The TRUTH about Ceramic Cookware

Teflon's latest competitor on the market, promising to be a healthy, safe, and eco-friendly alternative, is ceramic cookware. But, is it actually any of these things?

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Script: Holly Maley
Editor: Reid Valaitis + Kirsten Stanley
Project Manager: Lurana McClure Rodríguez
Host: Levi Hildebrand

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[PatrisDev]

I've recently moved to stainless steel pans. Was getting tired of "temporary" pans, and didn't want to bother with seasoning. Yes, you do need to scrub a bit more, but if you manage your temperature while cooking and soak the pan in water before cleaning, it's not a big deal at all.

[Holly-cxtq]

Chefs tip for stainless steel: If you keep the hob on at the end of cooking (medium high temp) and put in half an inch of water and some washing up liquid, use a silicon spatula and just lightly stir - it comes off straight away no scrubbing needed

[LiamRappaport]

Just a point of note: silicon is not the same as silicone. It seems to be being used interchangeably in this video.

[MrMoogle]

I switched to stainless and cast iron a few years ago after I moved and realized my nonstick pans were scratched to heck. Once you learn the tricks of working with both, they are actually easier to live with and I don't have to worry about them getting too hot and giving off terrible fumes. There are a lot of little tricks out there to prevent sticking in regular pans. Cast iron is my go-to 90% of the time these days and is the pan that pretty much lives on top of my stove.

[juliakwiatkowski]

I work at a kitchen store and thanks for this. A lot of people don't really get that "ceramic pans" and a lot of nonstick pans have a certain lifespan. If you want something that will last forever, cast iron, enameled cast iron, stainless steel... all good options.

[Brockza]

I think a point that always needs to be mentioned about cast iron is that they are heavy and this can be important for people who suffer from disabilities or the elderly. Which may mean for lots of people a steel pan is the way to go.

[billmcdonald]

I use cast iron, enameled cast iron, stainless, pure ceramic, and glass. Rarely do I end up scrubbing. Either I've deglazed as part of the recipe, or I let the cookware soak in hot water [no soap] for an hour or so before washing by hand. Each type of cookware has its own way of working with minimal sticking, so I choose which to use based on the recipe ingredients.

[INE]

I got a cast iron pan as a gift in college and I have used it for nearly everything that can fit in it. Only exceptions are soups or steaming, which both go with my stainless steel pot. If I could, I would probably switch to a carbon steel pan, instead of cast iron, but I haven't had enough of a reason to change yet.

[narial]

I love that you included the "replacing" as a part of the sustainability argument. It's so often left out. Reducing is always always always the best way to be eco-friendly. People often forget that.

[noplace]

Enamel, cast iron and steel pans have always been my go-to. I inherited a shit ton of cast iron La Cruset pans from my grandma and even though they’re much older than me they’re still incredible. With care, they’ll last forever

[WolfiesDen]

One alternative you might have mentioned that is almost as good as cast iron and needs to be treated the same (seasoning, etc.) but is a little more forgiving than cast iron is the Carbon steel pans.

[htimsid]

Decades ago my mother switched to glass cookware. It took her a while to using the glass pans (which is a little different / tricky compared to other materials and surfaces) but she was convinced that the purity / neutrality was worth the extra bother.

[NotAFanOfHandles]

If you don't want to scrub the stainless steel pans, do what I've done for years by _deglazing your pans_ - even if you aren't planning on making a gravy, keeping the heat on low and adding a bit of water loosens everything up so there is minimal, if any, scrubbing to be done. Can also be done with pots: add water, put a lid on, raise the heat so it gets to at least a simmer, then turn it off - the residual heat trapped will work with the liquid to loosen food residue on the sides as well. If you forgot to do it promptly and it's already cooled down, adding some water and turning the heat back on will do the same thing.
I hate having to do dishes, so this is one of my go-to tricks for minimizing the clean-up.

[mikafoxx]

When I was in my teens, I inherited a few cast iron skillets from my grandmother, since I was the only family member to have such an interest in cooking. (I'm a baker now) These pans were bought back in the 60's, when my grandmother moved out of her parents place. I used them when I cooked at home and in the few years there, I saw several of my mother's nonstick pans go in the garbage. When I left, I brought the cast iron with me. It was all I had to cook with so it was all I used, and they're still going strong. I've since picked up a few more cast iron pieces new and used.
I find them easy to care for. The secret is to let them warm up gently on the stove to the working heat before putting the oil and food in. This polymerizes any miniscule remaining oil in the surface from the last cooking and cleaning without soap, which adds a fresh layer of seasoning without having to do it after cooking like others do. If I need to use soap, which is rare, I'll use a paper towel to wipe some oil onto the surface, just enough to make it darken but not enough to look wet. I'm not gentle with my pans, I soak, scrape with metal, and cook acidic stuff in them and have never had to purposely season them, eggs always cook fine.

[SkottiKimble]

Honestly, after inheriting my grandma's enamelware cook set, I've never looked back. Granted, I know there's quirks about cleaning and using it (like no metal, or rapid temperature changes), I really dig that it's just porcelain enamel over cast iron.

[appledjerry]

Tip: if you want food not to stick when frying, after adding the oil add ONE drop of water (you can literally just drop it off a wet hand). Wait until the water starts to crackle and pop in the oil and you know the oil is at optimal temperature for cooking.

[Jacob-zofv]

Engineer here who did years of preceramic polymer research, with compounds similar to those used to manufacture ceramic coatings. Currently working with a company that's main product line is Teflon based. Suffice to say, I feel I have some confidence and could help with the understanding of this. So, Teflon coatings obviously are sub optimal. They do perform well is the short term, but the tendency of Teflon to breakdown as it wears is a deal breaker. Okay, so turn how about engineered ceramics? A properly pyrolyzed engineered ceramic should be almost pure silica carbide or silica oxycarbide. Both of these compounds are almost completely stable and inert. If your cookware has a properly ppyrolyzed coating it should be safe even as it gets scratched or otherwise damaged. But, in our testing, for our specific compounds, we saw loss of organic completely compounds for up to 12 hours in the oven. In the formulation these organic compounds are what are potentially hazardous. I do not know what exact formulation each company uses, but it looks to be a PDMS which is different from the silanes I specialized in, but hopefully my experience can be helpful.

There are 3 potential hazards to ceramic non stick ware.
1) These are not pure SiC or SiOC, and the filler materials used can potentially be hazardous, and break down at lower temperatures
2) If the pan is not properly cured they may still contain carbon compounds, and these can be very nasty.
3) if the pan materials are not food safe. This was mentioned is the video.

So, what to do you do if you want ceramic cookware? My #1 advice would be to be willing to spend more. The biggest hazards come from not properly cured ceramic and hazardous base metals, both of which could often be used as a source of savings/QC issues. For the concern about material fillers, find something that you can confirm if ptfe and pfoa free.

Hope this helps. Fwiw I cook mostly on cast iron since I like the even heat, with stainless everything else.

[MxMattieRose]

Carbon steel is the most underrated pan material I’ve come across. Lighter and easier maintenance than castiron and more nonstick than any teflon pan I’ve ever owned. Virtually indestructible and oven-safe as well.

EDIT: A lot of folks are telling me that teflon is infallibly non-stick, which I have never found to be the case. I don’t want to mislead people, but used well, carbon steel amazes me for its versatility.

[lisapop]

I have had the same set of stainless cookware for 20 years. Cast iron can last almost indefinitely too. There is a learning curve for both but it's worth it. As for scrubbing, that another learning curve that isn't that hard, depending on what you did (I recently, like last week, burned sugar and milk solids in one of my stainless & didn't tend to it quickly). My problem was that it was a holiday & I didn't tend to it quickly. We have 2 Teflon pans only because my husband refuses to make eggs in anything else. Fortunately, that's not often.

[natashaf.]

Another option that's easy to clean are CorningWare glass pans. It may feel strange at first to cook with glass but it heats up well, can handle extreme temperature differences and is super versatile. They're also much lighter than cast iron (which is great too) so for anyone w/disabilities or issues handling cast iron, it could be a good alternative. In a similar vain, carbon steel has similar properties to cast iron and are about half the weight to handle so those can be a good option as well.