Buying cookware has always been an exciting task. But what are your preferences while buying cookware? Most people give priority to the fact that cookware goes with the style of their kitchen or try to purchase more for less.
A lot of people might have other preferences as well. However, the majority of the buyers are not interested to make sure that the cookware they are purchasing is a quality cookware in terms of its safety for health.
Confused that cookware can be hazardous or can affect your health? Well, there are a few things that you need to make sure if you want to buy quality cookware. But before getting to that, first, you need to know what types of cookware you can purchase.
Although, there is a large variety of cookware that you can buy and use in your kitchen, below are some of the most common types that can found in almost every kitchen.
Stockpots are used for making foods that have a lot of liquid, like soups, stews and stock. These are larger and deeper than other cookware and has flat bottoms. These are designed to cook on low heat.
Saucepans are multi-purpose cookware and can be found in every kitchen. With round bottom and straight tall sides, these are perfect for making all kinds of sauces, soups, reheating food, boiling eggs, etc.
Like saucepans, these are also an essential part of every kitchen. Their flat bottom with small rounded sides makes them the most suitable cookware for frying food on high heat.
These are designed for deep frying and stir-frying. Their high and sloping sides make it a perfect tool for moving and mixing ingredients.
Other cookware includes grill pan, braiser pan, sauté pan, roasting pan and pressure cooker.
When it comes to the safe use of cookware, there are multiple factors that you need to consider. The most important factor is the material of the cookware. You may not be aware but every material has its advantages and disadvantages and may have different effects on your food. Let’s have a detailed review of the most commonly used materials.
If not mistaken, cast iron is the oldest material that has been in use for making cookware. These are famous for cooking flavour rich foods. If taken care, this is the most durable material for making cookware. It is safe to use in the oven and on stovetops. With the ability to cook food on high heat, cast iron is one of the best materials to use.
However, these are not ideal for cooking acidic foods as they react to these foods and liquid. It's also mixed in the food and can be dangerous by overloading your body with iron.
Stainless steel is a rust-proof material but not good at even distribution of heat. It has zero effect on food and completely safe to cook liquid and acidic foods. These are also easy to clean.
It creates good looking cookware but cannot be used to cook everything. It has the best ability to evenly distribute heat and is used in the bottoms of cookware made with different material due to this feature. However, it requires a lot of care. Like cast iron, it reacts with liquids and acidic foods. A small amount of copper added to these foods that can change the taste and may cause health issues.
This is a lightweight and cheap material that cooks well due to better heat distribution but is also reacts with some foods. However, anodized aluminium can be used to eliminate this drawback.
This material has multiple benefits like easy to clean and use less oil as food doesn’t stick with the material. However, the non-stick surface may be made by using some chemicals that may have toxic effects on food on high heat.
Apart from the material, you need to look for other features as well as cookware must have good handling for safe use. It should not be very heavy if you cannot handle heavy cookware and must have lids that can be fit tightly especially in pressure cookers.
