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Comment by dataflow | Hacker News Reader

Where does Teflon fit in this hierarchy?

And by "ceramic" I assume you mean the faux-"ceramic-coated" ones that don't actually contain ceramic, right?

Pure ceramic is porous, so it is never used in direct contact with food, because the food will be absorbed in the pores.

In all cookware where the body is ceramic, the surface is covered with some glaze, enamel or plastic coating, which is the material that really counts for food contact.

Unglazed clay pots have been used for thousands of years, I have one myself. You soak it in water for 15 minutes before putting the food in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EbdBty-40I

You are right that unglazed pottery had been used for many thousands of years, before glazing was invented.

The information about soaking is interesting.

I was not aware of it, because there are many countries were unglazed pottery is no longer used, at least I have never seen any of it used for food contact, but only for different purposes.

So is ceramic cookware safe? This stuff here: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/cooking-tools/a26078798/bes... Basically you are saying we have no clue what is actually in contact with our food?

The problem with modern Teflon is mostly that people overheat their non-stick pans. The stuff is chemically inert otherwise.

Older Teflon pans and cookware have the problem of PFOA contamination, but that's IIRC been banned for years now.

> The problem with modern Teflon is mostly that people overheat their non-stick pans

Also using metal or other "hard" implements in those non-stick pots/pans, which damages the non-stick layer allowing it to flake away into the food prepared in it over time.

If someone responds that a material is 'chemically inert' when we're talking about heating things up, I don't think I'd have much confidence that it's not leaching into my food.

It's really tough to overheat a non-stick pan - you have to get above 500F for it to even maybe be a problem.

Not quite. Off-gassing begins at a bit under 400F. And the assumption that it's "really tough" to reach either temperature (400 or 500F) is wildly incorrect for the realities of cheap stovetops around the world. Gas / propane is widely used and can cause teflon to begin smoking within a minute or two.

But yes, it's probably fine on your fancy glass induction stovetop.

Imagine a cooking pan that can't be heated.

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