If you’re not - great! Feel free to ignore the next paragraph and buy as much fully-clad cookware as your heart desires.Īs I mentioned before, you don’t need a fully-clad stockpot, or really even a skillet (even though I prefer it). Think about what you’re going to cook in your pot or pan and let those recipes be your guide. If you’re budgeting, you’ll save money by being picky about which pots and pans you want to purchase fully-clad. Many retailers (not us!) try to sell full sets of cookware, but those often include pieces that aren’t really necessary. However, you absolutely do not need to outfit your kitchen with a full set of this style of cookware. High-quality fully-clad stainless cookware is expensive, but I am of the belief that it is worth the cost for a pan that’ll last for generations. But there’s nothing wrong with the classic aluminum-stainless combo - it’s what all of us at Southern Kitchen use. The highest-end fully-clad pans are made with a copper core instead of an aluminum one copper is a better conductor of heat, so these pans typically have a better performance than their (slightly) more affordable cousins. You’ll find pans made with anywhere from three layers (stainless, aluminum, stainless) to five or even seven layers. Since aluminum is reactive, it is placed in between stainless layers to protect it. The solution to both the aluminum and the stainless steel problem is to mash them both together, making a sturdy, even-heating, nearly indestructible pan. However, stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat and is prone to hot spots. But they aren’t ideal if you’re looking for pans that’ll last for decades, or if you’d like your cookware to be able to go into the dishwasher.įor this, we need to turn to stainless steel, which is completely nonreactive, resists corrosion and is dishwasher-safe for the most part. Most aluminum cookware you’ll find today is anodized just for this reason.) These are great when you’re shopping for nonstick, which typically wears out after a while, no matter the rest of the pans’ construction. (Non-anodized aluminum easily reacts with both acidic and basic foods, as well as the hydrogen sulfide in eggs, discoloring your food and giving the cookware that fuzzy grey or black coating. Much of the lower-priced cookware on the market today is made from thick, anodized aluminum. Anything I’m planning to cook over low heat will also turn out best cooked in such a vessel the increased insulation from the multiple layers of metal will help your precious dinner maintain an even temperature.īut wait, back up, why are we “cladding” in the first place? However, for when you’re cooking anything that is going to need some even heat from your pot or pan’s sides, such as a thick braise or a custard, you’ll want to pull out fully-clad cookware. If you’re big into canning, don’t waste your money on a fully-clad pot for your Mason jars - those cheap, giant aluminum pots are perfect for this task. My stockpot is made in this way, and it works great. If well-made, these pieces of cookware can be totally fine for anything you’d cook in a large amount of liquid, such as pastas or soups. You’ll often see stainless steel pots and pans made with a single, often very fat, disk adhered to the bottom. (Side note: Enameled cast iron, such as the cookware from Staub and Le Creuset, is also fully-clad, but the layers are made up of, well, enamel and cast iron.) There may be a rounded lip, or there may not, but the important part is those layers and their reach. These pieces of cookware will generally have an even thickness all the way around. Second, these layers, which are “clad” together, reach all the way from the bottom of the pot or skillet up to the rim. My favorite style of stainless steel cookware is known as “fully-clad.” This means two things: First, the cookware is not entirely made of stainless steel (we’ll get to why in a minute) instead it is made from at least three layers, the middle of which is most often aluminum. No, I’ve made the investment in high-quality stainless steel cookware and I’m here to tell you that it is totally worth it, in (almost) all cases. I donated all of those pots of mine when I finished college. (Even if it isn’t really that difficult.)īut I am not just cooking in thin, filmy stainless steel. After all, tomato sauce doesn’t taste great after simmering all day in a reactive pot and, frankly, some days, I just don’t feel like dealing with cleaning my cast iron skillet. I’m just as often pulling out a stainless steel saucepan as I am my cast iron skillet. But I’m gonna be honest with you - it’s not always the first pan I reach for when I’m cooking at home. It’s no secret that, at Southern Kitchen, we love cooking with cast iron.
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