Is it harmful to cook in ceramic vessels?
Posted on: 11/Oct/2016 5:53:59 PM
The cooking vessels made in peengan in Tamil (made from a special molten glass powder) are known as ceramic articles in English.
There are some attractive and advantageous features in ceramic items. They are beautiful and attractive. Unlike metallic utensils like aluminium, steel, etc, the heat rendered to the food cooked in ceramic vessels is more uniform. Also, ceramic vessels are ideal to cook items which need to be cooked for a longer period such as non-vegetarian items.
Ceramic vessels are made from molten glass powder where glass is the main element.
The main reason why ceramic vessels can withstand long hours of heating is that they do do not rust. As ceramic vessels are polished, they are easier and simpler to clean and wash after cooking.
In foreign countries, they prefer to cook in ceramic vessels and avoid cooking in non-stick cookware which contains cancer-inducing chemicals such as Teflon and POA.
However, it cannot be safely said that the ceramic vessels are entirely harmless. In order to impart shining appearance, they are coated with heavy metals like lead, cadmium, etc are used in making ceramic vessels. If these ceramic vessels are used for a long period, there is a possibility of these heavy metals being absorbed in the food prepared.
There are ceramic vessels available without this coating which can be used. It is recommended not to use oil while cooking in non-stick vessels. On the contrary, they recommend that oil must be used while cooking using ceramic vessels.
When we take sufficient care while cooking, it is necessary to use excess oil while cooking. As far as our country and region are concerned, it is always safe to use stainless steel vessels. Though they have ingredients like Nickel and Chromium, they are of very little proportion. So, stainless steel vessels are safer to use.
