How to know which stainless steel cookware is quality?

[jessicacarr]

How to know which stainless steel cookware is quality?

 

[Joshatdot]

There should be a stamp telling what type of SS alloy it is made from. SS SAE Grade Type 316, most commonly known as Surgical Stainless Steel, is the second most common grade (after 304); for food and surgical stainless steel uses.

I just looked up that stuff on Wikipedia:
- Stainless steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- SAE steel grades - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Andy M.]

Aside from coming here and asking, you can read cookware reviews in Consumer Reports, Cook's Illustrated and on the internet.

Also, it's good to be an informed consumer and know before you shop what the properties of different construction types and pan sizes and shapes and how they fit with the kind of cooking you do.

 

[MostlyWater]

There is also a number to look for, I think it's 18/10 or 18/8.

 

[Joshatdot]

Yeah 18/10 or 18/8 is most common for flatware & utensils.

 

[web-collage]

What ever happened to quality? The best cookware is made in the US, France, or Belgium, because it's not trying to be a cheap imitation. Look for names like All Clad, Demeyer, Mauviel. A lot of the Asian (Chinese) made cookware looks good but when you use it the metal discolors and other things go wrong. It was made to look like cookware and sell. It won't last. Tramontina was a good brand made in Brazil but is now made in China. Too bad.

And non-stick is a health risk joke. That stuff begins to shred and get into your food long before you can see it. Get a magnifying glass and take a good look. I read recently that 50% of the cookware sold in this country is non-stick. No fond. What a shame.

Try a good copper/stainless pan like Falk or deHillerin and you will know what good cooking is all about.

 

[Andy M.]

...And non-stick is a health risk joke. That stuff begins to shred and get into your food long before you can see it...

That's a pretty sweeping inditement. Actually, the teflon coating on the pan is chemically inert. If you happened to ingest some bits, it would pass through your system unchanged. If visible bits are flaking off a pan's surface it should be tossed.

 

[web-collage]

We don't really know the long term effects of eating teflon or its relatives. Hard to see how bits of flaking off non-stick coating can improve the taste or quality of food. And the absence of fond detracts greatly from quality.

 

[Andy M.]

We don't really know the long term effects of eating teflon or its relatives. Hard to see how bits of flaking off non-stick coating can improve the taste or quality of food. And the absence of fond detracts greatly from quality.

I'm not suggesting non-stick cookware is a good choice for all cooking. I have a couple of non-stick skillets I use for eggs and other dishes where either non-stick is a great benefit or the creation of fond is not relevant. I use SS or CI for general cooking.

BTW, fond is food that sticks to the pan. If you use a non-stick skillet, the caramelized food bits remain on the food rather than sticking to the pan. Not a bad thing.

 

[Joshatdot]

There is a misconception that the browned and caramelized bits of meat and vegetables stuck to the bottom of a pan are called 'fond.' The correct name for these bits is "sucs."

Sucs (food) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[JamesS]

In common use, I think both are correct, at least in an English speaking kitchen. The context deciding it.

We were taught that Fond and Stock were synonymous. Fond blanc, Fond Brun, Fond de volaille, Fond de poisson and Fond de legumes were the basic stocks. Fonds de braise was the leftovers at the bottom of the braising pot.

I don't recall ever seeing the word "Sucs" used anywhere. It's not in the index to my 1969 English translated Escoffier.

 

[web-collage]

Depends which country you are in. Fond is used in master cookbooks (Julia Child, for instance), because these bits are so often deglazed for a sauce, the foundation of a sauce or stock. Don't trust Wikipedia, the only encylopedia concocted by volunteers.

 

[Joshatdot]

Wikipedia is not the end-all-know-it-all of everything, carved in stone. Just Google fond or sucs and find out what 1000's of other people the bits stuck on the pan.

 

[web-collage]

I agree with JimS above, never heard the term "sucs" used by any cook or chef, and Escoffier is certainly a definitive reference. Some cooking shows just say carmelizing of the food. Also, unlike Andy, I've never noticed a nice brown carmelizing of fond on food cooked in non-stick pans. Cooking in a heavy pan over the correct heat produces fond that can be deglazed for a sauce or used as a foundation or a more complicated sauce.

 

[Andy M.]

... Cooking in a heavy pan over the correct heat produces fond that can be deglazed for a sauce or used as a foundation or a more complicated sauce.

Pans do not cause caramelization to develop. You can only develop caramelization with the application of sufficient heat. You can stick a pork chop on a stick and hold it over a campfire and develop caramelization. Using a pan allows it to collect on the pan surface, or in the case of non-stick, on the food.