What attracts most people to enamel cookware is its non-stick properties, making it easier not to burn food onto the inside of the pan. It's also a great – healthier alternative to Teflon that may release toxic gases in your food when overheated.
Advantages of Porcelain Enamel Cookware
The first advantage of porcelain enamel cookware is its safety compared to teflon, cast iron and aluminium pots and pans; the teflon pans, indeed, scratch themselves after an intense use and release toxic chemical materials.
Lower-quality porcelain enamel has a thinner coating that can crack and chip easily, which significantly affects the cooking experience. Dropping porcelain enamel cookware can also crack or chip the surface. Some porcelain enamel cookware has non-stick coatings, including Teflon, so be sure to check labels.
Porcelain Enamel Cookware
In essence, enamel is a form of glass. Enameled cookware is most often cast iron with an enamel coating. This type of cookware is completely non-toxic and wonderful to cook with.
Ceramic cookware is easy to clean because of the non-stick coating thus saves time in kitchen. The silicone oil used in ceramic coating is released every time while cooking, hence allowing food to avoid sticking to the pans and easily transferred to your plates!
The least toxic cookware are non-stick pans and pots, like cast iron, stainless steel, ceramic, glass, and enamel-coated cast iron. These options don't have any Teflon coating on them, making them safe to use.
Teflon is an older technology that provides decent protection at an affordable price, but it's not as durable as ceramic coatings and requires regular reapplication. On the other hand, ceramic coatings offer superior protection, longevity, and hydrophobic properties that make cleaning your car a joyride.
Porcelain enamel is an inorganic-type coating, which is applied to metals or glass for both decorative and functional purposes. This coating is a silica-based solidified glass mass obtained by high-temperature firing (temperature can range between 450 and 1200 °C depending on the substrate).
The firing process gives the porcelain enamel its wonderful, bright colours as well as its hard, non-porous and scratch and cut-resistant surface.
You might be wondering: is enameled cast iron safe? Yes, enameled cast iron is completely safe and non-toxic. Unlike traditional cast iron, enameled cast iron does not leach any iron into your food. It is also more durable, protects your pan from rust, and does not require seasoning.
STOVE TOP COOKING
NEVER LET A PAN BOIL DRY ON A STOVE AS IT CAN BE A SAFETY HAZARD. Your cook's essentials® porcelain enamel cookware is safe for use with all gas, ceramic, electric, and glass top stoves. No aluminum cookware is for use with induction stove tops.
Most products made from ceramic, especially dishes and cookware, feature a glazed finish. However, you can also find more rustic ceramic products with a rough surface. More refined and fired at higher temperatures (between 2,200 and 2,600 °F), porcelain is harder and more durable than ceramic.
This finish will not rust or scratch like plain painted steel. Porcelain Enamel has no pores or scratches to provide bacteria with a place to grow. And it will wipe clean in seconds.
Stainless steel skillets are a better purchase than enameled cast iron skillets as they are more affordable, require little to no maintenance, and are built to last a lifetime. Stainless steel skillets are known for great distribution of heat, something enameled cast iron skillets don't offer.
Being a glass, porcelain enamelling has the properties of glass: a hard surface, resistance to solution, corrosion, and scratching. Enamelware is usually quite resistant to acid and impact, but may crack if the base metal is deformed.
Porcelain enamel is certainly one of the safest types of cookware you can use. It is durable, light, non-porous, and non-toxic, so it won't leach harmful metals or chemicals into your food. This puts it far ahead of other options like aluminum, copper, clay, plastic, and anything coated with Teflon.
Some porcelain-enameled dishes are oven safe up to 400F (204C). And others can tolerate temperatures up to 500F (260C).
Porcelain enamel, a thin layer of ceramic or glass applied to a substrate of metal, is used to protect surfaces from chemical attack and physical damage, modify the structural characteristics of the substrate, and improve the appearance of the product.
Porcelain steel provides a glossy finish that is easy to clean while still offering excellent protection from high temperatures; however, it is not as resistant as stainless steel when exposed to extreme temperatures over long periods of time.
Magnetic Properties
CeramicSteel, essentially porcelain enamel fused to a high-quality steel backing, has strong magnetic capabilities. Everyday magnets can be used on CeramicSteel marker boards to securely attach anything from weekly lunch menus to corporate announcements to the surface.
So when you need a pan that's easy to cook with and clean, ceramic makes the best alternative to Teflon cookware.
While both or their nonstick coatings will eventually wear off, teflon lasts significantly longer. But they're not the only options out there – other materials like cast iron (enamel), stainless steel, and carbon steel might be a better fit for your kitchen and cooking habits. Cast iron pans can last decades.
Choose ceramic coated cookware if you:
Ceramic coatings perform best if they are treated as 'low-stick' rather than completely nonstick. Like to do 'from stove to oven' type of cooking since ceramic coated cookware is oven safe. Want to be sure your cookware has no chance of releasing toxic fumes, even if accidentally.