Thursday, January 21, 2010

Picking Out A Nice Cookware Set Isn't That Hard

By Frank Froggatt

If buying a new cookware set is in your near future, then chances are you are thinking about how you can know what is the best deal for all of the pieces and features that you want. Considering the price is always one of the biggest factors in choosing the right cookware. There is a lot more to choosing the right cookware set than the covers that are available or neat glass lids. If you are looking to get the best deal for your money, or if you are very serious about your cooking, then being practical about your decision is wise.

The main factor in choosing cookware is the material from which it is made. Copper is very expensive, but conducts heat better than any other material. Good heat conduction allows for evenly cooked food. There are many different sets of stainless steel cookware with copper bottoms. Because the copper conducts heat so much better than the rest of the pan it causes a problem in the fact that it becomes difficult not to burn your food. If you want to braise your food, trying to use one of these copper bottom pans is pretty much out of the question.

You really need to get some cookware that will distribute the heat evenly. You are probably quite familiar with hot spots in pans. Hot spots are places in the pan where the food cooks disproportionately faster than in the rest of the pan. If you are serious about cooking than even heat distribution is imperative. Cooking with things like cast-iron, copper, and aluminum can be somewhat of a nuisance as many times you can taste the metal that the food is cooked in. Even though Copper will discolor and scratch easily, there should be at least one copper bowl in every kitchen for the job of beating egg whites. Egg whites beat up to their maximum volume and copper bowls.

You will find that aluminum cookware is rather inexpensive, but as I mentioned above it can have the tendency to give food unfavorable tastes. The thing about aluminum is the fact that it doesn't last very long, although there are some types of anodized pans which will hold up a little better. As far as aluminum cookware goes, anodized is definitely the best choice.

For searing steaks and some other specialized menus cast-iron is the best, but it is something that you have to keep seasoned so that it won't stick or pit.

You aren't going to find any perfect cookware for every food. Every type of cookware has their own good and bad points. The best compromise you can probably make a stainless steel though. For both price and heat conductivity stainless steel falls right in the middle. The durability of stainless steel as well known, and it will not react with any type of food that you cook, and as far as cleaning goes it isn't too bad. You probably won't find any better cookware than the type that has stainless steel on the outside with aluminum bonded in between the two layers.

In conclusion, you're going to need to spend some money if you want some quality cookware, but you don't necessarily need the most expensive set. The ideal selection in my opinion is probably just a real nice stainless steel cookware set with some extras like a nonstick frying pan and a copper bowl with maybe a couple extra items that you might like.

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