There are several types of cookware that are used in India and around the world. Cooking styles of different people are different and due to that we may think we need different type of cookware. But thats not the case, howsoever, what your cooking style is, every type of cookware raw material has certain properties and that would not change. generally, we all watch cooking shows and are highly impressed by the utensils used by them, most of those are endorsed by a big chef, though, once we use them, it isn’t necessarily good or rather not impressive.
Another very important way while selecting cookware for yourself is to judge by the raw material. You should always select the appropriate utensils according to several things: -
Considering the style in which you cook
Now consider a fact on how often you need to cook or what type of meal do you generally prefer to cook. For example if you make dishes like dry chicken or any other meat, then stainless steel cookware should be the ideal one as it will brown the meat properly. Whereas, if you plan to cook for a long time like the earlier era, then historical style of cookwares would be preferred.
Find yourself matching cookware to your cooktop
Another very important aspect is how the cookware will match to your cooktop. Generally, in India either people use flat bottomed pans or round bottom kadhai. So, whenever you buy cookware, make sure you check its compatible to your cooktop. For example, if it works with an induction cooktop or a ceramic one etc.
Everybody would like to have the best cookware that they can buy, or believe that whatever the most expensive they can afford will be the ideal, but that is not the case. With this read, you would be able to understand the type of material in which you can buy your cookware and understand the price ranges too.
Several Types of Cookware are: -
1. Stainless Steel
This is one of the finest cookware raw material to use for everyday. This type of cookware should be used in everyday homes instead of cooking in Aluminum. This type of cookware is very strong and resistant. These types of cookware are not that expensive and can last you a very long time. Considering health, stainless steel is also way more healthy than aluminum. Moreover, these days, all the stainless steel cookware is Food safe and Food Grade. This would basically mean Apart from that stainless steel does not get rusted or does not have an impact of time on it like iron. The only negative thing about stainless steel is that it is not a very good conductor of heat, so it does not heat the food evenly, while, the stainless steel manufacturers these days have come over that by making sandwich bottoms or a layer of aluminum at the bottom for even heating. There are several grades of stainless steel too, that matters and defines your cookware. Basically, stainless steel cookware in the kitchen can be a workhorse as, majorly, all the cooking that you do, will do in that itself. Another very important thing about stainless steel is its grades, a few grades are expensive like 304, but they are worth it too. The better the grade of stainless steel, the better it is as a better quality will ensure your health. In the modern era, Stainless steel is making a comeback as people are getting aware about how it is a long time healthy investment. Provided that, you take good care of these stainless steel cookware, it is the ideal choice to go for. A lot of manufacturers these days have brought up a solution, that is linocut which has all the properties of non stick with all the benefits of stainless steel.
Buy Premium Quality Stainless Steel Cookware from Shri and Sam
2. Aluminum
According to modern-day study, this is one of the most unsafe material that can be used to make cookware. Aluminum has been related to a lot of diseases that can be very dangerous for the body. Apart from that, using cheap aluminum can be considered as slow poison. Moreover, this material is neither Food safe nor Food Grade, which means if it is direct contact to your food, that's not good and if by chance a part of the cookware gets in you with your food, even that is unsafe. A lot of aluminum cookware have non-stick layers on it that has chemicals in it, these types of chemicals are not studied properly yet, hence, we do not know how is it going to impact our health. Majorly, the pressure cookers or kadai’s made from aluminum are not at all good as it comes in direct contact to our food, which is not tested whether it is completely safe or not.
3. Cast Iron
This is a cookware that can be helpful these days because of majorly its health benefits for the people who have a lack of iron in them, but it may not be good for the people who have access of iron in them. Moreover, this cookware set needs some extra care too, as these type of cookware require to be seasoned first and it has to be washed from water and brush instead of soap. These type of cookware can be really good for high temperature heating or cooking. Also, they can be used for slow cooking. There is another not so good factor about cast iron cookware is that it is really heavy. All in all, cast iron has its pros and cons, but it is still said to be the cookware of old times. One very important thing for a beginner who has never used cast-iron cookware is to buy a seasoned utensil, so that the hassle before that is gone.
4. Non-Stick
Non-stick cookware these days is very much in and everyone want to have that for easy and carefree cooking. When non-stick cooking was new it was said that the chemicals in the non stick coating is unhealthy and unsafe for our health. These chemicals were known as PTFE and PFOA. These days the new non-stick coatings are both PTFE and PFOA free, which makes them safe for use. Moreover, these days manufacturers have made products that have a coating that does not get off at all or go off after a very long time. Non-stick cookware has its own pros and cons, due to which the manufacturers are constantly improving the products by removing all the negative points out of it. These types of cookware are not said to work on slow cooking as, on really high temperatures there is a risk of the coating getting off. But considering the modern day cooking in everyday home, this is perfect for use as it lasts too for a long time. Moreover, cleaning and maintaining these products can also be really very easy.
Check Out a Wide Range Of Non-Stick cookware on ShriandSam.com
5. Copper
This is again a cookware that was used in the pre-era, this is said to be healthy because of the mineral requirement to the body, but modern study claims that copper can also throw out toxins because of high temperatures and direct contact to the food. It is preferred to not use cookware of copper. The maximum you can do is serve in copper plates or eat in them, but nothing more than that is recommended.
6. Earthen Pots
This is one of the oldest way of cooking food, in India it was really common to cook food in the type of cookware. This cookware is perfect for meats or fish or cottage cheese, as it leaves them juicy even after being prepared, earthen pots basically suck in the juices and throw them right back to the food. It is also said that with its slow-cooking process, it retains most of the nutrients of the food. But this isn’t a really good conductor of heat, so it is a really slow process cooking in this type of cookware. The only thing to be worrying about the most while using earthen pots is that they may break at any point of time. Another very important thing to consider while buying earthen cooking pots is to make sure they are not glazed, because if they are, it may be harmful. Moreover, these type of cookware pots also require a lot of care, as they cannot be washed without supervision and also we have to make sure to not run any kind of metal kitchen tool on this. To was this, we need to wait it to cool first and only then it can be washed or cleaned.
Ultimately, we can judge our particular needs and then decide which type of cookware can be the best for you. Apart from that, in general, we can say that the days stainless steel or non-stick cookware can be perfect and healthy too. With the modern day cooking styles, definitely these two are the types to go for.