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Aluminum: Aluminum Dutch ovens are lightweight and offer superior heat conduction. They are often used for camping and outdoor cooking due to their portability and durability.
Best for: Almost any food that needs frying, browning, or searing. Because it’s ovenproof, stainless is also a good choice for foods that you start on the stovetop and then move to the oven to finish, like thick pork chops.
The details: Nitahara says that 95 percent of the pans used in the CIA’s teaching kitchens are stainless steel because they can take a lot of punishment. “The only time we don’t use them is on egg day, when we use nonstick,” he says. He adds that the shiny surface of a stainless pan makes it easy to see whether your food is browning.
In CR’s tests of stainless steel pans, we measure heating evenness by cooking pancakes, and we gauge how evenly a pan sautés by cooking potatoes until they’re tender. We also conduct a cleaning test to see how easy it is to remove cooked-on food. You’d think that all stainless pans would be about the same to clean, but our tests show that some require a lot more scrubbing than others.
Here are two recommended stainless steel pans from CR’s tests.
Thanks to their coating, non-stick pans are easy to clean. Once the pan has cooled down, use a clean paper or lint-free towel to wipe excess oil and grease. Hand-wash the pan in warm water with mild dish detergent and a sponge. Never use steel wool or other abrasive scrubbers to clean the pan, as this can scratch the coating.
Enamel cookware is a popular choice for many home cooks due to its durability and versatility. However, enamel cookware can chip or become damaged over time, leading to concerns about its safety and effectiveness. Whether it's ceramic and enameled cast iron cookware or enamel-coated cast iron cookware, knowing how to repair broken enamel cookware can extend its life and save you money in the long run.