Food for Thought

There are plenty of areas in the home where minerals are an important component, and food preparation is one area where they may be present. Cooking is generally done on a stove, or an oven could be a favourite part of baking or roasting for the home cook. Food for thought when it comes to mineral use within the home should be centred on these items. Their manufacture today often includes elements that are part of the family of minerals.

Ceramics are generally a component of most stoves and ovens due to their ability to contain heat. An oven unable to maintain a particular temperature is often of little use, so keeping the heat in is important. Many modern ceramics are a mixture of clay and other mineral components that will stand the heat of the oven being turned on, but they are also able to shed heat quickly once it has been turned off. Being able to regular temperature is due to the properties of the ceramics used in the manufacturing process, so adding them in is one way to create a viable cooking option.

While there are some homes that have gas stoves, many are still using electricity to heat food. It might seem there would be little reason to use minerals in the manufacture of a stove top, but the coils are often created using a mixture of substances. High heat can damage many things, and the coils must be able to endure it to do their job. Minerals added to the coils when they are created are the reason they can efficiently do their job without melting.

Modern manufacturing methods are about creating a product that will do the job efficiently, and many purchasers are looking for items that will last over time. Ceramics have been helpful in creating appliances that can heat food to high temperatures without causing them to fail due to the heat needed by modern cooks. While the base component of ceramics is clay, adding minerals to the mixture is what makes them able to stand the heat in the kitchen.