Stainless Steel Pans

This is an easy one to answer. Quite simply, stainless steel pans are practical, durable and with a little care retain their looks for many years. We have found over the years that there really is no substitute. We have been let down time and time again by modern pan sets which have not lasted anywhere near as long as we were expecting. Anodised finishes have worn away in the dishwasher and non stick surfaces have chipped with everyday use. It's no surprise that we have replaced every pan in our kitchen with those made from stainless steel. They are practical, utalitarian and come with a heady aroma of professionalism.

It's a great heat conductor. Not the best - copper is actually better and so is aluminium - but as with many things in life it's a great compromise. Make sure you get a decent thickness - if it s too thin then hotspots will become apparent. A great way around this is to get a stainless steel pan with an aluminium or copper core. The extra thickness will help to even out the heat distribution over a larger area making a more efficient cooking implement which is less prone to burning.

Corrosion resistance. They don't rust, they don't react with anything at all. You just need to take a little care drying them down after washing to avoid "spotting". You can use a dishwasher as long as you take care to use a non-abrasive cleaner. I wish i could say the same for the expensive anodised set that was ruined by daily washing.

They look cool. Did I mention they look great? One thing I love to do is to invite visitors into the kitchen and show off my stainless steel pans. It doesn't matter whether your kitchen is retro style, shaker, contemporary, country style, open plan or just plain modern - stainless steel pans look quite stunning.

Carbon steel is sometimes used as a cheaper alternative, and whilst it has some merits when used in woks and fry pans, it does tend to generate hotspots and is quite easily damaged. This is really a consequence of how thin these pans tend to be. In general, whichever pans you are looking at, thicker pans will lend themselves much more readily to even heat distribution. 

Aluminium is a great conductor. Aluminium pans are strong and durable and good for cooking unreactive foods. But be careful cooking acidic foods in them - their reactivity can cause a change in taste in the food and is a potential health hazard. That's why they often come with non stick coatings to prevent this. However, many stainless steel pans use aluminium as a core layer to gain some of its thermal benefits.

Copper pans are great conductors and are unreactive. So far, so good. However, they are expensive and easily damaged as they don't have the structural rigidity of stainless steel. They can also tarnish easily as copper oxidises in air.

Anodised aluminium is unreactive though a little expensive. Just don't expect them to last more than a few rounds in your dishwasher before their cosmetic appearance changes forever.

Quite often the best pans are those made of a composite of various materials to gain the best qualities from each. Aluminium is often used as a core material to reduce cost and copper used as a base to even out the heat transfer and reduce hotspots.

Choose 18/10 pans for durability - the first number gives the chromium content and the second the nickel content. The higher the nickel content the stronger the pan so 18/10 is better than 18/8. Copper clad bottoms give slightly better heat control while aluminium clad bases retain heat better.

There are several things you can do to avoid food sticking to your pans. When this happens it is generally because the pan is too hot and the water content of the food very high. A chemical reaction may occur which bonds the food to the pan causing it to stick. A thin layer of oil can remedy this and provide a physical barrier between the food and the pan. This allows the oil itself to heat the food and not the pan itself.