Non-stick skillets that won't leach chemicals

It's hard to find a skillet that's non-stick and doesn't have a Teflon coating. I'd like to avoid Teflon because it's a known carcinogen. And the fumes are so unhealthy, that using non-stick pans in your home is fatal to pet birds! (Although, the burning food itself can also be the culprit.)

Materials to avoid

• Teflon (a brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE) and other non-stick coatings. This includes Cuisinart QuanTanium, DuPont Autograph 2, Swiss Diamond, T-Fal, Eterna, Excalibur, Xylan.
• Stainless steel with a high nickel content
• There is a simple test to determine if your stainless – or the stainless you wish to purchase – is okay or not. If a magnet sticks to your pot/pan – you are safe. If it does not, there is too much nickel.
• Aluminum (pots and pans, foil, cans, etc.)
• Hard-anodized aluminum(?)
• Conflicting evidence on whether it leaches aluminum into the food or not
• The Brandy Wine Science Center Inc. performed tests for leaching on various types of cookware including hard-anodized aluminum. The study tested for metals like iron, nickel, copper and aluminum. The final results showed that hard-anodized aluminum does leach 7.10 milligrams per liter of liquid used in the test.
• "PFOA-free" doesn't mean much
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) can be used in the manufacturing process. PFOA is a pollutant and toxin, but does not remain in the final product
• When they say PFOA free, it means that particular chemical wasn’t used in the manufacture of PTFE. But the coating still contains PTFE.

Things to look for

• Stainless steel
• Check that a magnet sticks
• Ceramic-based coating
• E.g. Greblon, Thermolon and EcoLon coatings
• Used by brands Ozeri pans, Cook Kitchen, Joseph Strauss, Zwilling J.A. Henckells Thermolon coating cookware, NeoFlam
• Cast iron
• Enamel
• Glass, e.g. Pyrex
• Hard-anodized aluminum with no additional non-stick coating
• If we're looking for non-stick, this is the best of the lot
• Cook at the lowest heat possible to reduce leaching into food.

Cast iron pans are definitely safe and after they have been properly seasoned, they won't stick, either.

How to make food not stick to a stainless steel pan

Pre-heat the pan, and then add the oil/fat. Wait for a tell-tale wisp of smoke from the pan before adding your ingredients for cooking.

I can't actually find any hard-anodized aluminum pans with no additional non-stick coating on them. Are there any brands you know of? Share in the comments!