With the wide range of pots and pans to choose from, buying one is no easy task. Comparing aesthetics, durability, maintenance, as well as value for money and your budget, is not enough today. Since everyone is very health conscious and more knowledgeable about health issues, modern cooks would like to know what kind of materials their cookware is made of and whether it will affect their health. How safe are stainless steel, cast iron, or nonstick cookware, or even hard-anodized nonstick? Will materials leach into food while cooking and affect our health?
Aluminum is light, a good conductor of heat and is not expensive. However, the downside is that both heat and acid. it will react with the metal and you may find traces of aluminum in the food, especially during slow cooking of the food. If you have aluminum pots, make sure you don’t use them to cook highly acidic or salty foods, such as tomatoes or sauerkraut, for long periods of time. Storing cooked food in aluminum containers, especially worn or chipped ones, is also not recommended, as aluminum can still leach into the food. However, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, very little aluminum is absorbed by the body from aluminum cookware.
Aluminum cookware that has been treated, resulting in a layer of aluminum oxide on its surface, is popularly known as hard-anodized cookware. This type of cookware is durable, nonstick, scratch resistant, and will not react with food during cooking. It conducts heat well and is even more durable than stainless steel cookware, but it can be expensive.
Copper is a good conductor of heat and can easily adapt to changes in temperature. Foods that need precise temperature control are best cooked on copper cookware. Copper cookware comes with a thin layer of tin or stainless steel on its surface to prevent copper from seeping into food. Nickel is sometimes used as a plating material and can cause allergic reactions in people who are sensitive to the metal. Copper taken in large amounts can be dangerous to our health.
The stainless steel lining can last the life of the cookware, but the tin lining will need to be renewed periodically as it can wear away with long use and high temperatures. Acidic foods stored for long periods of time in copper cookware can cause traces of the metal from the coating to leach into the food. This can cause nausea and diarrhea. As well as being difficult to use due to their heavy weight, they are also expensive and must be polished regularly, not only to keep their surface shiny, but also to remove toxic verdigris deposits on their surface. Scrubbing will cause scratches.
Cast iron cookware is best used for slow cooking food as it cooks slowly and evenly. Maintenance is not easy as it is heavy and rusts easily if not properly and thoroughly dried after use. Iron leaches into food during cooking, causing an unpleasant taste, and is not recommended at all for those with hemochromatosis (someone who has a tendency to accumulate iron in the blood). To create a nonstick surface for your cast iron cookware, season it by coating it with vegetable oil and placing it in the oven for a few minutes.
Ceramic, glass, and enamel-coated cookware may appeal to those who are concerned about metal contamination from their cookware. Enamel is actually a substance made of glass, it is inert and does not react with food. Most health problems are related to its minor components used in its manufacture or design, among which is lead.
Glass-ceramic items, although poor conductors of heat, can retain heat very well. It is safe to use in the microwave and has no problem withstanding extreme changes in temperature. Glazed ceramic cookware, with its smooth finish, is easy to clean and, if manufactured under strict and effective production controls, can prevent the release of lead into food. It can be heated to a fairly high temperature. If storing food in ceramic containers results in a chalky gray residue on the glaze, then this shows inferior quality and is best not used for further cooking, to prevent it from absorbing lead along with the food.
Stainless steel cookware is very popular due to its durability and low maintenance. Nickel and chromium leaching from stainless steel cookware is not at an alarmingly unhealthy level. At most, nickel could cause some allergic reactions to people with said allergy.
Teflon-coated, nonstick cookware is easy to clean and requires little cooking oil, appealing to the health-conscious. The downside is that it is easily scratched and damaged, especially if used with metal tools with sharp edges. The coatings can peel off after heavy use and end up in food and then in the stomach. If an empty nonstick pan is heated to a high temperature of 350 degrees C or 650 degrees F, poisonous vapors can be released from the coating.
The latest addition to the nonstick cookware family is the eco-friendly, eco-friendly nonstick cookware. This type of cookware comes with a nonstick surface that contains no toxic chemicals and uses more recycled materials, like stay-cool riveted stainless steel handles made with 70 percent recycled stainless steel from the eco-friendly cookware set. Cuisinart.