so my aluminum post prompted me to think more about my cookware... I have some stone ware but would like to get some enamleware and I'd also like to get more ceramic dishes to eat off of...

anyway my point is that I'll likely be buying this used so is there markings or things I need to look for when buying used ceramics and enamelware?

I have read you have to be careful with enamelware because of lead content. I think the same may be an issue for ceramics as well. Something about the glazes. But, I do not know anything further. I use all stainless and cast iron. I am slowly switching my bakeware to silicone.

yeah I had heard the same thing about lead and was wondering if there were markings or something I could look for lol buying new will take me a lot longer.

I just found this about lead in enamelware:
"Enamel-coated iron and steel is colorful, stain and scratch resistant and does not pick up food odors. It does not contain lead, except in some glazes for slow-cooking pots (crock-pots). However, the amount of lead leached into food from these pots does not exceed FDA standards. In the 1970s excessive levels of potentially toxic cadmium was found in pigments used to color the interior of enamel cookware manufactured overseas. The FDA prohibited the importing of these products at that time. However, manufacturers have discontinued the use of pigments with cadmium, so that the enamelware now marketed is cadmium free."

All enameled cast iron I have found is white on the inside. Look for "Le Creuset" or "Made in Belguim" on them. Le Creuset is made in France. The one that is made in belguim has another name also, but it is printed so small it wear off fast, so the made in belguim is easier to read. When I am doing a goodwill sweep, I just look for bright colors. Much of the older enamaled cast iron is orange on the outside of the pots. Very easy to spot. New Le Creuset comes in different colors, but most are quite bright - blue, green, red. Look for wooden handles too, a lot come with wooden handles.

I wouldn't buy anything that says "made in china". I found another article that said they were using very high cadmium and some made it into the country before the FDA stopped it.

You can tell enameled cast iron because it is HEAVY. Even the tiny pot I bought at goodwill weighed a ton.

thank you Allison! I need the simple, spelled-out steps!! Thanks!!

What would the advantage be of enameled cast iron over basic cast iron?

What would the advantage be of enameled cast iron over basic cast iron?
you can boil in it.

and it doesn't stick. I would rate it about like teflon in the sticking department.

Isn't one of the benefits of cast iron cooking the iron that gets leached from the pot? That won't happen with enamel, right?

I don't have much stick in cast iron unless DH gets a hold of it. I cook in it all the time with no trouble then he gets a hold of one and all but ruins it. Ugh! Anyway, I boil in stainless.

Ignorance on my side:

why shouldn´t you boil in cast iron?

I have used my cast iron pot for making stews and soups and it is not enameled, it is one of those ancient camping type pots, huge and heavy.

--anu

Ignorance on my side:

why shouldn´t you boil in cast iron?

I have used my cast iron pot for making stews and soups and it is not enameled, it is one of those ancient camping type pots, huge and heavy.

--anu The few times I've tried to boil in cast iron it has ruined the seasoning and added oil to the water/sauce this might not be such an issue for thick sauces (like I always made spagheti sauce in cast iron) but trying to boil water for noodles didn't work well

I don't use cast iron for this very reason- I don't believe that our bodies are designed to utilize metals in rock form. I believe that we need to eat veggies which have "digested" the mineral. I personally use stainless steel with a copper core so there is no chance of aluminum in my food. I love my cuisinart set

I love my stainless steel pots & pans...Paderno. They are made on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We bought a wok to add to the collection of Paderno when we were in PEI a couple of years ago. I love them too because I can use them on the griddle on my woodstove...my other set of stainless steel ones wouldn't get hot enough or hold the heat. The Paderno are similar to Logastina. I bought a Logastina pressure cooker (before they were available in Canada) at a garage sale from a woman who brought it with her from Europe. It is stainless steel too.

We were able to use the Paderno on our woodstove during the ice storm of 1998 and again when we've lost hydro due to storms.

We also sometimes use the cast iron we own.

We got rid of all the "teflon" type coated ones many years ago and I had always avoided aluminum. My mom had an expensive enamal on steel & I never liked them. They were so heavy & would get chipped and the bottoms always ended up getting marked up.

Did I say I "love" my Paderno pots yet? :rolleyes:

PEI, and I was there and didn't even know! :-(

I have a Le Creuset factory store two minutes from my house :monkeydan :happy:

And my mom just spent $250 on me there... I got four pans and some little utensils. I got the "flame" color (orange and red) and absolutely love it.

For those that use this, how can I cook fried (for lack of a better term) eggs in this without it sticking? (non scrambled, like sunny side up?) I tried for the first time this morning and it stuck badly.

Smiles,
Christy

For those that use this, how can I cook fried (for lack of a better term) eggs in this without it sticking? (non scrambled, like sunny side up?) I tried for the first time this morning and it stuck badly.



Christy, are you trying to cook in the ones with the black interior? I always cook our eggs with a bit of butter, they taste better that way but they also don't stick. Ours don't stick at all.

I adore my le crueset. Best $250 I've spent in a looong time.

For those that use this, how can I cook fried (for lack of a better term) eggs in this without it sticking? (non scrambled, like sunny side up?) I tried for the first time this morning and it stuck badly.

Smiles,
Christy

For me, the key is to preheat the pan on medium for a full 3 minutes before putting the eggs in. I either use a dab of Earth Balance or a quick spray of canola oil in the pan before adding the eggs. I also lift the eggs out gently with a metal spatula, taking care not to scratch the enamel. The metal spatula is thin enough to get under the eggs and pull them out.

Kimberly

I'm using the white/cream interior. Is that what you're using Allison?

I use butter too. I think this morning I used too high heat. (5 on my electric stove) Should I just let them cook really slowly, and kind of sizzle? I usually cook eggs low and slow, but was in a hurry with dd's breakfast this am.

Thanks for your help, Allison.

The pre-heating and metal spatula sound like great solutions, Kimberly, Thank you!


Smiles,
Christy

Keep the temperatuer lower & use more oil seemed to work well for us. This is for eggs as well as for pancakes. Takes a little longer, but makes clean up much less time consuming and the eggs taste better as they don't have that rubbery or crusty bottom.

We have a couple of stores that sell Paderno on sale a couple of times a year at up to 60% off. That is when I always buy them. They also usually have one type of pot on for a "super-duper" deal, but limited numbers. So I get DH to pop in before work.

We bought an antique wagon wheel & painted it black. It hangs from a main beam and it holds most of our Paderno pots.

Oh they are also great for camping..but we also use our cast iron for camping.

No, both my frying pans from them are black satin interior. My pots are the white. The black doesn't stick as much as the white, better for frying in.

I have Le Creuset pans, both black(cast iron) and enamel for teh pots. I love them all. I have got rid of everything else. I like to cruise HomeGoods, Marshals, TJ Max, and One Tuesday Morning for them. A couple of them are seconds and I can't tell why, they work great. I only have one full priced stock pot that my MIL baught for me. I think I heard somewhere that you shouldn't ccok dairy products in cast iron because it binds with the iron. Anybody know about this?

Liz Hayashi

Allison,
because of your recommending the black satin interior, I went to Le Creuset (factory store, yeah!) yesterday and got a black satin frying pan and am now IN LOVE.....

I've never cooked such beautiful fried eggs in my life... and no teflon! lol!

(So today I had to go back and get the mini grill, which was on sale for $39.99, and a few other things)

I am so glad you told me about the black satin. In the store, I wasn't interested because the salesperson told me it was for "browning" things and I don't like to brown things for the sake of browning them, all those free radicals. But it's so much better at fried eggs, and I'm sure crepes, french toast, etc. as well. Thanks so much for sharing your information!


Christy

I have read you have to be careful with enamelware because of lead content. I think the same may be an issue for ceramics as well. Something about the glazes. But, I do not know anything further. I use all stainless and cast iron. I am slowly switching my bakeware to silicone.

Michele,

I'm searching threads since I'm looking at buying new cookware. Will be getting stainless.

My question from reading your response is about the silicone...is this safe? it seems like it is so new and I was skeptical about it.

It seems to be a lot less expensive then stoneware and stores easier...but how comfortable are you that it is safe?

Michelle

I am not so sure about the silicone either. I've seen infomercials & it "looks" like a great product in regards to what it does. However, they never mention how safe it is in regards to humans' exposure to it. Silica gel is used as a supplement and is good for bone & ligament issues. Yet Silicone breast implants that leaked resulted in a huge law-suit. A friend of mine actually was involved in the law-suit against the company when she worked as a Legal Clerk. Some pretty scary stories she told me about the health problems some women were having due to the implants leaking. I have since seen some medical documentaries with actual surgery footage & it was pretty scary. The women were also interviewed & their health problems were very serious.

In Canada the company that sold the implants lost & they women involved in the suit all received a settlement. I am sure it was small in amount compared to the suffering of many of these women.

I just haven't had time to really research it yet. So for now...I will stick to my stainless steel, cast iron & glass-ware in the oven.

In regards to the lead in bake-ware. The laws are fairly strict now and there is not to be lead in any of the ceramic glazes used on products meant for use with food. There are still lead glazes used, but for products that don't involve food. However...there are other countries who don't regulate the lead content so it wouldn't necessarily be safe to use them. Also if it is a product NOT meant for food use, but would make a cute server, it is best not to use it.

I have even read you shouldn't even use lead-crystal products for food either. There goes my 8 place setting of lead-crystal wine glasses!!

Kerri, mom to Amanda(16), Emma(14), Maddison(12), T(11, foster dd), A(10, foster ds), Jonah(10), Saige & Claire(6, monozygotic twin dds), M(6, foster dd), S(4, foster ds) & little boy Teagan(3). Plus 2 horses, 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 rat, 3 hamsters & 4 guinea pigs. Yes, there has been another increase in the rodent population in our house!!

I have done a lot of research and feel comfortable using the silicone. I may change my mind as more research comes out. Right now I have a combination of glass and silicone for baking (I might be able to eliminate the silicone if the girls would eat normal size muffins. They want mini ones only). I use stainless and cast iron for cooking. We eat from stoneware. I am about to invest slowly in some enameled cast iron as I still am struggling with eggs sticking to the cast iron.

I have done a lot of research and feel comfortable using the silicone. I may change my mind as more research comes out. Right now I have a combination of glass and silicone for baking (I might be able to eliminate the silicone if the girls would eat normal size muffins. They want mini ones only). I use stainless and cast iron for cooking. We eat from stoneware. I am about to invest slowly in some enameled cast iron as I still am struggling with eggs sticking to the cast iron.

Michele,

What kind of enameled cast iron are you looking at? (what brands are the best quality I mean)

We use stone and glass for baking, regular cast iron, and I have the one stainless steele big pot. The stuff I want to toss is the ancient all aluminum my mom handed down to us.

I better check those cookie sheets that my mother in law gave me years ago....it may be aluminum.

Is it safe if the aluminum is encapsulated between stainless steele? The prices on pressure cookers (another thing I need) are a lot less with that type.

Michelle

I use a stainless steel frying pan for eggs and the like. No stick, just use some butter.

I also have researched the silicone bakeware. It's been used by chefs and in Europe for decades. It has a great safety record.

Thanks!!!

Michelle