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Is Stainless Steel Cookware Safe?

It’s important to be cautious about potential chemicals in your cookware, but let us put your fears to rest.

By Rachel Robey
Aug 16, 2022
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Home cooks today are increasingly health conscious when it comes to what they’re cooking and eating. And as research on the subject increases, it’s becoming apparent that the Cookware we’re using is just as important as the ingredients themselves. Unfortunately, many kinds of Cookware can be potentially hazardous depending on how they’re used—especially if purchased from less reputable brands.

Fortunately, Stainless Steel is one of the safest options when it comes to Cookware. Below, we’re explaining why home cooks love Stainless Steel, how it differs from other Cookware options, and how it stacks up against them in terms of ease, safety, and functionality.

Is Stainless Steel Cookware Safe?

In the simplest terms, yes—Stainless Steel Cookware is safe to cook with. It’s one of the more versatile, adaptable, and low low-maintenance options available to home cooks. Safety-wise, it ranks especially high in our books for its nonreactivity, its lightweight maneuverability, and its impressive heat regulation capabilities, all of which help minimize risk for dangerous chemical leaching, physical injury, and accidental flare-ups.

While Stainless Steel is generally safe to cook with, not all stainless steel is constructed the same. For example, the premium-grade stainless steel we use for our Stainless Clad Cookware has a high bond strength, meaning that chemical leaching is unlikely. In other words, you can safely use our cookware without fretting over any of the construction materials leaching into your finished dish.

On the other hand, poorly constructed Stainless Steel with weaker alloys may allow for a small amount of nickel to escape into the food you’re preparing—and then into your body.

What Is Stainless Steel?

Stainless Steel is an alloy, or a metal composed of multiple metallic elements, that contains both chromium and nickel. Chromium is a metal the human body needs, albeit in small doses. According to the USGS, “[Chromium] is what hardens and toughens steel and increases its resistance to corrosion, especially at high temperatures.”

Nickel on the other hand, is something the human body has no use for and which can cause heavy metal poisoning if ingested in large amounts. We use an 18/10 stainless steel, which has a higher nickel percentage, for the shiny and polished top surface of our pan. This is a costlier, more attractive grade of stainless steel that’s more commonly used for high-end Stainless Clad Cookware and Flatware like ours.

Stainless Steel refers to a combination of metals, called an alloy, which typically includes iron, chrome and nickel. Our Stainless Clad Cookware also includes aluminum, which helps with heat conduction.

What is Stainless Clad?

Cladding is a method of metal fabrication where different metals are layered and then bonded together to form a new, single sheet of metal. “Ply” refers to how many layers go into this new sheet—you may find options ranging from 3-ply all the way to 7-ply.

Our cookware is 5-ply, utilizing 5 sheets of 4 different metals (304, 18/10 Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Aluminum Alloy, and High Grade Ferritic 430). We rely on a highly conductive aluminum/aluminum alloy core to transfer heat efficiently and evenly across the cooking surface, and envelop this in a cladded exterior composed of different grades of Stainless Steel. This ensures induction compatibility, attractive shine, corrosion and rust resistance, nonreactivity, and overall durability for every single piece of Cookware.

Ready to Shop?

At Made In, our mission is to provide home cooks with professional-quality cookware at an affordable price. While there is a slight risk associated with Stainless Steel in general, our line of Stainless Clad Cookware is constructed from high-quality materials with the consumer in mind.

They are a safe alternative to other, lesser quality pots and pans and if you care for them correctly, they should last for years with no adverse health consequences.

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