Real hobbies, safe equipment
The healthiest version of everything in your kitchen.
Every product scored 1 to 5 for what it’s made of. Organized by what you actually cook.
Start here
The 10 things to replace first
You don’t need a new kitchen. You need about ten swaps, in the right order. Most cost less than dinner out. We ranked them by how much they actually matter.
Built around what you make
Most sites organize by product type. We organize by what you’re doing on Saturday.
More coming: fermentation, canning, pasta, cheese, ice cream, BBQ.
Every product scored
1 to 5, on a scale we publish. PFAS, lead, BPA, microplastics — we check what touches your food.
No pay-to-play
Commissions don’t change scores. We recommend things we earn nothing from.
We say when we don’t know
The science isn’t settled on everything. When it’s a judgment call, we tell you.
Brand reviews, scored
The pans everyone asks about, judged on what they’re made of — not the ads.
Is Caraway safe?
The lab reports are real; the coating still wears. 3 — and the stainless line is a 5.
Is HexClad safe?
The PTFE lawsuit, the TerraBond switch, and how to tell which pan you’re buying. 3.
Every score starts with the material. Here’s why bare stainless is always a 5 →
Kitchen basics, scored
One category at a time, one question each: what is the food actually touching?
- The 10 things to replace first — the starter kit
- Stainless steel, explained — 18/10, 18/8, 316, nickel
- Is Le Creuset safe? — enameled cast iron, Staub and Lodge scored
- Is All-Clad safe? — D3 and D5 are a 5, the nonstick lines a 2
- Bakeware — sheet pans, loaf pans, muffin tins
- Are Stanley cups safe? — the lead pellet, the lawsuit, and the bottles that never used it
- Kitchen utensils — wood, steel, silicone, bamboo, nylon, and the black plastic question
- Cutting boards — wood, bamboo, rubber, plastic, titanium
- Glass food storage — Pyrex vs borosilicate, lids, the freezer rules
- Air fryers — what the basket is made of
- Rice cookers, slow cookers, Instant Pots — the inner pot problem
- Water filter pitchers — certified vs “tested,” glass vs plastic
- Dinnerware — lead in glazes, and the two meanings of “lead-free”
- Blenders — glass vs Tritan vs stainless containers
Latest
- Are Stanley Cups Safe? The Lead Question, and Which Bottles Don’t Have It
Short answer: yes, an intact Stanley is safe to drink from. The lead is real — Stanley says so — but it’s a sealing pellet at the bottom of the vacuum chamber, under a stainless steel cap, on the outside of the inner wall, and it never touches what you’re drinking. The only way it becomes a problem - Non-Toxic Kitchen Utensils: Wood, Stainless, Silicone, and the Black Plastic Question
Short answer: a wooden spoon and a stainless steel spatula are the two safest tools in any kitchen, and they always were. Good silicone is a 4 and the right choice for a coated pan. Bamboo is a 3, because most of it is glued. Nylon, melamine, and the black plastic spatula that came free with a pan s - Is All-Clad Safe? Two Companies in One Brand, Scored
Short answer: it depends entirely on which All-Clad. The bonded stainless steel lines the brand is famous for — D3, D5, Copper Core, G5, D7 — put bare 18/10 stainless against your food and score a 5, the top of our scale. The nonstick lines that carry the same logo — HA1, HA1 Expert, Essentials, NS - Is Le Creuset Safe? Enameled Cast Iron, Scored Honestly
Short answer: a Le Creuset Dutch oven is a 4 on our scale, and a good one. The surface your food touches is vitreous enamel — powdered glass melted onto cast iron — in sand, white, or black, and glass is one of the few materials we never worry about. The reasons it isn’t a 5 are worth ten minutes of - Blenders: Glass vs Tritan vs Stainless Containers, Scored
The motor doesn’t matter and the container does. Nearly every blender jar is Tritan plastic — fine for a cold smoothie, a problem for hot soup. The glass-jar blender that never went away, Vitamix’s stainless container, and the immersion blender that fixes the rest. Scored 1–5. - Stainless Steel Cookware, Explained: 18/10, 18/8, 316, and the Nickel Question
Bare stainless steel is the safest cookware you can buy, and the numbers on the box mostly describe corrosion resistance, not safety. What 18/10, 18/8, 316 and 18/0 mean, whether nickel leaches, why clad beats disc-bottom, and the pans we’d buy.
Get the checklist
The Non-Toxic Kitchen Checklist — 47 things ranked by how much they matter, free. One email a week after that. Unsubscribe whenever.
No spam. No selling your email. Privacy.