Please note that this page may contain affiliate links. Click here to read our affiliate disclaimer.
On average we get about 1-2 messages per week asking us if we can recommend a bread machine that doesn’t use a Teflon pan. Sometimes we wonder if we should tell everyone to direct those comments to all the bread machine manufacturers (hint hint) to pressure them to make, how should we call it, “less risky” pans.
Instead of answering everyone one by one, we thought it would be best to finally put together an article that addresses this evil, man-made, mass-produced thing that’s gotten so many people concerned for their families’ lives. We completely understand!
Teflon is a brand of polytetrafluoroethylene (yes a mouthful), which is also known as PTFE. It is used in almost every cookware you can imagine – frying pans, baking sheets, etc. This material is prized for its ability to resist sticking, which makes cooking and cleaning less of a chore. It has been used since the 1940s when following WW2, many new technologies at the time had found applications in daily life. Today, if you see some verbage like “nonstick” on cookware, it’s most likely made of PTFE.
The problem with PTFE is that it’s been discovered to have adverse effects on health. Precisely, if PTFE is heated over a certain temperature, its molecules start to break down and it releases a toxic byproduct gas called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Studies on animals have found that PFOA increases the risk of liver, testicular, breast, and pancreas cancer, which you can read more about here if you’d like.
So if heat and PTFE don’t mix, then clearly we shouldn’t be cooking anything with PTFE, right? Which begs the question: Why are manufacturers still making cookware – and our beloved bread machines – with it? Well, it comes down to exposure levels basically. We know that PFOA increases our risk of various cancers, but do PTFE cookware even expose us to dangerous levels of PFOA? Here’s what the American Cancer Society says: “Other than the possible risk of flu-like symptoms from breathing in fumes from an overheated Teflon-coated pan, there are no known risks to humans from using Teflon-coated cookware.”
“No known risks” is hardly reassuring though, and we suspect that that’s the reason most people would rather stay away as much as possible from this material. But even after doing many, many bread machine reviews, we have yet to come across any bread machine in North America that we can 100% back as having a completely safe, non-PTFE pan. We’ve heard of new material called Biolon, which apparently is a ceramic-based coating that is PFOA free. But right now we feel it’s another man-made product that deserves just as much scrutiny as PTFE.
So what CAN you do to keep your family safe when using bread machines? Well, PTFE holds up fine at up to 500°F / 260°C of continuous use. Therefore an obvious solution might be to minimize your risk by ensuring your bread machine doesn’t reach a dangerous, fume-releasing temperature. The good news is that this is really easy. First of all, bread traditionally bakes in an oven at around 350°F / 175°C, which is significantly lower than the 500°F / 260°C maximum limit. We also found that with many bread machines, bread bakes at an even lower temperature (300°F or lower) and you can customize the temperature too. Bread machines bake bread at a lower temperature because unlike a conventional oven, the chamber is much smaller and therefore the heating elements are closer. This creates an environment that requires less heat to cook. So with bread machines, compared to cooking pans for instance where you can’t accurately control temperature, you realistically have little to worry about in terms of the release of toxic fumes from the nonstick pan.
Below, we share with you some of the best bread machines readily available in North America that have the option to set your own baking temperature, as well as their temperature ranges. Note that all of these bread machines bake at 300°F or lower.
Top 3 Bread Machines Baking Under 300°F (PTFE Safe):
1) Zojirushi BB-PAC20
The Zojirushi BB-PAC20 has a customizable baking temperature range between 250°F and 300°F (120°C and 150°C). Read our review here.
2) Breville BBM800XL
The Breville BBM800XL has a customizable baking temperature range between 140°F and 300°F (60°C and 150°C). Read our review here.
3) Zojirushi BB-CEC20
The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 has a customizable baking temperature range between 250°F and 290°F (120°C and 140°C). Read our review here.
Great information. Thank you!
Did you ever ask why they were looking for a stainless pan? I can almost bet a lot of them are bird owners. Most bird owners won’t risk their birds lives so even a minimal risk isn’t worth it. I’ve owned parrots for 29yrs and finding safe products is always on my mind. So if manufactures would only listen they could have a huge new set of customers. I would love to own a breadmaker but have to settle with making it in an oven. Lol a safe oven.
Haha! Never asked but maybe you’re right! 🙂
I found One company who sells a break maker with a stainless steel basket. Unfortunately, they do not sell in US or Canada. I will have to settle for the oven also, as I have just noticed this – they are all coated with Teflon with another name.
Hi wich is the company name who made bread maker machine without teflon ? I know Beem and Sana but Beem I don’t found anymore, and Sana is too expansive. I am living in Europe. Thank you
What country is it available in. I live in India. And I want this one that has a stainless stain basket that is uncoated.
Sana sells one to India 🙂
The Sana website says they are coming out with a North American model in 2020!
Than you for posting this for our feathered babies!
I have 11 exotic birds & with the crisis going on thought I should maybe try s bread machine till I read about the non stick coating.
I just couldn’t risk anything like that. Not a cook or baker this was going to be an experience. Oh well open for options
I have 4 parrots and am looking for the same thing. I feel your pain, Mary 🙁
I came to this article for this exact reason. Thanks for mentioning it! I really hope companies would be more aware of this. Finding safe cookware is really complex. I live in an apartment, the place is so small it makes it even more complex to hide my feathered baby from life threatening fumes. I simply don’t risk it.
I don’t know about Breville, but please be aware that the Zojirushi machines are a health hazard! The paddles are made of aluminum and are “designed to degrade,” as per Zojirushi. I will never buy anything from this company again, as the company defends this and could care less. I have been using my Virtuoso for the last year and a half and we (a family with small children) have been ingesting shaved aluminum in our bread all that time.
We paid $300 for the Virtuoso, thinking it was a worthy investment. After the first year, it stopped mixing the ingredients. I called and was told I needed to replace the paddles at a cost of $14. I was irritated that I’d have to do this going forward, as it adds to the high cost of the machine. FOUR months later, my replacement paddles are stripped. I use the machine twice a week to make a very soft sandwich bread, so this is extreme poor quality. That is an additional $42 a year just to be able to use my $300 bread maker- IF the costs does not increase. And of course, worst of all, it means we are ingesting all that shaved aluminum. The company told me it is designed this way and preceded to try and say that “aluminum is everywhere in nature and our bodies, so it’s safe.” No. This is absolutely unsound, anti-scientific reasoning. Given the wide breadth of study findings on aluminum toxicity, aluminum being found in our bodies is hardly an argument for safety. If anything, it means we need to limit our known exposure sources, given that it is a pervasive health risk.
Please do not buy Zojirushi machines unless you are comfortable regularly ingesting shaved aluminum and spending additional funds just to be able to use your machine as intended.
Just a thought, Ovidius. I have had a Teflon coated bread pan and have replaced it twice due to scratching – expensive. Whilst Sana is expensive, you are unlikely to need to replace parts…… Sadly, unlike you, I’m in Australia and unable to purchase one as they are only available in Europe
Hi kj, I’m in Australia too and wondering if we try to buy a number of these bread makers to make the shipping lower?
Doug
It’s nearly the end of the year now. Any further progress in finding a non teflon or aluminium breadmaker that’s available in Australia? Anyone….???
I am looking for a good bread machine with Teflon coating basket also want a window & yeast dispenser I live in Ontario Canada
Do not want Teflon coating & would like a window & yeast dispenser also has to be compact in size for family of 2
I see this ceramic pan bread maker on Amazon right now. Not too bad a price, $120.
The ad says :
‘Teflon free and nonstick ☆ceramic bread pan☆ is totally safe ‘
KBS Bread Machine, Automatic 2LB Convection Bread Maker
https://www.amazon.com/KBS-Automatic-Dispenser-Programmable-Stainless/dp/B07BYXHYLY
The negative reviews for this machine say many of the advertised claims are false. Apparently they had a promotion to get people to leave positive reviews. Personally, I’m not willing to trust my birds’ lives to them. If they lied about other specifications for this machine, they may have lied about the ceramic coating as well…
Just got this machine, sending it back, Looks like they just painted inside of the pan. I thought I would be getting Ceramic, Not a supposedly ceramic coating that smells like paint using the same Aluminum pan which in itself is a hazard.
I’ve been looking for a safer bread maker and came across this KRS bread maker, which has a ceramic coated pan. Do you know of any downsides to this type of coating? Is it safer than teflon?
https://www.amazon.com/KBS-Machine-Automatic-Dispenser-Stainless/dp/B07BYXHYLY
Sana has been saying a model compatible with North American power standards will be available soon for at least 5 years. Looks like they’ll at least ship to US now, but the machine comes with a 230v European plug.
I found a sturdy old non-teflon model at Goodwill. No risk for my birds.
With all of the health hazards related to the non-stick coatings (Teflon and others) and aluminum pans, I don’t understand how all of the manufacturers can continue to market bread machines using these bread pans.
We’d very much like to find a bread machine with a stainless-steel pan. Thus far, have only found one at Sana, but they do not have a model yet available for US voltages.
https://www.sana-store.com/sana-smart-bread-maker-standard
For those in the UK: Beem 5-in-1 Bread Maker – no Teflon – ceramic – PTFE and PFOA-free
Beem is out of business with their bread makers