To cook tasty and healthy food every day, you need not only high-quality and fresh products. A significant role in this matter is played by the choice of a frying pan or pan. Now even experienced housewives find it difficult to make it in favor of a particular product. After all, each manufacturer praises its product, without a twinge of conscience, calling it the best. As a result, buyers face a difficult choice, what to rely on when buying: on intuition, advice from consultants, advertising?
The Internet has given us another great opportunity: to read other people's opinions on the product. This article will discuss whether it is worth buying ceramic pans. Reviews to them after the first enthusiasm for the novelty has calmed down, there are the most controversial. First, let's try to talk a little about the production technology and the principle of operation of such products in order to explain the mistrust of some customers.
Origin history
The first non-stick pans were made using Teflon. Despite the obvious advantages of such useful utensils, she had one significant drawback. Pans represented a significant health hazard. It consisted of the following: with strong heating, Teflon enters a chemical reaction and releases toxins. They, in turn, enter the food, and with it - into the human body.
It is not surprising that the popularity of Teflon pans fell sharply, it was worth clarifying the whole truth about their harmful effects.
But very soon a worthy replacement was invented. These pans also had a non-stick coating, this time ceramic. The people quickly took root the name "ceramic pans." The reviews that followed the first after the appearance of these products on sale were extremely enthusiastic. But a month passed, and people began to resent that the product suddenly lost all its declared properties.
What is a ceramic pan made of?
Despite the name, they are three-layered and do not consist of solid ceramics. Such utensils are always based on aluminum. Cast surfaces are considered the most durable option, but there are also stamped, less quality products. In both cases, the inner and outer parts are covered with ceramics, only the methods of its application differ. It is believed that this is a very durable and environmentally friendly material. And if the first statement is difficult to argue, the second raises some doubts.
In fact, in order to apply a safe ceramic coating to aluminum, it must be heated to a temperature of 1100 degrees. And the metal itself melts already at 660. This means that the harmless method of sintering will not work here. All the same, you have to use toxic chemicals to lower temperature requirements to 250 degrees. In fact, this is the cooking temperature. It is easy to guess that such a coating can be no less dangerous than Teflon remaining in the past.
Until now, the materials that are used to create these newfangled pans have been used only in mechanical engineering. Also, general rules for testing the safety of this product have not yet been created. In fact, it enters the market untested. Ceramic pans, reviews of which are full of fair complaints, are now not uncommon. Why is this happening? The explanation lies in the structure. Some features make the advertised properties of the pan extremely short-lived. On average, one to two months pass, after which the non-stick coating ceases to function.
Ceramic pans: reviews on products from different companies
Most often, housewives praise the durability and strength of such products, profitability, long-term heat storage, its amazing lightness and uniform heating. The absence of food sticking to the surface (at the initial stage of operation) also creates a favorable impression. So, according to buyers, one of the best companies producing such pans was the Italian Ballarini. Their patented production technology includes a heating indicator on the handle, which is very convenient. In addition, the pans of this company heat up the fastest.
In the same niche are Maestro pans, varied both in color and in shape; fashionable but somewhat more expensive TVS; quality German Brener products with an even more lightweight body.
Ceramic pans, reviews of which are mostly negative, are very often made by the Chinese company GreenPan. Among the disadvantages are unreasonably high prices, the inability to wash in a dishwasher and a very quick loss of properties, for which they are bought.
Titanium Frying Pan
Those who are looking for an alternative to ceramic coated products should pay attention to the so-called “titanium pans”. Inside, they are aluminum, and the surface is covered with a refractory titanium alloy. These pans are very difficult to damage or scratch. They serve for many years, without losing their properties and without deforming from high temperatures. Also, utensils with a titanium coating are heated almost instantly to maximum temperature, practically do not require oil and are suitable even for the most “capricious” dishes.