The spate of cooking shows on TV might tempt you to replace your tired pots and pans, besides adventurously trying out the recipe.
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There are expensive cookware sets, famous brands, and chef-endorsed sets which will be vying for your attention. Then there is cookware in a variety of materials, from copper to porcelain and beyond. Which one you buy depends on how you plan to use it. In this article, EHC brings out the good and bad of types of cookware materials. Find out what you need to know before dropping hundreds on that matching cook set.
Ceramic
The Good
Pots and pans made from ceramic are perhaps the most versatile cookware available in stores today. They can survive heat that would melt stainless steel (so oven-safe) but still can be used to store food in the refrigerator and freezer. And unlike metal cookware, they can be used in a microwave. They are generally very easy to maintain with a naturally nonstick surface, but can take mild abrasives and scrubbing without marring their attractive gloss finish, which is important since they also make attractive serving dishes. They are widely considered to be the least reactive cookware available.
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The Bad
It can be heavy and cumbersome and will crack if dropped. It may also crack your tile floor. Older cookware made from ceramic and stone may contain lead. Additionally, cheaper ceramic cookware may discolor ceramic-glass cooktops at higher heat.
Copper
The Good
Copper pots are revered for their ability to conduct heat and cook food very evenly. Chefs prize them for their ability to quickly achieve precise temperatures and maintain them, making them perfect for sauces, browning and braising. Also, they are gorgeous and will complement any kitchen.
The Bad
Major drawbacks are their daunting price and their reactivity to acid. Most are now lined with stainless steel or tin, but pure copper pots impart a metallic taste to food and can leave gray streaks. Frequent polishing is the price of beauty, and they can dent fairly easily. You absolutely should not use them on a ceramic-glass-top stove.
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Aluminum
The Good
Anodized aluminum pots and pans are lightweight, resist denting and scratching, don’t rust and are excellent thermal conductors of heat (they will distribute heat evenly to cook food without hot spots). Approximately half of all manufactured is made of aluminum, and it is often used to improve stainless steel.
The Bad
Raw aluminum (as opposed to anodized) is reactive to alkaline and acidic ingredients (tomatoes, leafy vegetables, and citrus) and prone to warping and scratching. It can also discolor certain foods (such as white sauces). Fortunately, most aluminum pots and pans are treated with a coating of aluminum oxide, which vastly improves the cooking properties.
Cast Iron
The Good
A properly seasoned cast-iron skillet is the not-so-secret weapon of many cooks. Great for simmering and browning, cast iron imbues years of flavor into every meal. It is inexpensive, won’t warp, conducts heat very well and, if seasoned well, has a relatively nonstick surface. You can also easily go from stovetop to oven.
The Bad
Even though no kitchen is complete without a cast-iron skillet, it does have its drawbacks. It is heavy, reactive, high-maintenance, and not suited for all food. It also is not recommended for ceramic-glass cooktops. It is worth noting that cast iron leaches iron into your food. Many people consider this a benefit, but unexpected metal in the diet can be dangerous for certain people.
Glass
The Good
Glass is inexpensive, nonporous and nonreactive. Being nonreactive is an especially useful benefit for high-acid food like tomatoes and volatile ones like yeast. Their nonporous nature may be important to safety-conscious people, as there is growing concern over trace amounts of heavy metal leaching into food from metal . Glass also bakes faster and retains heat longer than metal. Snap on a heat-safe lid, and you can easily serve up hot food at a party or picnic.
The Bad
Glass is heavy and especially prone to breaking when dropped. Glass can also be difficult to clean when food bakes onto it. It is not recommended for ceramic-glass cooktops.
Nonstick
The Good
Nonstick coatings like Teflon, Tefal, Silverstone, Anolon, Circulon, and Calphalon are remarkably easy to cook with and clean. They are healthier, as they require less butter or oil to start a dish, and some are engineered to be oven-safe. Nonstick ceramic is quickly growing in popularity and offsets some of the negative and dangerous aspects of nonstick coatings.
The Bad
Nonstick coatings can only be used with safe utensils like plastic and wood or you risk scratching through the coating, which accelerates its inevitable erosion. Under heavy use, nonstick coatings eventually flake and scratch and introduce harmful chemicals into your food. At high heat (over 500 degrees F) some of these coatings, notably Teflon, emit offgas, which is toxic to humans, inducing flu-like symptoms. Bird-lovers beware, offgas is fatal to birds.
Porcelain Enamel
The Good
Seen frequently as Dutch ovens and large skillets, these dishes are usually made from cast iron or carbon steel coated in porcelain enamel. They combine some of the best qualities of ceramic and cast iron. They are nonreactive and easy to clean like ceramic but don’t need to be seasoned like cast iron.
The Bad
They also combine some of the drawbacks of both. They are heavy and will break when dropped. There are also reports of their coating discoloring ceramic-glass cooktops at high heat, so be careful when using them.
Silicone
The Good
Made from sand and oxygen, silicone is nonstick, nonreactive and safe to use in the oven, microwave, refrigerator, freezer and dishwasher. They are also very lightweight and won’t stain.
The Bad
They are a bit on the expensive side and can be awkward and unstable.
Stainless Steel
The Good
The workhorse of kitchens throughout the world, you can find this in just about every home around the world. Stainless-steel is made from an alloy of metals, which usually include some combination of steel, carbon, nickel and chromium. They are engineered to be nonporous, durable, corrosion-resistant, and easy to clean.
The Bad
Stainless steel is one of the more expensive types of you can buy, especially when combined with other metals like copper (which is sometimes used to improve its naturally poor heat conductivity). It has a tendency to discolor under high heat and pit when exposed to salt water. Additionally, if scratched, chromium and nickel could leach into your food.
Titanium
The Good
Titanium is extraordinarily light and strong (the highest strength-to-weight ratio known to man, actually). It also heats very evenly and quickly. It is nonporous, nonreactive, nonallergic, and can have an antibacterial coating. Titanium resists scratching, denting and warping and is safe to use in the oven. If that is not enough, it is nonstick so you can start a dish without butter, oil or water. It can often be wiped clean with a washcloth.
The Bad
As you might expect, titanium is very expensive — the only significant drawback. Many people decide the extra expense is justified and treat it as an investment, since titanium will often still look like new after years of use.
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Image courtesy: pluimen.nl ,
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