Cookware [physics 101]

Q: I have the feeling I missed some secret information about high-end cookware, and I certainly wouldn't inquire of a manufacturer like Calphalon, for example, but what advantages does it or any other cookware actually have over a "wardrobe" of enameled ironware and tin lined copper? Please address heat absorption and heat retention or other principles of physics, since aesthetics doesn't affect cooking any more than washability does, though I might consider weight when I am 103.

A: It's about heat conduction, actually. The nice thing about aluminum is that the heat gets around (that's why you don't necessarily burn yourself on a foil-wrapped baked potato just off the grill); it doesn't retain much, but it's very good at spreading out what is applied to it. It's probably about as good as cast iron for searing, though it does have the reactivity problem. Calphalon anodizes it away, while All-Clad just covers it up. Copper is more or less the same, only more so (especially regarding reactivity and toxicity). That's why you don't want to buy copper pans that don't have some kind of liner. Pure stainless is a lousy heat conductor, but nonreactive (as long as you're not cooking bleach in it :-) ). That, again, is where the sandwich comes in. You have stainless on both sides, with a layer of copper or aluminum in between. Any of the above will work. I should note, however, that the triply stainless/[Cu|Al]/stainless combination will last the longest with the least maintenance; anodized aluminum, OTOH, needs to be treated sort of like non-stick to keep from wearing down too fast. That's not true. I've always discussed the physical differences. It's those whose "mine" is smaller who focus on that part of it. Their inability to think in anything other than generalizations amplifies their inability to comprehend what they're being taught. If you can cook, you can cook on anything. But some things are less painful to cook on. All-Clad just came out with a copper-core version that is definitely *not* just The Emperor's New Clothes. The copper core has a thermal transfer coefficient that's twice as big as an aluminum core. (If the core was just more steel, it'd pass heat about 1/10th as fast as aluminum.) As I posted last week, there are a few things known to be better than copper as a core. But I don't think anyone will be making isotopically pure diamond-core saucepans in our lifetimes.

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