Cookware Characteristics:
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Aluminum
Advantages:
Generally light in weight and is an excellent heat conductor.
Usually dishwasher safe and thinner aluminum cookware is inexpensive.
Disadvantages: Dents and scratches easily and is subject to warping.
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Nonstick
Advantages:
Today’s non-stick cookware is much better than the old days.
Depending upon the quality of the coating and number of layers bonded to the pan,
today’s non-stick cookware is less prone to scratching by metal utensils.
Disadvantages: Cheap non-stick cookware requires wood or plastic utensils as it
will scratch easily with metal ones. Non-stick is not normally dishwasher safe and cannot
be used in the oven at high temperatures. |
Stainless Steel
Advantages: Dishwasher safe and easy to clean. Resists warping, scratching and
denting (depending on thickness).
Disadvantages: Stainless steel in not a great heat conductor and can result in
uneven heating of a pan. Manufactures often put a coating of copper or aluminum on the
bottom to reduce uneven heating.
Cast Iron
Advantanges: Cast Iron has been around forever, lasts forever and is quite
inexpensive. It’s uniform heating and retains heat very well. Great for
browning and frying foods.
Disadvantages: Really heavy and you need to coat with cooking spray or oil after
each use to prevent it from rusting.
Multi-Layer
Advantages: Some manufacturers layer various metals in cookware to take advantage
of the positive characteristics of each type of metal. This results in superb all around
cooking performance using these types of pots and pans.
Disadvantages: Expensive to manufacture and really expensive to purchase!
