Again, when you refer to ceramics, are you referring to the tons of ceramic coated cookware that is now immensely popular as a replacement for Teflon? Is this stuff just as bad? https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/cooking-tools/a26078798/bes...
Again, when you refer to ceramics, are you referring to the tons of ceramic coated cookware that is now immensely popular as a replacement for Teflon? Is this stuff just as bad? https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/cooking-tools/a26078798/bes...
I believe that they use the word "ceramic" to say that the coating is not made from an organic polymer, like Teflon, but from an inorganic oxide or mixture of inorganic oxides.
The correct meaning of ceramic is a material that before processing is soft and plastic, so you can give it any form you want. Then, after heating at very high temperature in an oven, a.k.a. burning, the finished ceramic product becomes hard.
I am pretty certain that this is not how the so-called ceramic coatings are made.
The cookware that I have seen with "ceramic" coatings had bodies made of aluminum. So I assume that the "ceramic" coatings are mostly of aluminum oxide, probably grown electrolytically or chemically.
True ceramic products consisting mainly of aluminum oxide are very common, so I assume that this is why the "ceramic" coating vendors use the word "ceramic".
Alumina, a.k.a. aluminum oxide, is inert enough in most conditions to be safe for food contact, even if not as safe in contact with acidic juices as glass.
As always, the base material is less concerning than the possible existence of undisclosed additives.
It is possible that the so-called "ceramic" coatings are perfectly safe, but nevertheless I would not buy one unless the vendor would state clearly the composition of their "ceramic".
I have seen too many contrary examples in the past, so that I cannot trust anyone who says "Trust us, it is good for you", without providing additional relevant information.