People who've had their stands powercoated (or not just paint): need advice.

[Smashing]

I'm a powder coater. Ceramic is the way to go for direct contact with a heat source. Regular powder is great for the stand but ceramic is what you need for the business end of things. High temp coatings are better than regular powder but they tend to scratch easier so moving kettles around will wear the coating down in a hurry. Best bets are to use stainless/aluminum or ceramic.
BTW: ceramic is applied in liquid form and cured with heat then polished. Some powder guys do it - many don't since it's a different setup.