Question from Hi Debra,
Have you ever heard of Scanpan cookware? Its made in Denmark, and their products are made of a creamic-titanium compound. Their website is www.scanpan.com. I was considering purchasing one of their large pots which is on sale at a local store, but I wanted to get your opinion on the safety of this product.
Thanks so much for all you do. I love your website!
Laurel
Debra’s Answer
OK. Here’s the deal on Scanpan.
First, there seem to be several types of cookware made by this company. The one I think you are asking about–the one with the ceramic-titanium finish–is their Classic New Tek.
At www.scanpancookware.com/pages/scanpan-background-pv-c0-6.html it says the following:
“Both ceramic and titanium are incredibly hard materials. After having pressure-cast the raw pan body, the ceramic-titanium compound is super-heated to 36,000º F (thirty six thousand degrees!) at which point it liquefies. The ceramic-titanium enters a “plasma state”. That liquid plasma is then fired into the pan surface at twice the speed of sound. Lots of heat and impact. The ceramic-titanium literally anchors itself in the aluminum surface and becomes one with the pan.” So far, so good.
“When looking at SCANPAN CLASSIC NEW TEK under a microscope, we see something like a lunar landscape. A myriad of mini-craters, all similar in size and shape. These craters were created when firing the ceramic-titanium compound into the cooking surface, and are then filled with our specially formulated NEW TEK non-stick compound. The compound is in the craters, not on them. The ceramic-titanium protects it from being scraped away. Even if you use a metal spatula.” This is the part I am concerned about. They say their nonstick coating is PFOA-free, but that’s all we know about it.
The selling feature of the Scanpan is that you can’t scrape away the nonstick finish, but the nonstick finish is still there.
