Plant Powered: In Search Of The Best Vegan Cookware
Forget sad salads, lifeless lentils, and bland tofu. Vegan cuisine is a vibrant world of flavour, bursting with creativity and innovation. But if you’re new to the eco-friendly lifestyle or simply vegan-curious, the idea of making everything from plants can be pretty daunting. Fear not, fellow earthling! This guide will help you navigate the exciting world of vegan cooking, starting with the foundation – your cookware.
But before we dive into the spatulas and skillets, let's take a step back to look at the core principles of veganism. We'll explore the motivations behind the movement and uncover the surprising health benefits of a plant-based approach to life on planet Earth. Then, we’ll get to the heart of the artichoke, helping you choose the perfect cookware for your plant-based culinary creations.
What is Veganism?
Many people see veganism as just another diet. In reality, it’s about so much more than the foods you choose to eat. At its core, veganism is a lifestyle driven by a specific mindset. That mindset revolves around choosing kindness and minimising harm for everyone on the planet, animals included. When you step into this mindset, every decision – from what you wear to the cookware you use – is informed by a desire to maximise the good things in life and minimise the negative impacts of your choices.
Of course, the hard truth all vegans must face is that it’s impossible to avoid doing any harm completely. You’ll never be perfect. But there’s freedom in this acceptance because it reveals that you don’t have to try to be perfect. Instead, each vegan simply strives to do the least amount of harm that’s realistically possible for them.
Is Plant-Based The Same As Vegan?
Although similar, the terms “plant-based” and “vegan” differ in subtle but important ways. Put simply, “plant-based” is a diet, while “vegan” is a way of life. In addition to food, veganism strives to minimise harm in all facets of life. This extends to avoiding things like animal fibres such as wool, leather and silk for clothing & furniture, products tested on animals, or whose production negatively impacts the environment or animal welfare. Palm oil is a great example of this. Despite being plant-derived, palm oil production often involves the destruction of rainforest habitats, putting pressure on already endangered species such as orangutans.¹ For this reason, most vegans don’t eat foods containing palm oil.
Why Do People Choose to Become Vegan?
Vegan For the Animals
One of the primary reasons people choose veganism is out of compassion for animals. We’ve all seen disturbing images of Australian animals on live export ships2 or factory farms. Vegan activists such as the Dominion Movement have engaged in high-profile actions that have raised awareness of the plight of the animals used for human purposes. Once you’ve seen what many of these animals experience, the desire to prevent animal suffering and exploitation becomes a powerful motivator for many.
Vegan for the Environment
Factory farming isn't exactly a picture of paradise for animals. But did you know it's wreaking havoc on the environment too? Buckle up because these next statistics are bleak:
- According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, animal agriculture is responsible for a whopping 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.[1] That's more than the combined total of the world’s transportation emissions!
- Cattle farming is responsible for 80% of the deforestation of the Amazon and 41% of all tropical rainforest destruction worldwide.3
- At least another 30-35% of deforestation is caused by growing crops such as soy to feed livestock.
- An estimated 137 species of animals, plants, and insects go extinct per day due to deforestation. That’s around 50,000 per year!4
Vegan for Health
Going vegan isn't just about compassion for animals and the environment – it's about unlocking a world of potential for your health and athletic performance. Plants are naturally low in saturated fat and packed with nutrients (yes, even protein!) that help you achieve better gut health, a more robust immune system, reduced inflammation, improved cardiovascular health, lower risk of chronic diseases, and better weight management.
Many elite athletes such as Novak Djokovic, Lewis Hamilton, Venus & Serena Williams, Kyrie Irving, Carl Lewis, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle, Colin Kaepernick, and countless others5 all achieved, or continue to achieve extraordinary results on a vegan diet.
Whatever the motivation, a vegan lifestyle can be an excellent choice for many people looking to be kind to animals, the planet and their bodies.
Cooking with Compassion: The Best Cookware for Vegan Kitchens
So, what exactly is it that makes a piece of cookware suitable for vegan cooking? Your gut instinct might be to say, “Oh, C’mon! Cookware is cookware. What difference does it make to what you’re cooking?!”
To some extent, that scepticism is valid. Great quality cookware can and should perform best for any style of cooking. However, there is a little bit more to consider than first meets the eye. From a practical perspective, the primary consideration is the cooking surface, and that’s where GreenPan excels.
Non-Stick Cookware - The Best Choice for Vegan Cooking
If you’ve ever tried cooking tofu on a surface that’s not non-stick, you’ll be familiar with the frustration that comes with scraping charred remnants from the surface of your cookware and losing half your meal.
Putting aside the far-too-commonly held and thoroughly debunked myth about soy lowering male fertility6, foods like tofu form a significant part of most vegan diets. But it’s not just tofu.
Other foods that form part of a typical vegan menu, such as lentils, legumes, fresh vegetables, thick sauces and others, can be pretty temperamental and easily burn or stick if you’re not using the right cookware.
The answer to this dilemma is generally to add more oil. This reduces or eliminates one of the primary health advantages of vegan cuisine: it is often much lower in fat. True, most vegetable-based oils are low in unhealthy saturated fats. However, even the healthiest oils still contain some. Some vegetable oils commonly used in vegan dishes, such as coconut, are actually very high in saturated fats7.
Meats, by contrast, are typically less of a problem. The saturated fats in meat tend to liquefy in the pan or pot, providing its own lubrication. Think of that slice of bacon (sorry, vegans!) sizzling in its own fat, and you’ll understand that, in most cases, little or no added oil is required.
That’s where high-quality non-stick cookware comes into play. The natural properties of non-stick cookware mean that even tricky foods like tofu are much easier to cook without the messy disaster and with only a minimum amount of oil. In this way, non-stick cookware can help you gain the maximum health benefits from your plant-powered lifestyle.
The Best Cookware for Vegans - It’s About More Than The Food
So, now that we’ve established that non-stick cookware is the way to go for vegan cuisine, the next step is to discover which brand is best.
In the same way that veganism is not just a diet, the answer to why GreenPan is the perfect choice for any plant-powered kitchen goes beyond the food you cook. It should come as no surprise that we think GreenPan products are the highest quality, best-performing non-stick cookware on the market. However, it is GreenPan’s alignment with all the critical values that make veganism such an all-encompassing mindset that sets us apart.
Let’s look at several reasons why:
1. PFAS-Free Cookware: A Sustainable and Safe Choice
GreenPan prioritises your health and the planet's well-being. Our cookware is free of PFAS, a group of artificial chemicals linked to health concerns and environmental damage. This commitment to safety ensures you can cook delicious vegan meals with peace of mind, knowing your cookware isn't compromising your health. PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. As tough to get rid of as their name is to pronounce, these persistent pollutants contaminate soil and water sources. PFAS have been linked to various health problems in humans and animals.⁸ So choosing PFAS-free cookware ensures you're not only protecting your health but also minimising environmental contamination. Veganism goes hand-in-hand with a commitment to a healthy planet, and opting for PFAS-free cookware is a massive step in the right direction.
PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. As tough to get rid of as their name is to pronounce, these persistent pollutants contaminate soil and water sources. PFAS have been linked to various health problems in humans and animals.⁸ So choosing PFAS-free cookware ensures you're not only protecting your health but also minimising environmental contamination. Veganism goes hand-in-hand with a commitment to a healthy planet, and opting for PFAS-free cookware is a massive step in the right direction.
2. Environmentally Friendly Manufacturing & Construction
We produce our proprietary ThermolonTM non-stick coating using cutting-edge manufacturing practices that cause 60% less CO2 emissions, making it the environmental superstar of cookware coatings.
In addition, many other non-stick pans utilise a range of toxic glues and additives, which ultimately end up leaching into soil, groundwater, or the atmosphere. GreenPan’s cookware manufacturing process eliminates these nasty materials. Unlike other coatings, ThermolonTM is a natural, sand-based material that uses an advanced coating method that eliminates the need for adhesives altogether. This innovative process helps to make our cookware one of the most environmentally friendly options on the market.
The eco-friendly good news doesn’t end there. Our cookware has exceptional heat conductivity - up to 8 times better than regular PTFE-coated pans. Better conductivity means less heat loss so you can achieve your desired cooking temperature with a lower heat setting.
Lastly, ThermolonTM is heat resistant up to 450°C. If you’ve spent any time in the kitchen, you’ll know that this is way higher than your typical cooking temperature. Even experienced cooks can sometimes overheat their pots and pans. When this happens to non-stick cookware with lower heat resistance, they give off toxic fumes that may be hazardous to people and pets.
All these crucial factors combine to make GreenPan one of the most environmentally friendly cookware brands on the market.
3. Durability for the Win
As any good cook knows, you can’t craft a delicious dish without top-quality ingredients. The same is true for cookware. By using superior materials, we ensure that our cookware not only performs brilliantly but is incredibly durable. We’ve all been lured in by the attraction of cheap cookware, only to find that the non-stick surface starts to scratch or peel within a few months, consigning it to the bin. When it comes to cookware, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
The latest and greatest version of our coating, ThermolonTM Infinity Professional, is completely scratch-resistant, even with metal utensils. With proper care, our cookware can last you for years. This means less hard waste ends up in landfill. Another win! Moreover, when averaged out over the pan's lifetime, the cost performance of GreenPan cookware is almost always superior than cheap, flimsy competitors that need regular replacing.
GreenPan - The Perfect Cookware for the Vegan Lifestyle
It should now be clear that GreenPan truly is the cookware choice that fits the vegan outlook like a glove. Our commitment to care and compassion for the planet and its inhabitants are powerful motivating forces that drive us to continue developing products that lead the way in performance and eco-friendliness.
Whether you're a seasoned vegan chef or just starting your plant-powered journey, GreenPan is your perfect partner in the vegan kitchen. Our cookware allows you to express your culinary creativity while staying true to your values. Cook confidently, knowing you're using tools that prioritise your health, the environment, and the well-being of animals. With GreenPan, every meal is a delicious celebration of a compassionate and sustainable style.
End Notes
1. Endangered species threatened by unsustainable palm oil production | World Wildlife Fund https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/endangered-species-threatened-by-unsustainable-palm-oil-production
2. 9 News: 60 Minutes uncovers disturbing video from live sheep export vessel: https://www.9news.com.au/national/60-minutes-live-export-sheep-vessel/44d4902c-7ada-43f4-8c8f-3bec20fd7365
3. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:
4. World Animal Foundation: Forests Under Threat: A Comprehensive Look at the Latest Deforestation Statistics
https://worldanimalfoundation.org/advocate/deforestation-statistics/
5. Great Vegan Athletes:
https://www.greatveganathletes.com/
6. SNI Global: Data Indicate Soy Consumption Does Not Feminize Men
https://sniglobal.org/data-indicate-soy-consumption-does-not-feminize-men/
7. Medical News Today: What are the most healthful oils?
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324844
8. PFAS Chemicals | Environmental Working Group (EWG)
https://www.ewg.org/areas-focus/toxic-chemicals/pfas-chemicals
