Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Hey Hackers!

Make: Baccarat Description -"chemical free", non-stick ceramic layer -aluminium body -stainless steel induction plate -PFOA/PTFE free

Is ceramic pretty good to use (inert?)? and it's non-stick; any experience with eggs?

I currently use a teflon non-stick (for eggs only), but if this is more inert (and less toxic) then I should get it?

n.b. I put "chemical free" in quotations because all of us and what we eat and touch are "chemicals" but I presume it's referring to stuff like teflon etc.

Thanks!

edited May 29 at 7:56

asked May 28 at 23:22

Ty Fyter
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I had one but I'm having to throw it away because it started chipping. And I am a nazi about careful washing with non-scratchy sponge/use of silicone cooking tools. It was only $20 though and I hear the more expensive ones are less fragile, like the Scanpan. Read reviews on Amazon. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub May 29 at 0:10

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I gave up ALL nonsticks over 2 years ago. I cook with stainless steel and plenty of butter, ghee or Wilderness Natural Popcorn oil (mixture of coconut and palm oil) for eggs. They don't stick as long as I use plenty of fat :) Yum! – Lady_Arwen May 29 at 0:48

I only use le creuset with light enamel inside. I don't like the dark one for some reason. I love it. – VB May 29 at 4:46

lawl just realised i misspelled "ceramic" in the title :P – Ty Fyter May 29 at 4:54

@Ty Fyter, you can click "edit" and fix the title. – Dangph May 29 at 5:14

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Blitherakt · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-28 23:58:39Z UTC

Inert, when talking of cooking ware, typically means "non-reactive"; it won't leech the metals of the vessel into acidic foods. Copper, cast iron and high-carbon steel are all "reactive", where annodized aluminum, stainless steel and enameled cast iron are non-reactive.

The non-stick properties of enameled cookware vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but in general, they are slicker than stainless or anodized aluminum, but less or equal to Teflon-coated pans. Higher quality, thicker enamel coats tend to be more slick than the cheaper quality stuff. Lodge tends to make some very good, quality-consistent stuff.

Wisper · Answer 2 · 2012-05-29 01:41:28Z UTC

Ceramic pans are as inert as cookware can get - even more so than steel. I bought a large ceramic GreenPan skillet a few months ago as part of getting rid of all plastic in my food-related pans and things. It's plenty of €€€, weighs a ton, and has mixed reviews on Amazon, but it works wonderfully for me.

I use it a few times a week, wash with soap. It's not as easy to use as a teflon pan, as it requires seasoning (read: oiling) when cooking eggs and meat. But it cleans easily even if you burn food, and as long as you don't use anything abrasive to clean it it should work fine for a good while.

miked · Answer 3 · 2012-05-29 02:39:39Z UTC

I cook my eggs in a ceramic pan every morning. I like it better than teflon and it's easy to clean. I wouldn't worry about leaching very much, ceramics are going to have heavy metals in them, especially chromium, but they're all bound up pretty strongly in the ceramic, so even if anything does come off into your food it'll be fairly non-reactive.

Marie · Answer 4 · 2012-05-29 03:55:06Z UTC

I have a small one I cook eggs in every morning. I also use it to heat up leftovers. It works like my Lodge coated dutch oven. It's really slippery. So far it has lasted longer than the "eco" non-stick pan it replaced that cost about $30 more.

jake3_14 · Answer 5 · 2012-11-13 22:05:07Z UTC

I have a set of ScanPan ceramic-coated, non-stick cookware, and I love it. It's quite expensive (about 500-700 for a set these days, depending on the set and where you buy it), but it comes with a lifetime warranty. I've needed that a few times, since the coating has chipped on two different pieces over the past 7 years. Also, I need to wipe down the pan/pot interiors with a paper towel after hand-washing (although the manuals says they're dishwasher-safe), because grease does sticks to them otherwise.

Regarding eggs, I use enough bacon grease that the eggs float on it, so that's never been a problem.

Hack ceramic cookware, please??

5 Answers