Playing with Concrete

Concrete You Eat Off Of

At first glance, I really like the look of these concrete dinnerware pieces from Ivanka Concrete Works.

The food on them, not so much

I imagine that once they have developed too many oil spots from your cooking,

you can use them as stepping stones outside

What concerns me about these is the possibility of what they might do to my teeth.  I remember going on a field trip as part of my public school education in Southern California.  During the trip, I learned about Native American people who would process the staple of their diet by grinding acorns against large rocks in the American Southwest.  These people were effectively using a mortar and pestle system in which one large rock would eventually become pock marked with dozens of holes that served as pestles.  These large rocks can still be seen sprinkled all over the landscape in California.  What stuck with me about this was the revelation that the small bits of stone ground off from the rocks during the grinding process would, over many years, wear down the teeth of the Native American people of the Southwest to nubs.  I worry that the same process of slowly grinding down my teeth might occur when I scrape a metal spoon against these concrete bowls, use a steak knife to cut through a T-bone and inevitably score the concrete plate beneath, etc.

Is that guacamole with a sliver of sour cream in it?

Ohh, I wanna put a chip in that!

While I worry slightly about what eating regularly from these dishes might do to my teeth, we all have to eat and drink from something.  I'm sure I've ingested my share of minute amounts of plastic, porcelain, wood, metal and other materials transferred to my mouth from the dishes I've eaten from and the cups I've drank from during my years on this earth.  But as long as I'm not drinking water delivered to me in pipes made of lead (I'm looking at you Ancient Rome) I probably won't wind up as mad as Carroll's Hatter.

How is a raven like a writing desk?

Also, I like the looks of these concrete bowls from Port Living Co., which come with cork bottoms and an air tight canister lid:

Finally a Place for Your Pepper Collection

To my eyes it appears that the manufacturer has really mastered the art of pouring and setting concrete because these look smooth and I don't think you can get concrete much smaller without adding a support structure like wire mesh inside.

What I don't like is the price on these containers.  The $75 they want to charge for these could buy me a lot of air tight plastic food containers.

TL:DR: You can check out some kitchen things made out of concrete.