Stainless Steel Cookware

[SoulWinner]

How many of you use SS cookware? What are your observasions? I have been using SS for a couple years now and I have some gripes. For one, they get really hot, hotter than non-stick aluminum I think. And so stuff sticks to them. It is dang hard to cook some things in SS pots and pans without burning it to the bottom. What is the answer? Cook at lower temps? I can't coat chicken with breading and fry it in my SS pan without it sticking, so I have a deep fryer, but still, I must be doing something wrong. Any suggestions??

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Hi there SW. SS cookware looks pretty, but is a poor conductor of heat and does not dispense the heat efficiently. Therefore it gets really hot and cooks unevenly. Alluminum is the metal of choice for cookware as it is an excellent conductor of heat and it distibutes that heat evenly over the whole pan, pot, etc... That's why you can grab a sheet of alluminum foil out of the oven without it burning you. I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions on how to make SS cook better.

 

[POINTER94]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Grew up with Revere Ware. Any potato or onion or meat would create a crust that took steel scrubbing pads to remove. Spent a majority of my childhood after 5 on weeknights cleaning those things.<br /><br />I really like the anodized aluminum Calphalon Set I now have. Cleans up with a sponge and soap, fairly evenly dispersed heat, and fairly durable. My set is about 5-6 years old and work like the day I took them out of the package. Just my experience

 

[PatPatterson]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

We bought a beautiful set of Stainless Steel pots and pans a couple of years back. About $400.00. We found out the same thing. They just aren't very good. They are pretty, though.<br /><br />The only thing we use them for is boiling pasta or making stews. Stuff that don't stick too bad.

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

I think I am going to find a nice aluminum pan for cooking some things that don't cook well in SS. <br /><br />So here is a question: How many here do the cooking in your homes? I am the cook(kook?), but my wife handles nearly everything else. Who else cooks??

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Top end SS cookware will have an alloy/copper base, anything other than 18/10 ss is junk - IMO.<br /><br />One of the worsed things you can do to SS is try and scrub the stains off, might be unsightly but not a problem.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

I do at least half of the cooking. I prefer to "fix up" a meal. Even if its a simple ham helper type meal I will add to the recipe to make it better. My wife just cooks it quickly and gets it done and over with. I have T-Fal which is really nice but doesn't last as long as they say it does. I even use the plastic spoons and it still loses its finish.

 

[one more cast]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

I just went through this whole pots and pan thing here on iboats a year ago. For frying you can't beat cast iron. If you don't like the black iron look and have lots of money then get yourself some LeCruset enamal coated cast iron.

 

[Twidget]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Must be my hillbilly roots. I do the cooking and use cast iron skillets for frying. Get them seasoned properly, and keep them oiled between uses and nothing sticks to them. You can pretty much clean them with just the sprayer on the sink.

 

[ehenry]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

We've started collecting Caphelon anondized aluminum cook ware and they do really well as far as thing sticking to them. The only thing I dont like about them is you can't put them in the dishwasher. I also use cast iron cook ware alot too and I really like with it. We have a set of Reviere Ware copper bottom pots like Pointer94 mentioned and its good too but will stick if you aren't careful.

 

[snapperbait]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Cast iron, baby!!!! Nothing better.. <br /><br />Problem with aluminum, it bends when ya hit someone over the head with an aluminum pan...

 

[Elmer Fudge]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

I started using cast iron skillets about ten years ago for frying and searing meats,no sticking once the skillets are seasoned.<br />I have a few stainless steel pots which i use for simmering casseroles,stews and soups.

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Hmmm. Maybe I need to get some more cast iron cookware. I have a small skillet that I use when I make hoe cakes. My SS is kind of expensive stuff, it has a layer of aluminum in the bottom, but man it is sticky. Dang. I love the way it looks, it's really beautifull cookware, but I think I was to think that SS was all I needed when I got it and gave away my T-Fal and other aluminum cookware. I will look around for a cast iron skillet and pot.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Cookware? Whats that? Is it related to a microwave? If not, I've no experience with it....

 

[JB]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

I do most of my cooking in tin-lined copper and the rest in aluminum (cast Al stock pot), cast iron or SS-clad copper.<br /><br />Each is a very different tool and needs to be used differently. Teflon or other "non-stick" linings are the most forgiving. Seasoned cast iron is probably next.<br /><br />If you use SS as though it was teflon coated you will be very unhappy with it. Same with copper, but nothing heats as quickly or evenly as a heavy copper pan or pot.<br /><br />SS cookware comes in very wide range of quality. Ss-clad copper, ss-clad aluminum and "copper bottom" are, in my opinion, superior to thin, solid SS that you find in the supermarket for $3.99.<br /><br />My grandson, Scott, the executive chef, cooks at home in antique Carleton Ware SS-clad copper (that his Granny and I bought in 1955 for what was then a fortune. About $1200 in 2004 bux.) and cast iron.

 

[wajajaja]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

i love farberware,had the same set for 30 years,the secret is the aluminum clad bottom, disperses and retains the heat evenly,and very durable. my concern with cast iron and aluminum is that they are porus. Seasoning cast iron is a process of baking into the pours of the metal fat rosins to seal the pores with yuk.<br /> Farberware like most durable produdts closed out the broklyn ny. factory and is now imported, cant say much on the current product.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

Originally posted by Twidget:<br /> Must be my hillbilly roots. I do the cooking and use cast iron skillets for frying. Get them seasoned properly, and keep them oiled between uses and nothing sticks to them. You can pretty much clean them with just the sprayer on the sink.

Yeah Twidget. Tell all that to Mrs. B. My best cookware are the cast iron pieces that I use on Boy Scout campouts. The Mrs. says if I bring em in the house, I have to wash them with soap and water.<br /><br />Consequently, we don't use cast iron in my house!

 

[lakelover]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

I haven't seen this mentioned..When cooking acidic foods with aluminum cookware, aluminum can leach into the food. Some studies have associated elevated aluminum levels in the body with Alzheimer's disease.<br /><br />That's why we put up with scorched SS. Do love cast iron frying pans though. They're actually good to cook with, some foods cause them to leach small amounts of iron that are actually good for blood iron levels.

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

I do a fair amount of the cooking at our house. A couple of years ago, I bought us a Calphalon set, and that stuff is awesome! Over the years, we've had different non stick pots and pans, but nothing ever cooked as evenly or browned things as nicely as the Calphalon. I agree that for browning and even heat, it is very hard to beat a well seasoned cast iron pan. The Calphalon is expensive, but worth every penny IMO. My MIL has had her set for nearly ten years now, and still works as good as the day she bought it.

 

[ndemge]

Re: Stainless Steel Cookware

my parents have a set of "royal prestige" I think that's the name of it..... it's several layers, SS on the outside, but has mostly copper on the inside for even heat transfer, but get the easy cleaning of SS...... they paid a pretty penny for them