Friday, May 06, 2011

What Cookware is Best to Use    

     My inbox has seen a recent barrage of questions about what cookware is best and safest to use. Back when I peddled my mops at home shows, I often sold other products one of which was stainless steel cookware. One show was in Boise, Idaho where I sold a set of cookware to a man who worked for a chemical testing company. He had just finished testing various cookwares for the amount of toxins they emitted.  

     Toxic fumes from coated cookware: His tests were astonishing even as familiar as I was with the various cookwares. Common sense tells you that when heat is applied to a chemical, fumes are going to be emitted. His tests showed this to be true of the various coated cookware. Coated cookware emits higher levels of toxic fumes than any other cookware.

     Caste iron was burdened with bacteria. It is porous so food particles, grease and oil bake into the pans making it a haven for bacteria. Although he is not a doctor he expressed concern about caste iron causing intestinal distress.    

     His said copper cookware emits more fumes than stainless steel and to make certain the interior of copper cookware is lined with stainless steel. Otherwise excess copper cooks into the food and can become over abundant in the body.  

     Glass cookware is fine for cooking and generally used to cook vegetables or bake but rarely advised for frying.

      Anodized cookware should also be avoided. He told me that this cookware is aluminum or an alloy and is treated in a chemical bath of electrolytes like sulfuric acid. An electrical current is then run through the bath to bake it onto the aluminum. Although only minor amounts of sulfuric acid seep into food and thus into the body, but it does build up in the body and cause various health issues down the road. It also emits fumes.

     His tests showed that stainless steel cookware emits the least amount of fumes into the air and food. Stainless steel of itself is not a good conductor of heat. Make certain your cookware has an aluminum or caste iron disc on the bottom for rapid heating and it is housed between layers of stainless steel. The sides likewise should have a layer of aluminum for even cooking.

     Keep checking my blog over the next week for tips on how to clean your cookware. 

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