How to Select Gourmet Cookware
Mary Murtha

Defined Tag: Gourmet Cookware.

What makes for good gourmet cookware? Is it simply the price tag? Does it have something to do with what you're cooking? The answers to questions two and three are usually yes and yes, but not always. Good gourmet cookware generally has several characteristics, once of which is the longevity of the cooking implements in question.

While numerous different brands of cookware abound, only a small group of metals can be realistically used in cookware. Most metals simply do not conduce and spread heat well, making for a poorly cooked meal.

The five most common metals used in cookware include carbon steel, aluminum, copper, cast iron, and stainless steel – each of which has certain properties that will make the gourmet cookware better for some tasks and worse for others.

Let's start with carbon steel. What benefits does it have? From the perspective of many chefs, only one: it heats unevenly. In most cases, this is decidedly not useful, but when it comes to cooking certain foods, such as crepes, gourmet cookware made of this material may provide some benefits.

How about aluminum? In contrast to carbon steel, aluminum does heat evenly and quickly; however, it also can react with certain foods to alter the taste.

Gourmet cookware made of copper is often more expensive than cookware made of other metals. It is also considerably heavier, but it will cook food faster and evenly-distribute the heat, making it one of the most popular forms of gourmet cookware available. Copper cookware is often covered in a sheet of some other metal to prevent taste contamination. This technology has improved in recent years, yielding stronger, more durable gourmet cookware.

Cast iron cookware is excellent for witches cauldrons, but it doesn't make great gourmet cookware. It heats far too slowly, is quite porous, and often has unexpected and atrocious chemical reactions with certain types of foods.

The last metal used for gourmet cookware is stainless steel. While stainless steel is excellent for making other cooking implements, such as knives, it doesn't make very good gourmet cookware. While it resists dents and corrosion and does not contaminate flavors with bad reactions, it also conducts heat poorly.

All things considered, what type of gourmet cookware should you purchase? Copper cookware is probably your best bet by a long shot, but you will also want to make sure that you purchase it from a reputable brand – one which is notably durable and well-constructed.

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      Mary Murtha