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View Full Version : Anyone try the Xtrema/Mercola cookware?



Kali
22nd May 2010, 11:16 AM
I'm looking into getting a set of Xtrema cookware also sold by Mercola under their name.

The leaching tests look pretty good. I wonder how well they cook food and how hard it is to clean them...especially after eggs.

Anyone try these yet?

http://www.ceramcor.com

http://cookware.mercola.com/cookware.aspx

striped_bear
22nd May 2010, 01:14 PM
Mercola's cookware is I'm sure good, but it's just very overpriced ceramic cookware.

Ceramic cookware is indeed much safer than teflon non-stick cookware, and more convenient than cookware without a non-stick coating.

But ceramic cookware is very common now, I even saw some on sale at my local supermarket a while back.

If you do some searching online you can find ceramic cookware elsewhere for much less. Try starting with ebay.

Olmstein
22nd May 2010, 01:37 PM
Just get some cast iron. Very cheap and lasts forever.

striped_bear
22nd May 2010, 01:49 PM
Yes cast iron is a great option as well. I have a cast iron skillet that works great. You just need to learn how to "season" the pan properly.

It's also worth pointing out that almost every health advisory article Dr. Mercola puts out is actually just a hard sell advertisement for some product he is promoting as an affiliate. He makes a TON of money doing this. More power to him, but just be aware that he has a vested interest in selling you something.

mick silver
22nd May 2010, 02:59 PM
Is Your Ceramic Cookware Slowly Killing You? ... http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1292676/is_your_ceramic_cookware_slowly_killing.html

Gaillo
22nd May 2010, 03:01 PM
Nothing beats cast iron... nothing.

cedarchopper
22nd May 2010, 03:36 PM
Cast iron cookware is very good for women during the menstruating years, but not good for men.

http://vitamins-minerals.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_effects_of_too_much_iron_in_the_diet

The Effects of too Much Iron in the Diet
Health Problems Related to an Overload of an Essential Mineral


Aug 16, 2009 Deanna Lynn Sletten
Iron is an essential mineral the body needs for proper cell growth but if the body receives too much iron, dangerous health problems can occur.

Iron is an important mineral in the diet for cell growth, oxygen transport, DNA synthesis and for overall good health. When iron levels are low the result can be anemia that causes fatigue, shortness of breath, irritability, weight loss, dizziness and headaches. But too much iron in the system can become toxic and cause a myriad of health problems.
What is Iron Overload?

Iron in the body is stored mainly in hemoglobin in red blood cells. Iron is also stored in myoglobin, the protein that supplies oxygen to muscles, and also in enzymes in the body. Some iron is stored in proteins to be used for future needs. Around the age of 18, excess iron begins to accumulate at about 1 milligram per day. Excess iron in the bloodstream is called unbound iron, or free iron. This free iron can build up in the body for years and can become the instigator of health problems as people age. Premature aging, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, liver damage, heart disease and brain disorders are just some of the diseases that can be accelerated by iron overload in the body.

When inflammation occurs in the body, free iron accumulates there and causes uncontrolled oxidation which accelerates the inflammation. Even though the body has natural defenses against the free iron there are many instances where the defenses do not control the iron properly. As in the case of heart disease, researchers have found that increased iron stimulates free radicals in the body which are associated with chronic diseases. Iron also contributes to affecting LDL (bad) cholesterol and changing it to be more damaging to coronary arteries. Researchers are now finding more and more incidences where too much iron accelerates many diseases.
People at Risk of Iron Overload

For growing children and women in their childbearing years, a build-up of iron in the body isn’t usually a problem. Children need iron for cell growth, and menstruating women lose iron monthly. Those who are at a greater risk are older males and women who are postmenopausal. Unless excess iron is released from the body it continues to accumulate and eventually causes problems.

In the past it was thought that only a select few people had to be concerned with iron overload in their body. These people had a genetic disease called hemochromatosis. People with hemochromatosis absorb iron more efficiently than other people and are at risk of organ damage such as heart failure or cirrhosis of the liver. People who have hemochromatosis must eat a diet low in iron and in severe cases have blood removed from their body weekly or monthly depending upon the severity. However, it has been found that people who do not have hemochromatosis are just as likely to experience iron overload as they age. Men over age 40 and women around age 70 have just as great a risk of suffering from diseases due to iron overload in their system.

more at link

striped_bear
22nd May 2010, 05:18 PM
Any iron which may find its way into your food from cast iron cookware is unusable by the body (either male of female), as it is in an "inorganic" state.

Minerals must first be processed by a plant to be usable by the human body (they become "organic" minerals).

So don't count on getting any of your daily iron intake from cooking with cast iron.

jaybone
22nd May 2010, 05:26 PM
I use Cuisinart Green Gourmet, available at bed bath and beyond. Pretty inexpensive if you use the 20% off coup.
After awhile things do start to stick, but I found a solution:
You just use oven cleaner on the pans once every few months.
It gets the baked on grease off and so far has not harmed the non-stick at all.

Cast iron is great too, unless you have a sore wrist and have to clean it.
A properly seasoned carbon steel wok is as good non-stick as anything too.

Nomen luni
22nd May 2010, 05:55 PM
You got me interested, Kali, and I went ahead and ordered a Ceramcor skillet. If you can wait a while, I will report back with my findings when I get it.

Kali
22nd May 2010, 06:23 PM
Is Your Ceramic Cookware Slowly Killing You? ... http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1292676/is_your_ceramic_cookware_slowly_killing.html


After reading this article I think I better change my ceramic bowls too...made in China.

Kali
22nd May 2010, 06:28 PM
Folks, I'm familiar with cast iron. I don't use it because its a real pain in the butt and very heavy for my petite wife.

Looking for another option...so far its ceramic or stainless steel.

Kali
22nd May 2010, 06:39 PM
I went ahead and ordered a Ceramcor skillet. If you can wait a while, I will report back with my findings when I get it.


Where'd you order from?

Nomen luni
23rd May 2010, 01:49 AM
Red23.co.uk... but I'm assuming you're not in the UK.

Kali
9th June 2010, 03:30 PM
You got me interested, Kali, and I went ahead and ordered a Ceramcor skillet. If you can wait a while, I will report back with my findings when I get it.


You get to try it out yet?

Grand Master Melon
9th June 2010, 10:37 PM
Folks, I'm familiar with cast iron. I don't use it because its a real pain in the butt and very heavy for my petite wife.

Looking for another option...so far its ceramic or stainless steel.




I don't know about all the health effects from the various cooking products but I do know that stainless steal seems to work a-ok for me.

Nomen luni
11th June 2010, 03:55 PM
Just got the thing and cooked a stir-fry in it. It's pretty good. No sticking problems. The food does taste slightly different... not better or worse, just a little different.
The only thing I dislike about the pan is that it is pretty damn heavy.

Kali
11th June 2010, 11:49 PM
As heavy as iron or close?

Interesting that the food tastes different...

coachesclicker
9th March 2011, 01:28 AM
Folks, I'm familiar with cast iron. I don't use it because its a real pain in the butt and very heavy for my petite wife.

Looking for another option...so far its ceramic or stainless steel.




Have you looked at Griswold's? They are lighter and Lodge. However they are no longer made but they can be readily available on auction sites for decent prices, just as long as they aren't collectibles.

Sorry for resuscitating this old thread.

Kali
9th March 2011, 11:28 AM
Just to update...I ended up going with iron.

It was a pain to clean at first but used to getting it right now.

Iron is hands down the best to cook in.

I cant believe the difference in the taste of my eggs cooking them in iron versus teflon...I been eating teflon flavored eggs for years.

steyr_m
9th March 2011, 11:48 AM
Just to update...I ended up going with iron.

It was a pain to clean at first but used to getting it right now.

Iron is hands down the best to cook in.

I cant believe the difference in the taste of my eggs cooking them in iron versus teflon...I been eating teflon flavored eggs for years.




I was actually curious about the answer myself. I know that stainless leeches out lots of crap, so I was looking at purchasing a set for myself. I do own cast iron, but you can't use it for making a spaghetti sauce or for boiling some noodles. It takes the patina right off.

sunnyandseventy
9th March 2011, 11:54 AM
I know that stainless leeches out lots of crap

WTF!!?!? I was just looking at some stainless to replace all my teflon. Looks like everything is bad except for iron.

Kali
9th March 2011, 12:57 PM
We still use stainless for some things...not sure about it leeching much. Different people say different things. It doesn't mess with the flavor though as teflon does.

DMac
9th March 2011, 01:19 PM
Stainless, copper, ceramic and iron are all superior to teflon. Stop using teflon if you can.

Personally I've always wanted to try iron but still have not bought some. I use stainless and have not noticed an issue with flavor change.

steyr_m
9th March 2011, 01:56 PM
I know that stainless leeches out lots of crap

WTF!!?!? I was just looking at some stainless to replace all my teflon. Looks like everything is bad except for iron.


Ripped from Dr. Mercola:

Stainless steel may not be the most inert substance to use. This study, which is clearly not related at all to cooking, does show that sensitive individuals can have adverse reactions to stainless steel devises placed into their body for coronrary artery disease.

As far as stents go, the best thing to do is to avoid them in the first place. One of the best ways to do so is to follow the food choice recommendations, get proper exercise, and get plenty of sleep.

What most physicians do not realize is that nickel is every bit as toxic as mercury and some physicians believe that nickel is actually more toxic than mercury. Nickel comes from a German word for malicious or capricious spirit, sometimes meaning the devil.

It is well known from the literature that some of the ions which are released from these devises are able to destroy or damage enzymes and proteins, in addition to causing allergic reactions.

Clearly there is a quantitative element involved and I can not begin to guess how many nickel ions are liberated during the cooking process with stainless steel cookware. Clearly this is better than aluminum, which should be definitely avoided. The best cookware would be ceramic-coated metal as the ceramic is virtually inert and will not transfer any metal ions to the food you cook.

If you use non-stick cookware, you should be aware that there is some evidence that fluoride can be released. Plan on discarding all non-stick cookware after about one year of regular use. As soon as a scratch develops on the surface this cookware will start to leach aluminum as that is the typical metal used beneath most non-stick cookware.

Stainless steel alloys all contain nickel, chromium, molybdenum, iron, carbon, and various other metals. In addition, higher temperatures will always increase the rate of leaching. Unfortunately, I don't know of any studies on this subject.

However, contact time has to be considered as well. The stents are in place inside the body and subjected to an environment that will solubilize almost anything, where the cookware is only subjected to any given batch of food for a very short period.

Dr. Ray Peat is the biochemist who helped Dr. John Lee understand natural progesterone. According to Dr. Peat, there are two kinds of stainless steel -- one kind is attracted to magnets, the other kind is not. You want to buy only the magnetically-attractive type of stainless steel, which apparently has a very low nickel content and does not leach nickel into food.

Here is some additional evidence of the fact that magnetized steel is safer. The following two links http://www.chenbros.com.tw/page13.htm http://www.chenbros.com.tw/page14.htm
are from a company that produces stainless steel cookware and clearly demonstrates that then magnetized version has no nickel. Nickel is likely more toxic than mercury and the main reason for concern with stainless steel cookware.

Lastly, the pH of the food has an impact as well. A more acidic food may leach more from the cookware.

Needless to say, you absolutely need to pay attention to the products you use, in particular when it comes to your cookware. The best choice out there, in my opinion -- and the one that I personally use -- is ceramic cookware. Glass cookware is also a suitable alternative, but I feel that ceramic cookware is a much better option.

Ceramic cookware is not only extremely durable and easy to clean (even the toughest cooked-on foods can be wiped away after soaking it in warm water), it is completely inert--which means it won’t release any harmful chemicals into your home or your food unlike other sets of cookware.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/01/14/stainless-steel.aspx

steyr_m
9th March 2011, 02:01 PM
The best cookware would be ceramic-coated metal as the ceramic is virtually inert and will not transfer any metal ions to the food you cook.



Reading that phrase made me wonder if the Le Creuset Cast Iron products are coated with ceramic. I'm browsing their site, but haven't came up with the answer yet.

Kali
9th March 2011, 09:13 PM
I wouldn't take Mercola's advice. They write articles to sell product.

jimswift
10th March 2011, 07:33 AM
The best cookware would be ceramic-coated metal as the ceramic is virtually inert and will not transfer any metal ions to the food you cook.



Reading that phrase made me wonder if the Le Creuset Cast Iron products are coated with ceramic. I'm browsing their site, but haven't came up with the answer yet.


I have a Le Creuset outlet near me and I recently purchased 3 of their products. The woman said that it is an enamel coating on the cast iron. She kept on about how good the food taste when using the pans.

I have been using them for about 2 months now and I am very pleased.

DMac
10th March 2011, 07:56 AM
The only issue I have with ceramic cookware is the heating process. It takes much longer to heat a pot or pan when using ceramic, and conversely, is much harder to cool down a pan. If you want to sear something you will find yourself burning the food after lowering the heat as a ceramic pan will take a long time to release the heat.

muffin
10th March 2011, 09:11 AM
I just found this quote "Chantal is not cast iron, rather it is SS with copper in between and then enamel coated. A bit lighter weight than the Le Creuset..." on a website.

Maybe that'll help someone.

muffin
10th March 2011, 09:22 AM
I'm just wondering, what's the difference ceramic and porcelain enamel?

DMac
10th March 2011, 11:57 AM
I'm just wondering, what's the difference ceramic and porcelain enamel?


They are very similar from what I've read. I looked around a bit for a break down but was unable to find the specifics. I did find some interesting details:

http://www.answers.com/topic/cookware-and-bakeware-materials


Some interesting details in this PDF about both cooktops and cookware:
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/HI_17.pdf

As well as in this link:
http://www.acehardware.com/info/index.jsp?categoryId=1267485