Copper has great heat conductivity characteristics (which is great for cookware) but also reacts with foods easily (which is bad for cookware). The same is true for aluminum, though copper is still the number one metal when it comes to heat conductivity in cookware. Copper has 9 times better heat conductivity than stainless steel, aluminum has 5 times better heat conductivity than stainless steel.

But cookware manufacturers have managed to find a way to leverage both the strenght of stainless steel and copper by using the two of them in one piece of high quality cookware. There are different methods of how copper is worked into stainless steel cookware, and depending upon what you are willing to pay you will get either low quality or professional stainless steel cookware.

If you go for cheap discount stainless steel cookware you will probably get just that – stainless steel cookware, no copper, no aluminum inside. Foods will burn and stick easily and cooking will be stressful, cleaning will be tiring. Good luck with that.
If you are willing to pay medium prices then the stainless steel cookware will have a core disk of copper or aluminum inside the base. This is already a huge improvement in terms of heat conductivity and will make cooking for you so much easier.

Now if you really want to master the cooking skills then you want on of those professional stainless steel cookware sets – additionally to the copper core disk inside the base they also have added copper cores in the sides or even for the full height of the cookware.

The good thing about buying professional stainless steel cookware is that it often comes with a "lifetime guarantee" from the manufacturer. If you follow the handling instructions (which basically tell you how to avoid some stupid things that you shouldn’t do with cookware anyway) then they will replace your cookware in case it ever get’s damaged. In the long run it’s much cheaper to spend a bit more and then never have to replace it and enjoy the high quality every day than to save a few bucks, have to deal with the hustle of cheap cookware and buy a new piece of cookware every couple of years. Better choose good cookware in the first place.

If you have questions just leave me a comment, I’d be glad to read from you.

Stainless steel cookware is very save. Stainless steel is a mix of different metals: iron, chromium and nickel. Iron, as you are probably aware of is not a dangerous metal for the human body – one of the healthy aspects of spinach for example is that it has a lot of iron.
Chromium also is healthy for humans – between 50 to 200 (microgram) mg per day are recommended. Studies have shown that when you cook one meal in a stainless steel pan or pot it releases about 45 mg of chromium into the food – so that’s even less than what’s recommended daily, a very save amount of chromium. That means even if you eat four meals a day that are all cooked in stainless steel pots and pans you would still be in the save range, since 4 times 45 mg equals 180 mg (less than the daily 200 mg that are totally fine).

About nickel – nickel really isn’t something that you want to put in your body. Fortunately when you cook with stainless steel cookware there is very little nickel leaking into the food – so little that scientists and medical professionals consider it absolutely save. The only people to whom the nickel might pose a threat are people who have nickel allergies. If you have a nickel allergy I suppose you already talked to your doctor about that. Since stainless steel cookware is used in so many public places (restaurants etc.) I suppose that it still is normally not that big of a threat, but again, check with your doctor.

To some this might all sound a little weird and they might be surprised that when they cook part of the cookware also gets into the food. But this is really normal, it’s the world we live in. You drink from a can and some tiny amounts of the can material will get into your drink. You drink from a bottle and some tiny amounts of the plastic get into your drink. When you cook there is heat involved which enforces reactions between different materials. This is nothing bad – remember that we human beings are designed to live in this world and to handle these kinds of things.
When you buy high quality cookware you can be pretty sure that it is save to use – cause all these big brandname manufacturers have a reputation and they don’t want to risk lawsuits. Of course if you buy cheap noname cookware that’s a different case – which is one of the reasons why I always choose high quality cookware.

I hope you found this article insightful – if you have questions or comments, just write something by clicking on comment – I’d be glad to hear from you.

Stainless steel is really the champion when it comes to durability in high quality cookware. A good stainless steel pot can last you a lifetime.
There are still some things you want to do to maintain your stainless steel cookware perfectly spotless and shiny – because even thought it is very durable the beauty of stainless steel will need some care (specially if it’s polished stainless steel cookware). If you want your cookware to just cook great – then you don’t even have to think about these things. But if you want it to also look great then watch out for a couple of things. And since you are into high quality cookware you probably care about the looks too.

When you first get your high quality stainless steel cookware out of the box, wash it in hot soapy water. Just use a normal sponge or dishcloth. (Nylon scrubbing pads are ok too.) Then rinse it in hot water and dry it thoroughly. I don’t recommend using steel wool, steel scouring pads, harsh detergents, oven cleaners or cleaners with clorine bleach. This is the only thing where it’s more than just a cosmetic issue: if you use extreme cleaning methods the surface of the stainless steel cookware might get scratched and then foods will more likely stick to it because these scratches provide places where the food can stick to.
If you feel hot soapy water is not enough use a fine powder cleanser. Sometimes people ask me “Can I wash stainless steel cookware in the dishwasher?” And my answer is just: Yes!

One of the most common problems with stainless steel cookware beauty are water spots. The simplest way to not have to deal with water spotting is to just rinse your cookware thoroughly after washing and dry it right away (either with a dry towel or cloth or by heating it up on a hot stove for a couple of minutes so that the water evaporates).

Sometimes with stainless steel you might experience that food sticks to your cookware. If you find this is excessive then it might just be that you are using too high heat. Or the pot might not be really clean. Also if your stove is not level that might be another cause of sticking foods.
If you use too high heat your stainless steel cookware can get brown or blue stains. Also if there is still some food left in the pan and it’s not cleaned before the next reheating that can cause discolorations.

You should always preheat the pan before you put foods inside.

Salt can get really aggressive too. Salt can create small white spots on your stainless steel cookware. That is why you should always bring liquids to boil before you add salt – this way salt will be totally harmless to your stainless steel cookware. The point just is to not have the salt grains come in contact with your hot cookware – but if it is dissolved in boiling water or cooking food that is fine. The small white spots or pits that are created by salt damage are purely “cosmetic” problems – they don’t dimish the cooking performance of your stainless steel cookware at all. They just don’t look beautiful.

You also shouldn’t leave foods for long time in stainless steel. Some people cook and then leave the food in the pot or pan for a couple of days in the fridge. Specially if it’s acidic or salty food, I would recommend to refrain from storing foods in stainless steel.

Again – all these tips are really for the meticulous. Stainless steel cookware can be a breeze to take care of, but if you spend hundreds of dollars on a stainless steel pan or pot you might want that piece of high quality cookware to have the “look of perfection”.
If you have any questions about stainless steel cookware just write a comment on this post and I will get back to you as soon as possible.