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!

Sometimes when you’re in a hurry to get a meal on the table, you’re really under pressure to prepare a meal fast! It’s tempting to resort to fast food meals or use prepared foods with lots of chemicals in them. Instead, try cheap healthy cooking by using a nice pressure cooker.

Save Time

A pressure cooker makes meal preparation easy and will save lots of time in the kitchen. A meal can be ready three to ten times faster in a pressure cooker, sometimes even quicker than cooking the same food in a microwave!

How Does It Work?

A pressure cooker uses pressure to make the boiling point of water higher. For instance, at sea level, water can only heat up to 212 degrees F (100 degrees C) before it boils and turns into steam. But if the water is put under pressure and cannot escape, the temperature needed to make it boil increases. A pressure cooker allows water to become hotter, which allows food to cook faster.

Is It Safe?

Pressure cookers have come a long way baby! It’s not the hissing beastie of yesteryear, but has an updated design making it safe cookware. Early models didn’t have safety valves, and today there’s at least one, if not two or three, safety features on every cooker. Any cooking method can be dangerous – you’re more or less playing with fire after all! (Okay, some form of HEAT.) But if you read the manual and use simple safety precautions, you shouldn’t have a bit of trouble with a pressure cooker in the healthy kitchen.

A Pressure Cooker Will Work For YOU!

There are lots of good reasons to have a nice pressure cooker in the healthy kitchen. Besides saving time and the fact it’s quite safe, here are a few more:

• Saves Energy: Food doesn’t need to cook as long, so you use less of whatever the heat source is. Good for the environment AND your budget!
• Saves Money: A pressure cooker will also allow you to use some cheaper cuts of meat, because the higher heat will tenderize the meat while keeping the juices intact, making it more palatable.
• Saves Nutrients: Instead of vitamins boiling away in the pot, a pressure cooker preserves the flavor, colors and nutrients because it cooks fast in an airtight cooker.

On top of all that, it’s also easy! You can put everything in the post for a complete meal if you want to.

One Last Note – Don’t Fall For The High Altitude Myth

There’s a misconception that pressure cookers can’t be used at high altitudes. Don’t you believe it! Just about every manual that comes with a nice pressure cooker will have instructions on using the pressure cooker at higher altitudes. THIS INCLUDES USING A PRESSURE COOKER FOR CANNING! It’s merely a matter of changing the number of pounds of pressure according to your altitude.

For instance, when canning, the USDA states, “If using a dial gauge at high altitudes, the pressure in the canner must be increased by 1 pound of pressure for each 2,000 feet above sea level. If using a weighted gauge, the 15 pound weight must be used at all altitudes above 1,000 feet. You do not need to add additional processing time if the pressure of the canner is adequately adjusted.”

Just check your manual for specific instructions for your pressure cooker!

Work Better Under Pressure!

A nice pressure cooker is safe cookware to make cheap healthy cooking easier. Cause sometimes pressure is a good thing, and cooking under pressure is tops!