Cookware Pans

There are hundreds of brands of cookware pans currently on the market, and many different types of materials including stainless steel, cast iron, aluminium and copper. It can be difficult choosing the right set of cookware pans for your kitchen, and so here is a quick guide to the three main types of quality equipment widely available from most home stores:

• Stainless Steel Cookware – quality stainless steel cookware pans are made from 18/10 steel, which is highly resistant to corrosion. The surface of this type of steel is very smooth and inert, which makes it ideal for use in sanitary environments such as the kitchen, as it is difficult for food and bacteria to stick to it and easy to clean and sterilise. Stainless steel has no coating, so it doesn’t matter if you scratch it slightly, and it is extremely versatile and can be used for every type of cookware pan including oven dishes, frying pans and stockpots. The only disadvantage is that stainless steel does not conduct heat very efficiently, so usually manufacturers have to add layers of other metals to the bottom of the pan, such as aluminium, which conducts heat more evenly.
• Cast Iron Cookware – cast iron has been used for cooking equipment for centuries, as it is an extremely robust material that can conduct heat very efficiently, and can also take very high temperatures. Cast iron can rust, so it does need to be seasoned lightly with cooking oil after each use, and more modern cast iron cookware is often enamelled to prevent this kind of corrosion, and does not need seasoning. Cast iron is excellent for cooking with as it conducts heat evenly and efficiently, which conserves energy as lower temperatures can be used. It is ideal for slow cooking, and it retains heat well so food can be served directly to the table. The disadvantages are that cast iron is very heavy and can be difficult to clean, and unless you look after the non-enamelled pans carefully they can quickly corrode.
• Copper Cookware – copper has also been used for centuries in cooking, because it conducts heat well and is very responsive, heating up and cooling down quickly. Copper is excellent for making sauces because you can control the heat of the pan very accurately, but it is a relatively soft material so unless the cookware pans are heavy gauge it can dent very easily. Another disadvantage is that copper can react to substances in food, so copper pans are usually lined with another less responsive metal such as stainless steel.

Quality cookware pans can be expensive, but a good set will last you for years and years, so your initial investment will keep on giving. You can get an excellent range of cookware equipment from Procook.co.uk, and there are some great deals at the moment such as 50% off the T304 Pro Stainless Steel range, which is a robust, practical and attractive collection of cookware pans made from highest grade 18/10 stainless steel.