Cooking: High Quality Cookware

Many hobby chefs love non-sticking cookware because it’s so much more convenient when it comes to cleaning. No need for elbow grease and metal brushes after a little frying session anymore.
There are some health issues with most non-sticking cookware that you should be aware of. Because the cookware has a special coating that prevents food from sticking to it maintenance must also be taken care of. You should under no circumstance scratch the coating of your cookware – otherwise toxic substances may leak into your food when you cook.
There are new kinds of non-sticking kitchen supplies entering the market that are PFOA free – which causes the health issues. PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid or C8) is used to produce Teflon and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that it might cause cancer.
When you opt for non-sticking cookware choose quality! Do NOT go for cheap discount non-sticking cookware! Otherwise you will get your non-sticking coatings into your food – something you don’t want to happen. Read this funny review of non-sticking cookware that costs less than $10 and what happened! http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-review-4D27-3A307C4-38C73105-prod9

Non-sticking cooking equipment also won’t last for long. After they have been used for a couple of years in a row the coating will lose it’s resistance to sticking. If you wash a non-sticking pan or pot with harsh detergents or put it in the dishwasher it won’t even last that long.

The thing is that PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) is the chemical basis of almost all nonstick coatings. Now PTFE is a very soft material and that’s why it wears off easily. So then the non-sticking coating producers develop certain formulas where PTFE is mixed with other materials so that it keeps it’s nonsticking characteristics while becoming more durable. However, to make a non-stick coating resistant takes a lot of more effort – and this is what makes the difference between a $10 nonstick frying pan from RiteAid and a $200 dollar nonstick frying pan.

The benefits of non-sticking cookware are definitely as the name already suggests in their “unstickiness”. If you are into low-fat foods non-sticking cooking supplies are a good idea since they reduce the need for oil. They are also excellent for frying eggs.

Nonsticking titanium cookware is pretty new in the field of high-quality cookware. It’s still very expensive and surely not a low-budget item. But if you are looking for premium cookware, then price won’t be your first consideration anyway.
Titanium is great for cooking because it is both extremely strong, durable and lightweight. I myself am currently looking at some Titanium cookware because I’m kind of always on the move, traveling a lot and moving a lot too. I recommend you go to a store and just hold a titanium pan in your hands to get the actual experience of how it feels to have a titanium pan in your hand – it’s extremely light and great for road trips, canyon tours, or backpacking. And I dare to say that it could be the perfect hiking cookware too.
Health-conscious cooks will be specially fond of the fact that titanium is great for low-fat cooking without you having to handle the cookware carefully like you have to do it with Teflon cookware, which, once scratched, shouldn’t be used anymore because of the possibility of leaking of dangerous poisonous substances into the food.
Other than with some other kinds of non-sticking cookware Titanium is also a safe material for cooking equipment – no toxins will be released if you scratch it (and did I mention that it’s scratch proof? And how about that it won’t bend or warp even if you use it to cook on high flame for years and years?).
The food will also taste great because titanium doesn’t contaminate the food with any coating materials or metal byproducts.
Titanium in deed is the metal that is the strongest compared to any other metal that is as light (or if you want to get fancy you can say that it has the highest strenght-to-weight ratio of all metals).

So again, if you’re an “on the road cook” who’s traveling a lot, or if you are mobile cook (I was surprised about this – there are actually cooks that come to your house and cook for you in your own house! A private chef for rent so to speak) then titanium cookware is definitely worth looking into.
I recommend you also read other articles on high-quality cookware or email me your questions about high-quality cookware at info@highqualitycookware.com

Glass cookware is a good choice specially for baking, but some kinds can also be used on the stovetop. One advantage of glass cookware is that it has good heat conductivity characteristics at a pretty good pricepoint – which also means that a lot of cooking time can be saved that would be necessary for other materials to just heat up. Many people also like the fact that they can use their glass cooking equipment not only to cook and bake, but also to store foods and even serve foods on the dinner table that is still inside the glass cookware and it looks nice. This is specially true for foods like lasagne, tiramisu, potato bake and the like.

People who often use the microwave will love the fact that they can place their glasscookware in the microwave – which isn’t true for aluminum. I’m not a big fan of microwave and some studies suggest that microwaving food isn’t a good way to heat up your meals because it might damage nutrients, others claim that it’s radiation is harmful. For me it’s just the taste – microwaved food tastes different from cooked food and I prefer the old school way.

Although glass cookware is much heavier than aluminum or even stainless steel it is easy to clean and will look like new for many years if handled properly.

Another downside of glass cookware is that it is sometimes not easy to handle because of it’s design and weight. Most of the time you’ll need to put on heat-protective gloves.

There is both non-stick glass cookware n and pure glass cookware available. Non-stick glass cookware is simply coated with a protective layer. As with all non-stick cookware this needs special care in maintenance – for example no scrubbing with steel wool, no harsh detergents, no wire scouring pads but instead handwashing with hot water and soap.

If you are looking for non-stick glass cookware you should definitely be ready to invest some money as when it comes to non-stick you either want high quality (which is expensive!) or none at all. Cheap nonstick-coatings will cause you so much nuisance along the way that the high-quality choices will actually end up being cheaper in the long-run. However, keep in mind that nonstick cookware still isn’t as durable as other kinds of cookware. Manufacturers might tell you that you can put it in the dishwasher and it will be with you for twenty years or more, but reality still is different from my experience and the experience of my chef-friends.

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