Softness Of Stainless Steel (cookware)?

Q: I have a question about how hard stainless steel is supposed to be. By its name (steel), I thought it would be next to indestructible. But much to my surprise, it seems to be scratched very very easily!! Is this the nature of this metal? I am talking about good quality 18/10 stainless steel cookware and utensils. 1. It gets scratched by plastic. I usually use the soft side of my 3m scotch brite pad for washing dishes and pots. I happened to use the rough side one day, and viola, there were thousands of fine scratches on the polished surface!! Very noticeable. Unless I am mistaken, the rough side is also plastic. Come on, it's plastic!! 2. It gets scratched by China. I washed a new pot and placed it on top of some dishes that I just washed. It didn't settle that well and shifted a little. After it dried, I noticed a scratch across the bottom of the pot where it had contact with the bowl. Is China that much stronger than steel? I've used the rough side of the scotch brite many times on my dishes and never once had I noticed any scratch. 3. Water stains it, leaves water marks if not cleaned up immediately? (hello? Stainless?) I have to be very careful about wiping away all the waters after washing it, otherwise when the pot dries it leaves a lot of ugly water marks. 4. and I am not even using metal utensils!! Granted, I am new to cooking and all that. I thought stainless steel is the next best thing that leaves all other things in the dust. (I even considered going all stainless steel! After all, this is the modern age!) But apparently it is no way near the hype and price it is selling for. There are still a lot to be said in good old technologies that survived thousands of years! No wonder hard-anodized can claim to be twice as hard as stainless steel! :) How does hard-anodized compare with China? What about iron vs stainless steel?

A: A pan is a tool, not a family heirloom. They will get scratched and marked in normal use and that's just the way it is. Beware the cook with pans that look like new! These small scratches and marks do not reduce the cooking abilities at all. All stianless steel pans are about the worst you can buy because stainless conducts heat very poorly. That's why it is more common to see an aluminum core coated with a thin layer of stainless. The aluminum conducts the heat, the stainless provides a durable cooking surface. Welcome to the world of high-end cookware, where the higher price does not equate to invulnerability and carefree handling. There is a learning curve and a mindset adjustment, but it will all make sense eventually. Err, make that, for some, it will all make sense eventually. Some materials, glass and China (ceramic) among them, are very hard but brittle. This concept takes much getting used to for a great many, but accepting that hard and durable are two different qualities is a start. Just know that very hard materials can scratch materials of lesser hardness. Stainless steel, being malleable is softer and less brittle than China and therefore can be scratched by China. Being less brittle and not soft allows stainless steel to easily shatter China without deforming. Get used to it, or get different cookware. Actually, any cookware is susceptible to water marks. Seemingly, the more beautiful the cookware, the more the water marks stand out. Then again, white cookware tends not to show water marks. BTW, hard anodized aluminum cookware shows water marks and marks from a variety of materials which look like scratches until properly cleaned with Scotch Brite and cleanser or Dormond. Stainless steel cookware can be easily scratched. You have to live with that if you choose stainless steel. That said, it is entirely plausible to avoid contacting the lustrous outer surfaces with abrasive materials. And the generally satin textured cooking surfaces are very forgiving of scratches. When dealing with something like the stainless steel cooking surface of the KitchenAid polished hard anodized cookware, the cook simply accepts the character marks that are added by everyday cooking and cleaning and ignores the prominent markings left by wire whisks. Stainless steel cookware, when coupled with a core or a disc of conductive material such as aluminum or copper, is a very good cooking surface with a great deal of versatility. Indeed, it is a good choice for all around cooking. The cooking surface is probably more versatile than another good choice for all around cooking, hard anodized aluminum. But there is no one choice of materials which is the best for all tasks. When choosing to stick with one type of cookware for all tasks, either stainless steel cookware with core or disc of conductive material or hard anodized aluminum are good choices for their versatility. The cookware should prove to be at least adequate for almost all applications and should prove to be among the best choices for some applications. Unfortunately, these choices of cookware are not exactly the most advantageously priced. Keeping in mind that the stainless steel cookware with conductive material in core or disc and the hard anodized aluminum cookware are generally not among the least expensive cookware, it is probably best to pick the best piece for each type of cooking that a cook should expect to encounter on a regular or semi-regular basis. For example, while cast iron is brittle by comparison to stainless steel cookware, it is the right choice for many applications. A good Dutch oven and a skillet are the best choices for some applications. Just keep in mind that they need to be seasoned and generally cannot be used with acidic foods. The RFC FAQ contains a reference to a link to a very good article on various types of cookware that is a very good starting place in your search for information regarding the right material for cookware.

Softness Of Stainless Steel (cookware)?

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