun cooking and easy cleaning. Thanks to this great technology, the coating acts like an insulator that retains heat, moisture and flavors. These are sealed in and give you great results when preparing food. It also has a perfect heat distribution that allows even cooking, which makes the food brown beautifully.
The production process is extremely high-tech, and needs perfect temperature and density control. ‘GreenPans™ with Thermolon™‘ are only produced in factories which are fully ‘quality checked’, not only in terms of production and quality but also in terms of social responsibility.
You want to know the difference between Thermolon™ and traditional PTFE non-stick coating? Read more
Traditional non-stick is achieved by coating the pans with PTFE. PTFE stands for PolyTetraFluoroEthylene, it is a waxy substance with a low coefficient of friction but easily scratched. This synthetic substance has well-documented disadvantages in practical household use. When you overheat your pan (accidently or by habit: a lot of people have the bad custom to using maximum heat in order to speed up cooking, so overheating can start after as little as 4 minutes), you damage not only your pan but possibly also your health! How come? Above 260° Celsius, PTFE starts to decompose and is known to release a multitude of nasty toxic fumes. The released fumes are proven to be lethal to small pets like birds! On humans, these fumes can potentially harm the respiratory tract and cause nausea and headaches. Also, when PTFE overheats, it will start to blister and peel, so your pan becomes useless.
During the manufacturing of PTFE coatings, PFOA – Perfluorooctanic Acid- is used and emitted into the environment. PFOA is classified as ‘a persistent pollutant of the environment’*. Besides that, it’s a tough chemical which your body has the greatest difficulties in expelling and is known to be a ‘likely human carcinogen.* 95% of all Americans have PFOA in their bodies and PFOA has been found to be common in wildlife throughout the world! Because of all this, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, a US federal agency in charge of the protection of human health and the environment) together with a number of companies of the chemical industry have committed to completely stop the usage of PFOA in products as of 2015.
*According to the EPA
GreenPan’s Thermolon™
Thermolon™ is the patented non-stick coating that GreenPan™ uses on its non-stick products.
Thermolon™ is based on sol-gel technology, this is a technology in which materials are formed from small particles suspended in Solution that Gel together to form a matrix.
Thermolon™ non-stick ceramic (= mineral) coating is completely PTFE-free, contains absolutely no silicone oil and uses no PFOA during its manufacture.
Mineral materials are derived from the earth. Such materials as used in Thermolon™ are completely food-safe and have been used to form ceramic items like pottery and glass.
The coating is heat resistant up to high temperatures. This means that GreenPan has a safety feature. If you accidentally overheat your pan, even up to 450°C/850°F no toxic fumes will be released and the coating itself will not blister or peel.
The Thermolon™ coating is a “one coat system” which can be sprayed on and cured faster at lower temperatures compared to a PTFE coating. We also spray Thermolon™ inside and outside and then both are cured in one single pass through the oven. This results in the use of less energy, which means 60% less CO2 emissions than during the production of PTFE pans. The thermal conductivity of Thermolon™ is much better than PTFE, therefore it also needs a little less energy to heat up and stay warm, so you’ll save on your energy bill too.
Scientific information concerning the SAFETY and TOXICOLOGY of:
“GreenPan™ cooking utensils and Thermolon™ anti-stick technology”
Thermolon™ has been certified by third party test labs as conforming to international regular food contact standards set by the US FDA (USA Food & Drug Administration) and the German LFGB. Moreover, the coating has been certified by the Swiss government and KTR (authoritative test institute certified by Korea Laboratory Accreditation) as conforming to their standards.
PFOA-free:
Lately a lot of brands communicate that they are PFOA free. This means they are still using PTFE but that PFOA (sometimes called C8) is replaced by a C6 analogue, which belongs to the same chemical group.
Silicone oil:
Some ceramic coatings still add silicone oil. Silicone oil is also known to be harmful for our environment. Thermolon™ contains no silicone oil at all.
Ceramic coatings:
A lot of coatings that claim to be “Ceramic” are still based on PTFE. They call it a ceramic coating, because they just add ceramic particles into the PTFE.
Grey colour:
A lot of coatings just copy the grey colour of Thermolon™. But it could be just regular PTFE or a coating as described above.
Please make sure you have the original 'GreenPan™ with Thermolon™' in your hands.
Pot and fry pan handles come in stay cool bakelite or oven-safe stainless steel materials. By using the latest welding and polishing techniques we can bring ergonomically designed handles. High quality rivets, screws and welding techniques assure a safe and comfortable grip. Where we can, we use upcycled materials: Our cast stainless steel handles are made from premium raw recycled stainless steel; reducing our impact to the environment.
GreenPan™ products come in different high-end materials and shapes. The design and construction provide stability and perfect heat transfer to your cooking utensil. For aluminium bodies we use quality recycled material. The raw material is cleaned, melted and re-used. New eco-friendly techniques in the construction of the pans also give a new dimension to cookware.
At GreenPan™ we use the latest techniques to construct the pan base, because we know this is the secret of excellent cookware. The best techniques provide the most efficient energy transfer, which is of major importance for eco-friendly cookware. Special forging techniques give extra strength to the cooking utensil and provide perfect heat conduction. To make our aluminium cookware induction compatible, we forge the induction plates on the cooking utensil. The strongest in the market! A lot of other aluminium cookware available on the market get pressed induction bases which can come loose after a while.
Sustainability is nice, but it’s a lot of lingo. Here’s a little ‘vocab’ for you.
Upcycling
Converting a material into something of similar or greater value in its second life. Melt the stainless steel handles of our pans for example and make them into new stainless steel handles. Or, even better, use stainless steel from industries and turn those into handles.
Cradle to cradle
The idea is that all the things you use can be recycled into new use. Technical things can be recycled without loss of quality (and biological things composted or consumed).
CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility. Companies taking responsibility of their pressure on the environment, people and communities.
PPP
Triple P - Planet, Profit, People.
If you have more questions about our Technology,
be sure to read through our Frequently Asked Questions.
