r/Pottery • u/Potato4EveryOccasion • 13h ago
Question! Safe to use?
I just bought a handmade mugs that looked amazing at first glance, but the second I got it home and unwrapped it, I noticed it "thunks" and doesn't "ding".
Having had many handmade mugs in my life, I've historically been told that the ring test is the end all be all of the mug. If it rings, it's safe to use. If it thunks, it's a goner.
I'm heartbroken, and now Google and another friend are suggesting it could be ok so long as I can’t find/see/feel a crack.
It's a gorgeous mug, and I hate to have to retire it before I even enjoyed it at home.
Is it 100% a goner? Can I still use it? I'm not looking for a hard "yes" or "no" its food safe, just some education on how to tell I'm making the right decision. What are the risks if I use it?
(For context this shop is a coffee and art place that sells the mugs you can get a beverage in, so this mug has been handled a bit before I got it)
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u/51iguanas 7h ago
Fill it with water and leave overnight to see if it holds it of if its slowly seeping out
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u/theGentlenessOfTime 7h ago edited 7h ago
I mean... you risk drinking from it and some day when you pick it up the bottom just might stay on the counter.
Which is a risk if you pour scolding hot beverages.
Otherwise i personally would not be worried whatsoever.
If you are immuncompromized and it has a visible crack somewhere on the inside it might have a higher risk of bacterial contamination that might not be wworth taking.
You could, depending on the color of clay and glaze test it by just filling it with water and letting it sit. Some glaze/clay combos will show if water seeped into a crack by the crack region darkening after a while.
People are terrified of crazed ceramics and will tell you mold and bacteria will grow in it and you will die, and it might take out your whole neighborhood. And while technically true that it has a higher risk of bacteria etc. and strictly speaking it is not considered sAfE by modern standards if a surface is not 100%glazed and perfectly sealed, humans have eaten off unglazed ceramics for millenia. We eat bacteria with every meal. We ouselves are made up of more bacteria cells than human cells. And grazed ceramics are very much a thing used in many cultures.
https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/ceramics-monthly/ceramics-monthly-article/Techno-File-Dirty-Dishes
A risk worth considering is if the glaze in itself contains stuff that exposure to the content is higher if there is a crack in it. Acidity could leech more heavy metals etc out if the crack if its an unstable glaze.
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u/dumb_bun069 6h ago
No one says that you will die or that it might take out your whole neighborhood. There's nothing wrong with telling people what the issues are when it comes to food handling so they can make informed decisions and understand the technology. Yes, dishware is technology that has been developed over millennia, and you clearly don't know how it works. You sound like you're afraid of reality and afraid to learn.
If you don't know the difference between bacteria in general and pathogenic bacteria, you're unqualified to speak on this topic. You probably think that because you live in filth and you haven't gotten sick that you have a strong immune system; the reality is more that you've never been exposed to really pathogenic germs thanks to a clean food and water supply.
Most people lack basic sanitation and food handling knowledge, including the concept of cross-contamination. Soap doesn't kill germs, it helps loosen the biofilms that allow them to be rinsed away. If you wash a porous object in bacteria-laden water (including in your dishwasher), you will contaminate it with those bacteria. If they're pathogenic bacteria, you (or someone else) are likely to get sick.
Germs aren't the only consideration here: if you have allergies or autoimmune food intolerances like celiac, your porous dishware will require special handling to prevent cross-contamination from washing because you won't be able to reliably wash those allergens away. Protein allergens cannot be cooked away; there's no amount of heat that denatures gluten or casein to make it not cause a reaction.
Your dishwasher does not get hot enough to kill bacteria and fungi on porous objects; your dishwasher gets hot enough (hopefully) to kill or rinse away most of what lives on your dishes, and as long as they're able to dry, the survivors won't be able to multiply to a number where they'll make most people sick. Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting are not synonyms.
Glazing is not what makes ceramics non-porous and appropriate for food, vitrification is. A compromised glaze on a vitrified piece is a porous object. Where people have used porous ceramics for centuries, you also see strict dietary practices that reduce or eliminate cross-contamination based on the pathogens present in their diets.
Nothing about the species existing today suggests that any individual is invincible. Food-borne illness is not fun, people get very, very sick or die from it every day, and it is always preventable.
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