How to Buy, Use and Care for Stainless Steel Cookware

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Stainless steel cookware is a real helper in the kitchen. It does its job quietly and competently, without the need for fiddling (like cast iron) or any public drama (like non-stick Teflon). If cast iron is the flamboyant Leo who lives for praise, then stainless steel is the efficient and confident Capricorn. (I’m not sure what the non-stick sign is, but I’d like to say it’s Gemini, since they have an unstable reputation and are rarely truly understood.)

I have one cast iron skillet and one nonstick skillet, but the rest of the cookware is stainless steel. Shiny metal may seem intimidating to the home cook, but once you understand some of its features, you will find that it is a very responsive material that is easy to clean and maintain. Unlike cast iron, stainless steel can withstand a long simmer with acidic tomato sauce and then can be thrown in the dishwasher. You can fry, boil, saute, steam and even fry an egg without sticking to the pan.

It is more responsive and durable than cast iron.

Cast iron is great at holding heat, but not so good at releasing it, and it takes a while for the entire pan to reach the set temperature. On the other hand, stainless steel is more responsive. It heats up evenly and quickly, and cools down when needed. When you turn off the burner, the stainless steel listens.

It’s also patience. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten a greasy, sticky stainless steel pan in the oven for days. Is stainless steel pouting and squeaking due to corrosion or corrosion? Is not. It stays there, undisturbed, until you’re ready to clean it, and it doesn’t even require much cleaning on your part. You can throw it in the dishwasher. If that doesn’t work (sometimes greasy, burnt-on food doesn’t respond to regular detergent), a quick clean with Barkeeper’s Friend will restore it to its original sparkling shine.

I love my cast iron and keep a nonstick skillet on hand for those really lazy moments, but I’d be perfectly happy in a kitchen full of stainless steel and I could get by with just three items. You can buy a full set, but a mature, grown-up kitchen doesn’t need as many pots and pans as you think.

Stainless steel cookware is made from several metals.

Stainless steel pans are not made of just one metal. It’s more of a metal sandwich with three or more layers of alternating materials. Something conductive (but reactive), such as copper or aluminum, is placed between layers of stronger, inert stainless steel to ensure the pan heats evenly and responds quickly to temperature changes without corroding, tarnishing, or warping. long-term use, hot dishwasher processing or acidic ingredients.

With one exception, you want a cookware that is “fully encased,” meaning a layer of conductive metal extends to the runners and edge of the cookware, rather than a single washer that sits at the base. This ensures even temperature throughout the pan or pan so food doesn’t burn on the fragile, uncovered edges of the pan.

Start with three parts

That 12-piece stainless steel set you saw at Macy’s may look awfully tempting, but you’re better off spending a little more on fewer pieces that will last you longer. These sets rarely come fully dressed, and you won’t need that many pieces anyway. Most home cooks are comfortable with three pieces of cookware: a 10- or 11-inch sauté pan or skillet, an eight-quart (or larger) stock pot, and a three-quart saucepan or saucer. Stainless steel is generally compatible with all types of burners, although not all are induction compatible, so make sure your burner is induction compatible if you’re working with one.

Buy a quality frying pan or saucepan.

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, sauté pans and frying pans are two different things.

The pans have slanted sides so food can slide up and over the edge, like a skateboard on a ramp. This makes it more suitable for cooking where food is constantly moving, such as when making French fries or sautéing vegetables. (Don’t yell at me. I don’t make the rules.) The pans have straight sides, making them ideal for searing and braising large cuts of meat, cooking and chopping sauces, and working with anything that tends to splatter.

They can be used almost interchangeably. As a professional food writer, I don’t own a real frying pan. Either way, make sure you have enough surface area—at least 10 inches—so you can sear large bone-in steaks, bake some chicken thighs that will really feed your family, or sauté mushrooms without squeezing them. . (Pack the mushrooms too tightly and the moisture won’t evaporate quickly enough, resulting in the mushrooms being steamed rather than browned.)

The main thing to keep in mind is that sloping sides result in less flat surface area, so add an inch or two if you’re opting for a skillet and make sure the sides rise high enough so you can reduce sauces and simmer succulent meat without splattering it too much.

In the overall scheme of stainless steel cookware, the quality of the sauté pan (or frying pan) matters the most, and it should be the most versatile item in your kitchen. Don’t worry so much about the number of layers in the pan. Instead, focus on getting a completely covered pan so the entire piece will respond to any temperature changes you make and ensure even browning of whatever you’re searing or pan-frying. If you are going to shell out some money, make sure that it comes with a warranty or trial period so that you can make sure that the pen is comfortable to hold and that you can handle it without any discomfort.

Some good stainless steel starter pans and sauté pans:

You can save a little on a saucepan

Metal is expensive, and pans are large pieces of metal. Luckily, the main functions of the pan are boiling, steaming, and simmering liquids, which keeps the temperature around 212℉, which is much lower than the temperature needed to brown food (which happens somewhere in the 300-500℉ range). While a fully enclosed pan will technically give you more control, you can get away with something that only has the casing on the bottom, ensuring your tomato sauce doesn’t burn during the long simmer. (A heavy butt is very important.)

In addition to this casing, you’ll need a pan that can comfortably hold a whole chicken (for boiling and making broth) and also accommodate long pasta without having to break it up. Also important are strong, durable handles that are comfortable to hold, as water gets heavy pretty quickly and you’ll need to make sure you can fit not only your full bare hands, but also your oven mitt hands in and around it. pens. When choosing between riveted and welded handles, choose riveted ones for greater strength. You also need a lid that fits well and securely to trap steam and help the water boil quickly.

The best starter pans for light sautéing, steaming and boiling are:

A good pot or saucer doesn’t have to be too expensive.

The pot or saucer is where you’ll make sauces (duh), but you’ll also probably use it to poach eggs, make a reasonable amount of soup or stew, make oatmeal for breakfast, or whip up rich egg custards and cottage cheese for dessert. Unlike noodles or potatoes that bounce around in a pan, food cooked in a saucepan or saucer is more likely to be in constant contact with the bottom and sides of the pan, so a full lining is a little more important. Luckily, they’re both smaller than standard pans, so you can afford the extra metal.

Like saucepans and frying pans, saucepans and saucers are slightly different. The walls of the pan are straight; The sides of the saucer are beveled. I prefer the saucer as the rounded edge makes stirring and whisking easier and also ensures that food doesn’t get stuck in the corner between the side and bottom. Sometimes you will think that saucers are referred to as “gravy pans” even by the companies that make them; was looking for a rounded bottom and it would be fine.

In terms of size, three-quarters is the sweet spot. Large enough to cook enough food, but not so big that it feels bulky when reheating small portions of soup or sauce. You’ll also need a lid that fits well and an easy-to-grip handle that allows for easy, clean pouring.

Work plates that won’t break the bank:

How to prevent food from sticking to stainless steel

The biggest worry people have when cooking with stainless steel is that the food will stick, and that’s bound to happen if you don’t know what you’re doing. However, it is quite possible (and even easy) to fry an egg or a piece of fish in a stainless steel pan without any of it sticking. You just need it to be hot enough.

I’ve discussed this topic in detail before , but to sum it up: it all comes down to the pores of the pan:

Stainless steel is a porous material, and these pores expand and contract with temperature changes. When you place cold food in a hot pan, the temperature difference causes the pores to quickly contract, trapping the food.

Further complicating the problem is the fact that proteins, including raw meat and egg whites, bind to the metal in the pan. Eggs are especially tricky because they come out of the shell as a liquid that can get into those tiny pores, strengthening their adhesion to the egg.

It sounds like a recipe for sticky disaster, but heating the pan to the right temperature will create a barrier between your food and those pesky pores—and we owe it all to the Leidenfrost effect.

The Leidenfrost effect is one of my favorite effects because understanding it makes you feel like some kind of culinary wizard:

The Leidenfrost effect occurs when the temperature of a given material is much higher than the boiling point of the liquid that comes into contact with that material. This allows you to dip your wet fingers into molten lead without getting burned and, less dramatically, cook an egg in a stainless steel pan. The heat of the metal evaporates the liquid, creating a protective layer of steam between the metal and your food (or fingers) and preventing the liquid egg white from making full contact with the pan and seeping into its pores.

The easiest way to check if a pan is hot enough to cook eggs is to add a drop of water to it. If it sizzles and steams, your pan is not hot enough and the Leidenfrost effect has not occurred. But if a drop of water forms a small ball that rolls around the pan, you’re ready to go. However, if it breaks up into a bunch of little balls, the pan is too hot. Let it cool and try again. (This test is often called the “mercury bead test” because the bead of water looks and behaves like a drop of mercury.)

You can see the difference between an incorrectly heated pan and a properly heated pan in this TikTok video I made:

Once the pan is properly hot, you can add the fat, and you don’t really need that much. Vegetable or melted butter is best (regular butter will burn), and a thin layer of fat will create an even protective layer between the food and the pan and allow you to scramble eggs or fry fish in the pan without sticking. (Fat also conducts heat, which is very useful for cooking.)

How to Clean Stainless Steel Cookware

As I mentioned earlier, cleaning stainless steel is not difficult. Throw it in the dishwasher, soak it in the sink, but avoid abrasive powders, harsh chemicals like bleach, or physical cleaners like steel wool, which can damage the finish.

A quick clean of the pan is the easiest way to make sure nothing is stuck to the surface, but lazy and forgetful people like me shouldn’t despair. If your stainless steel pan gets really clogged, a little “Bartender’s Friend” will get you out of the sticky mess.

Stainless steel may not have the simple charm of a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, but when it comes to versatility, ease of use, and craftsmanship, stainless steel is hard to beat. (Plus, there’s nothing more impressive than frying an egg on a shiny metal frying pan, and impressing people is very grown-up.)

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The Grown-up Kitchen

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