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boredlawyer90 t1_iv4ih8z wrote

So, just curious…what makes this better than, say, an enameled cast iron Dutch Oven? Particularly for Cajun/Creole, it seems?

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lasdue t1_iv4k9s9 wrote

You get extra neurotoxins with your food for free

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artsybashev t1_iv528rz wrote

You need to get quite a lot of aluminum to reach toxic levels:

"For aluminum welders and workers in the aluminum industry, declining performance in neuropsychological tests (attention, learning, memory) has been found only with aluminum concentrations exceeding 100 µg/g creatinine in the urine"

"Creatinine Levels in Urine According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the normal range of creatinine in a 24-hour urine sample is 500 to 2,000 mg a day."

So if you have a normal level of 1g of creatinine in your urine, you would need to ingest 0.1mg of aluminum daily. Your pot would dissolve 36.5mg per year or 365mg in 10 years.

EDIT: Since not all of the aluminum gets absorbed, the actual numbers are probably atleast 10x higher.

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chstrumpetdude t1_iv6est4 wrote

Weight is the only thing I would consider to be a benefit. Acidic foods can mess with aluminum ware over time

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artsybashev t1_iv51nmu wrote

Cast iron is probably much heavier. This probably gives a bit of an metallic taste especially to acidic food.

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wortwoot t1_ivern6c wrote

I’d imagine aluminium would have been a great improvement over the original cast iron that was used due to being lighter and not rusting, doesn’t have to be cleaned and dried and seasoned after every use. It doesn’t conduct or hold heat as well as cast iron so it’s not better to cook in (neurotoxicity aside).

Enamelled cast iron is good for some things (long simmered stews) as it holds and diffuses heat evenly but because it’s coated in enamel it doesn’t react with the food like cast iron would (mostly concerns around acidity). But it’s fragile in that if you bring it to high heat repeatedly you’ll wreck the enamel or if you drop it or chip it you can bugger it up too.

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