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I got an old ice-cream maker at a thrift store (Vitantonio's Gelato Modo II). The bowl has a Teflon coating. There is a chip in the bottom about half the size of a dime, below which there appears to be plastic, not metal.

What I've looked up about Teflon safety seems to say that the major risks are high heat (fumes) and exposure to the aluminum under the surface of many coated pans if the coating is damaged. Since this is an ice-cream maker and the basin appears to be plastic, those wouldn't apply. Is this thing safe to use, or are there additional risks I haven't found?

The ding

Vivian
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    Teflon, or something weird? From pic, it looks like a coating on top of some sort of open lattice. Can you loosen more stuff with, say a toothpick? If so, some will probably end up in your ice cream. How much water can you pour into the hole? More than seems reasonable? Your ice cream mix will end up down there as well, and will be hard to clean up. A closeup shot of the hole would be nice. – Wayfaring Stranger Jun 20 '18 at 22:47
  • I looked the thing up and found an old newspaper article saying it's Teflon, so I'll assume it's just coating a slightly rough surface and that's the cause of the texture difference. I'll try to get a better picture, but the basin is narrower than my phone so the angle gets awkward. – Vivian Jun 21 '18 at 00:08
  • I can get a drop of water into the hole, at most. It doesn't seem to flow anywhere but I can't tell whether that means it's sealed or just surface tension. – Vivian Jun 21 '18 at 00:11
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    If it's just straight teflon, with no weird potus understructure, I'd rub around the hole to make sure there's no loose stuff, then use it anyway. PTFE is idigestable, so if you get a little it should pass right through. You probably won't get any anyway. I wonder if that hole is from someone getting the mixing paddle on crooked? It's awfully well defined. – Wayfaring Stranger Jun 21 '18 at 15:16
  • It's Teflon over something that seems like a rough speckly plastic, over what seems to be smooth white plastic. – Vivian Jun 21 '18 at 15:39

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I would not use it given the fact that you will be using it to make a mixture for ice cream, pieces might end up in the mix. You can try it out a couple of times and if no parts fall out then should be good to go. Would not recommend to use it at a business but for personal use only.

Elcubanitoese506
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There is no threat to health from eating Teflon since it is an inert substance.

You can probably seal the hole with polyurethane to prevent further chipping or flaking. Use polyurethane from the can, not the spray.

Drisheen Colcannon
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