Cooking With Stainless Steel Cookware

Many people have questions about cooking with stainless steel cookware. What temperature should I cook at? Why does my food stick? If you have never used stainless steel cookware, that's understandable. When we are comparing ways to cook, SS is an entirely different medium. High quality stainless steel cookware is a sandwich of SS inside and out, with either an aluminum or copper core. This core is what allows the heat to spread out quickly and evenly throughout the cookware. Muti-ply stainless steel cookware can have as many as 12 layers, one key layer if you have a conductive cook top, is a carbon steel layer. This layer will allow the magnetism of a conductive cook top to work at its best. Another advantage, is heat retention, multi-layer stainless steel cookware will be heavier and will hold the heat longer. The pans will also contact the stoves heating elements fully, so you have no loss of heat transfer.

Now to the first question, what temperature do I cook at? With stainless steel cookware you will want to cook at low to med heat, and you will need to preheat your pans. Never cook on high heat, even if you need to boil, start on med and slowly raise the temp. until you get a boil. I've read to many articles that state," Just cook it on high." Resist the temptation.

The second question is a little harder to answer. In stainless steel cookware, food will always stick at first, but if you let it cook without moving it around, the food, especially meat, will sear. When this happens, a thin caramelized crust will form, this crust will actually release the food from your pan. How do you get the food to that point? You have to preheat the pans. To test the temperature, tap the top of the pan with the palm of your hand, if it's warm, OK, if it's hot, pull the pan off the heat to let it cool a bit. Now that you have achieved the best temperature, you can add a little oil to your pan, just enough to get light layer, or butter if you prefer. Add your food, you should get a sizzle when it hits the pan, if it crackles your heat is too high. Let you food cook till you get the desired doneness, and flip it over to cook the other side. When finished it should come right out with no problems. If you cook steaks or pork chops, the little pieces in the pan can make a great sauce or gravy, if you should like one. Stainless steel cookware will allow you to conserve energy and get more energy out of your food.

Wayne Graff has been cooking using all types of cookware for over 30 years. He has recently opened his online store thecookwarecenter.com. For more information on cooking techniques and stainless steel cookware in particular, go to thecookwarecenter.com

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