Often a gathering place, and certainly one of the most used rooms in the house, the kitchen is a very important part of the home. Since meal preparation is a vital part of maintaining good health, the kitchen needs to be equipped with healthy pots and pans to make it easier for the cook to prepare nutritious, good-tasting food.

What Makes Healthy Pots And Pans?

There is such a wide variety of cookware available today that choosing the right set of pots and pans for a healthy kitchen can seem a very daunting task. Each type of cookware has some unique features, with different types of lids, handles and cooking surfaces. However, the biggest difference is the specific material used to manufacture the pots and pans.

The most common materials for cookware are aluminum, copper, steel and cast iron. There are even pots and pans made of glassware, allowing the same pot to be used on the range top, oven, broiler, refrigerator, freezer and microwave.

Healthy pots and pans will allow you to cook your food safely, without any of the materials from the cookware leaching into the food.

Pros and Cons of Different Cookware Materials

Aluminum is one of the most commonly used materials for cookware because it is such a great heat conductor. However, there is some controversy as to the safety of aluminum since it is thought to contribute to health problems, and some aluminum may leach into foods cooked in that type of pan. This process is accelerated when a pan is dented, or when used to cook highly acidic foods such at tomatoes or citrus fruits.

Anodized aluminum cookware is a safer alternative. The electro-chemical anodizing process prevents the aluminum from leaching, and makes a good cooking surface that is scratch-resistant. Calphalon hard-anodized cookware is an example of anodized aluminum pots and pans.

Copper is a very efficient type of cookware, because it is also a very good conductor of heat. It allows for even cooking and an efficient use of energy. However, this material can also leach into food as the cooper heats up, so the interior cooking surfaces are usually lined with another material, such as steel.

Stainless steel is often considered a good material for healthy pots and pans. Since it is made of a mixture of different metals, including nickel, chromium and molybdenum, there is some possibility of these leaching into foods. However, unless the pots and pans are pretty beat-up with lots of dings and pits, it’s not likely much of these metals would actually get into food, so stainless steel is generally thought to be good cookware for a healthy kitchen.

Paula Deen 12×20-in. Cast Iron Double Burner Griddle

Cast Iron Makes Healthy Pots And Pans

Cast iron cookware has been around for a long time. This material makes heavy pots and pans that take a long time to heat up, but the cast iron also holds the heat for a long time, even at a low temperature. Besides that, it cools off slowly, and these characteristics are sometimes advantageous when cooking.

The weight of the pans make them great at heat distribution, but the disadvantage is hefting the pans in and out of storage and onto the stovetop or in the oven. One way to make this easier is to use a rack for hanging pots and pans close to the stove.

Cast iron is also one kind of material that is okay to have leaching in small amounts into your food since iron is an essential nutrient for human beings. It also has the advantage of building a natural non-stick surface through the carbonization process of heating oils and fats on the cooking surface.

However, one of the biggest drawbacks to cast iron cookware for some people is the fact it is not dishwasher safe. Once it’s well seasoned, it is easy to clean, but for cooks that don’t want to deal with the seasoning process, enameled cast iron can provide a good alternative. This makes the cookware dishwasher safe and somewhat nonstick.

Glass Or Ceramic Cookware

Non-porous glass-ceramic cookware is non-reactive, so does not absorb food odors or flavors. It also does not react with acid-based foods, or leach materials into the food. It is ideal for water based cooking and dishwasher safe. Corning Ware and Visions Cookware are a couple of better known examples of this type of healthy pots and pans.

Ceramic (pottery) cookware is made with clay that has a glaze, a sort of glass coating. The wrong kind of glaze or decorative pigments can cause health problems. For instance, in the past lead was often used in glazes and leached into food. Lead is now known to be a health hazard. Stick with a reputable manufacturer from a country that has safety standards in place for ceramics used for cooking.

Making A Choice Of Materials For Healthy Pots And Pans

All these various materials have different advantages and disadvantages when it comes to healthy cooking. Choose one that fits your criteria and lifestyle, and aim for healthy pots and pans in your kitchen!

Looking for the Best Healthy Cookware?

People who have tested every type of pot and pan imaginable, from roasting pans, to Dutch ovens, to saucepans and skillets, are naturals to decide which is the best cookware. There are teams from cooking magazines that do this, along with many famous chefs.

Cast Iron – Some of the Best Cookware

These days, most tests show cast-iron pans to still be popular. This traditional cookware is heavy, which has pros and cons. It has excellent heat retention, though that means it isn’t as easy to move around as stainless steel due to the heavier weight.

A cast iron skillet does an excellent job searing meat, can be used in the oven. Cast iron improves with age and good maintenance, making it some of the best cookware available.
Enameled Dutch Oven Cookware

Chefs also recommend enameled Dutch ovens, a cast iron pot coated with enamel. These dutch ovens can be expensive ($50-75 low-mid range), but since cast iron has such good heat conductivity, this sort of pot is great for cooking slow-simmering stews and braising. Food browns well in these pots and cooks evenly. There’s a lot to be said for dutch oven cookware in a healthy kitchen!

Stainless Steel for Healthy Pots & Pans

Stainless steel makes some of the best all around healthy cookware. As with most products, there are variations in quality. Lower quality stainless steel cookware is thinner and doesn’t do as good a job as the higher quality, heavier pots and pans.

The best cookware has a heavy aluminum core that runs up the sides of the pan and is sandwiched between layers of stainless steel. Flames from gas stoves don’t bother this cookware.

The Best Cookware for The Healthy Kitchen

Stainless steel is probably one of the best all around choices for cookware.  A set of budget stainless steel cookware is reasonably priced.

However, coated and uncoated cast iron works well in the kitchen also. Cast iron dutch oven cookware is especially useful, with enamel or uncoated.

Many professionals say the following list is the truly essential cookware for any kitchen:

• 1 large skillet,
• 1 small cast-iron skillet,
• 1 sturdy saucepan, and
• 1 large soup or pasta pot.

Find these in your favorite materials, and equip yourself with the best cookware for a healthy kitchen.

Cooking with an All-Clad Cookware set is a little different than a lot of other cookware. Here are a few tips on using All-Clad Cookware.

Cooking With All-Clad Cookwarae

* Watch The Heat! Use low flame or setting for all cooking except boiling. Low temperatures using All Clad are comparable to medium to medium-high setting with other cookware brands.

* Prevent Sticking:  A preheated pan and lower flames are the key to stick-free stainless steel cooking. Start by preheating the pan on low or medium heat for one to two minutes. Tap the upper edge of your pan to test the heat. (If it is too hot, remove from the burner for a couple of minutes.) Pour in enough cold oil to cover the bottom of the cooking surface. Add your food, making sure that there is an even sizzling sound when your food touches the pan. This indicates that your food is cooking on contact and creating a natural barrier to prevent sticking. Allow your food to cook without disturbing it

* Oven Proof:  All types of All-Clad cookware collections are oven safe. However, nonstick items are not broiler safe, but can be put in the oven up to 500°F.

Cleaning All-Clad Cookware 

* Regular Cleaning of All-Clad Cookware: It depends on which type you buy. The stainless variety is completely dishwasher safe, and Copper-Core can be put in the dishwasher though that may cause some tarnishing of the copper band. To prevent that, remove the copper variety immediately after the wash cycle has completed and dry it.

Most of the other types of All-Clad Cookware must be hand washed. Be sure to check the directions that come with your cookware to see which type you have. And if you don’t want to wash them by hand, check before you buy to see you’ve gotten the type that can go in the dishwasher safely!

* Cleaning stuck-on food or stains: Bar Keeper’s Friend is a product recommended by All-Clad Cookware to help clean off stubborn food or stains. Put some on a soft cloth or sponge, add a little water to make a paste, then rub the pan with it to get rid of the food or stain.

Bar Keeper’s Friend can be used on both the inside and outside of all All-Clad Cookware, with the exception of Cop-R-Chef. It should only be used on the inside of that collection, and a brass/copper cleaner used on the outside copper.

With proper care, your All-Clad Cookware should give you a lifetime of good service in your healthy kitchen!