Cookware Materials and Heat Conductivity

As reading different articles on the web today I found a great one that talked about Cookware Materials and Heat Conductivity. In this article he discuss the different materials and how conductive they are in relevance to one another.

How to know Cookware Materials and Heat Conductivity. What should you have?

By Dale Crouse and you can see more articles about cookware by Dale by clicking on his name.

How to tell if the cookware you are going to purchase will transfer the heat evenly throughout the base of the pot or pan. Even distributed heat is the key factor between poor cookware and quality cookware

Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Things You’ll Need:

* Paper and pen to take notes
* basic understanding of article

Step1
Why you should read this article. Stainless steel cookware, aluminum cookware, cast aluminum cookware, glass, ceramic, there are many choices and each choice has very different coefficient of conductivity. The old idea that the best heat conductor is the best cooking utensil to use may not always be true in all cases. We will look at the most popular metals used and the different construction variations that should help you make better purchases.
Step2
What materials are used in cookware? The first data we will look at is the more popular materials used. We will also add a rating system on the ability of each material to conduct heat. Our rating system will be a scale from 0 to 10. The rating of 10 will be the best conductive material and a rating of 0 would be the worst. We will stay between the upper and lower scales. As we present this data remember the materials will also cool in relationship to how fast they heat.
Step3
What are the ratings of the metals used? The material list follows: Copper rating of 9, Aluminum and Cast Aluminum rating of 5, Cast Iron rating of 1.5, Stainless Steel and Steel rating of 1, Ceramic rating of 0.5 and Glass a rating of 0.25. By the ratings it is very easy to see that copper is the best conductive material listed, and glass is the least conductive. The one problem with copper utensils is that it is reactive to acidic foods. To mention all of the important materials used in cookware, the list should also include copper clad and multi-ply utensils. The reason these are not listed is the conductivity will vary depending on the thickness of the copper clad or plate and the number of plies or layers in the utensil and the materials used in the layers. The two best choices for good heat conductivity are the last two mentioned, copper clad or multiple layered bottoms. Most all of the layered cookware has at least one layer of copper for good heat conductivity.
Step4
What type of cookware construction should you buy? To conclude the characteristics of quality cookware should be able to provide even distribution of heat. This can be achieved by material types, thickness and multiple ply construction. The cost of each manufacturing process will dictate the final cookware cost. Although copper cookware is the best heat conductor, copper also is the material that requires the most maintenance to remain with a great appearance. This would make the multi-layered bottom utensils best choice.

You can find all these types of cookware at Top Chef Cookware especially the copper clad cookware.

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