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Question from SB

What is the best cookware for someone with mild sensitivities? Also is carbon steel cookware safer to use than regular stainless steel cookware. Lastly what is the best (in terms of safest) brand or type of stainless steel cookware out there?

Debra’s Answer

The best cookware for someone with mild sensitivities…Probably Pyrex and Visions are most inert, but if your sensitivities are mild, you can probably use any cookware.

For an overview of cookware, type “cookware” into my website search engine. There are a lot of Q&As on this subject.

Now, to answer your questions about stainless steel and carbon steel.

Carbon steel is used to make woks and I’ve also seen carbon steel skillets in restaurant supply stories. It is kind of greyish black. Made simply of iron with 0.1 to 1.2 percent carbon and even less manganese, carbon steel can be recycled and often contains about 25 percent recycled content whether it is so labeled or not.

Most pots and pans, cooking utensils, and flatware are made from stainless steel, which has a special ability to resist corrosion. The most extensively used type of stainless steel for household items is made from 71.95 percent iron, 18 percent chromium, 8 percent nickel, and 0.05 percent carbon. Stainless steel products can not be recycled and do not contain recycled material.

Stainless steel is generally considered the best choice for cooking because it is sanitary, nonporous, and the metals are highly stable. But stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into food, which may be harmful to health, and environmentally, the mining and manufacture of steel is a highly technological, energy-intensive and polluting process. So it’s not one of my favorites, considering there are more healthful and environmentally-advantageous options available.

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