What is it that makes one kind of cookware better than another? While steel cookware is a popular choice, it isn’t the only one with cast iron, aluminium and copper being other popular styles of utensils seen in India. Fact is that stainless steel cookware is the best if you are looking for affordable price, flexibility, durability, multiple usability and easy maintenance. However, the biggest drawback of these is that steel basically is not a good conductor of heat and therefore, clad cookware that uses another base metal plate for even distribution of heat is a better choice. It is important that when you buy cookware sets, you take you time to study all the available metals and designs and then buy the best product that is practical, good looking and easy to maintain as well. Basically, there are 5 important criteria to consider when you buy cookware. Heat conductivity is important. Some metal conduct heat better than others and this becomes an important consideration is you aren’t buying induction cookware set. While stainless steel is not a good conductor, copper and aluminium are. The better the conductivity, the faster the utensil will heat up and retain heat for longer and the more evenly the food will be cooked. Metals like cast iron and copper react a lot faster to changes in temperature and that is why even cast iron cookware is best for slow cooking. Durability is a very important factor when choosing cookware sets. It doesn’t matter whether you are looking at nonstick cookware sets or a microwave cookware set. With non stick cookware, the more the coats of non stick material, the longer the utensils will last. And with microwave cookware, the better the grade of plastic or density of glass and bone china, the longer it will serve you perfectly. Also, stainless steel cookware is longer lasting when compared to aluminium or copper as they don’t discolour or warp and bend after repeated usage. Reactivity is often ignored, but an important consideration. Some aluminium cookware will react with acidic foods and hence not suitable because the dish will absorb some of the metal. Always be sure of the reactivity of the metal with food ingredients before you buy, so that you can pick a variety of cookware that is each suitable for specific food type cooking. Maintenance is another factor that must be considered when you buy cookware sets. Some metals like stainless steel are easy to clean and maintain and others like cast iron and copper will rust and char and will be very difficult to clean and is not even microwave safe. Also, ceramic cookware and other oven cookware are much easier to clean, though they are prone to breakage. Copper and brass cookware can require rigorous cleaning and then extra polishing to retain their looks while aluminium will bend and lose shape easily. Price can be a deciding factor and while some basic microwave cookware set can be inexpensive and very cost effective, others that come with designs and also serve the function of serving dishes can actually be quite expensive. Similarly, while copper and cast iron can look ugly when served in, most steel cookware can be used for cooking as well as serving and offer dual purpose.
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