How to Choose the Best Stainless Steel Cookware

Good cooking starts with a good set of cookware.  With the right cookware, you can easily whip up all your favorite dishes.  Today’s cooks find stainless steel cookware to be one of the best choices for the modern kitchen.  Not only do they look good, but they are durable and easy to clean.  Stainless steel cookware is best for frying, browning and roasting foods.

All-Clad 5000-9 Cookware

For food that tastes good and looks good, you should use only the best stainless steel cookware.  The quality of stainless steel pots and pans differ widely, from cheaply constructed cookware to top-of-the-line All-Clad cookware.  An expensive All-Clad cookware set may not be for everybody, but you can still find affordable pots and pans that will work just as well.

While stainless steel has wonderful qualities that make it ideal for cooking, it is a poor conductor of heat.  To overcome this shortcoming, an aluminum or copper core is placed on the bottom of the pan to help distribute heat evenly.  Both metals provide even distribution of heat, but aluminum retains heat much better than copper does.

Top brands use 3-ply or 5-ply stainless steel pots and pans with both aluminum and copper cores sandwiched between layers of stainless steel. If this cookware is outside of your budget, you can look for quality stainless steel pots and pans with an aluminum or copper plate at the bottom.  The plate should extend over the entire bottom of the pan and should be solid and heavy.  Cheaper cookware sets have small plates only in the middle of the pan and do not work very well.

Stainless steel pans are made from an alloy of iron with chromium and nickel.  The heaviest and most durable pans are made of 18/10 stainless steel.  This contains 18% chromium and 10% nickel.  Pots and pans made of 18/8 stainless steel also work well.  Stainless steel cookware labeled as 18/0 contains 18% chromium and 0% nickel.  These are usually very thin and their use is limited to steamers and pasta cookers.

Before purchasing cookware, test the handles of the stainless steel pots and pans.  Handles should be solid and attached securely to the body of the cookware.  They should also be heat resistant or stay cool to protect you from burns or injury.

Stainless steel is non-porous and scratch-resistant, so you can use any kind of utensil on the pans without worrying that the surface will flake or crack.  You’ll always get the natural taste of the food you are cooking.  With the best stainless steel cookware, it has never been easier to serve an appetizing meal.