Understanding Stovetop Cookware - EG Forums

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Page 1 of 1
Defeated:
Understanding Stovetop Couldn't
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Cookware Instr: Samuel to
Lloyd Kinsey (slkinsey) Emulsify
Today,
12:10 PM
eGCI Team A Whiter
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Posted 07 August 2003 - 01:22 PM Sauce
Today,
Understanding Stovetop Cookware 12:03
PM
By Samuel Lloyd Kinsey (slkinsey) Artisanal
cocktail
In various discussions about cookware over the books?
years, I have found that many people care
passionately about their cookware -- be it All- Today,
Clad, heirloom cast iron, heavy copper, or 10:40
Calphalon -- but dont really understand their AM
cookware. This article, I hope, can be a first step Mauviel
towards transforming you into the equipment Frying
geek I know is lurking inside. Or at least helping VS
you make some informed choices the next time Sauteing
you decide to buy a new pan. As you may Pans
imagine, this course requires no ingredients and
Today,
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?//topic/25717-understanding-stovetop-cookware/ Page 1 of 32
imagine, this course requires no ingredients and

no equipment - only some patience and a few Today,
minutes of reading time 10:08
AM
Whenever considering a new piece of cookware French
there are 5 basic questions you should ask Polynesia
yourself. (Tahiti,
Moorea
1. What kind of cooking task do you want to do? & Bora
As it so happens, there are different pan designs
for just about every cooking task one is likely to Bora)
encounter. For example, if you want to make Today,
sauces, you would be well-advised to acquire a 06:26
saucepan. An understanding of what you want to AM
do can inform your decisions on many different
levels. For example, if what you really need is a 3
quart pan for boiling water, there is no reason to
spend big money on a fancy pan.
2. What is the basic pan shape? Are you buying a Watched
saut pan? a saucepan? a stock pot? Different Topics
pan designs lend themselves to different cooking
tasks, and also to different uses and deployments
of materials. Sign in to
see your
3. What materials are used? Cookware materials watched
can be differentiated by two considerations: topics.
reactivity and thermal properties. Reactivity is
fairly simple. Some materials are more reactive
than others, which means that they tend to react
chemically with foods and produce undesirable
results. Thermal properties, into which we will
delve in greater detail below, include things like:
How fast does it heat up? How even is the heat?
How much heat does it hold? And things like
that.
4. How are the materials deployed? This comes

down to basic design philosophy: Is it a disk-
bottom design or is it straight gauge? Is it fully
clad, interior lined or all one metal?
5. How much of the various materials are used?
This seems like an easy thing to understand, but
it is frequently overlooked. For example, a pan
with a 2 mm thick aluminum base will perform
differently from one with a 7 mm thick aluminum
base, just as a 2 mm thick copper pan will
perform differently from a 2.5 mm thick copper
pan. The real trick, though, is understanding the
difference between 2 mm of copper and 4 mm of
aluminum.
What Kind Of Cooking Task Do You Want

To Do
To Do
This seems like a relatively simple question, but it
is an important one. When you are thinking of
getting a new piece of cookware, dont think I
want a new skillet. Rather ask yourself, what do
I want to do that I cannot do with the cookware I
already own? Why? What is it about my cookware
that does not allow me to do what I want?
Sometimes it may be something as simple as
wanting a skillet that doesnt have hot spots.
Other times it may be more complex... Maybe you
want a small pan for making delicate sauces like
Hollandaise and mounting reductions with
butter. Then, you have to ask yourself what it is,
exactly, that might make a pan good at
performing these tasks. In this instance, you
would want a pan that had absolutely even heat,
that responded immediately when you adjusted
the flame up or down, that was able to maintain
its temperature when cold ingredients were
added, that conducted heat into the sauce from all
sides so everything was exactly the same
temperature, that had a relatively large surface-
area-to volume ratio for efficient reduction and
that was nice and wide at the top so it was easy to
get in there with a whisk. In short, you might
want a stainless-lined heavy copper sauce pan, or
for a little less money, a stainless lined heavy
aluminum pan, or for a little less money, a
stainless pan with a copper bottom. A big part of
this article will be working to build a basis for
understanding why, exactly you would want a
sauce pan and what, exactly, would be gained
and/or lost moving from a stainless lined copper
pan to a stainless lined aluminum pan to a
stainless pan with a disk bottom.
What Is The Basic Pan Shape?
This section will provide concise descriptions of
the various pans used in the kitchen.
Saut Pan (Sauteuse; also Curved Saut Pan and
Slant-Sided Saut Pan): This pan has a large
cooking surface and short straight sides that are
approximately one quarter the diameter of the
pan. The large cooking surface provides ample
contact with the heat and the straight sides help
contain ingredients as they are flipped around
inside the pan to brown them evenly on all sides.
A long, high handle helps the cook agitate the pan
for even more movement. This is what it is to
saut. The French verb sauter means to jump
-- so foods that are saut are jumped around in
the pan. A lid allows the addition of liquids to
the pan. A lid allows the addition of liquids to

sauted items for a quick braising. The Curved
Saut Pan and Slant-Sided Saut Pan are similar,
with the refinements implied by their names.
Cast Iron Skillet: This traditional pan is similar in
configuration to the Saut Pan, having a large
cooking surface and short straight sides. But this
is where any similarity ends. Cast Iron Skillets
have short handles perpendicular to the base of
the pan, and the sides are even lower -- from 20%
of the pans diameter all the way down to 14%. As
a result, they are not particularly well suited to
sauting as the ingredients would tend to jump
right out of the pan. Where Cast Iron Skillets
excel is in providing constant high heat for things
like browning large cuts of meat, shallow-frying
chicken and, of course, making cornbread.
Seasoning can make these pans relatively stick-
resistant for cooking eggs and other such
notoriously sticky foods, but the straight sides
make it difficult to get a spatula in there (a better
alternative is probably a nonstick pan or a
purpose-designed French steel pan). One word
about seasoning and high heat cooking: if the pan
gets too hot, it will burn the seasoning and
damage it. For this reason, it is useful to keep an
unseasoned cast iron skillet around for extra-
high-heat cooking. A common variant of the Cast
Iron Skillet, and a good candidate for an
unseasoned cast iron pan, is the Cast Iron Grill
Pan. This is a Cast Iron Skillet with ribs
extending upwards from the bottom to mimic a
grill. Another common variant is the Cast Iron
Chicken Fryer, which has taller sides -- around
one third the diameter of the pan. Whether this is
actually a good design for frying chicken is a
matter of some debate.
Fry Pan: This pan is similar to the Saut Pan
with its large cooking surface and short sides.
However, the fry pan has even shorter sides and
they are sloped outwards to allow maximum
dispersal of steam so food items fry dry for an
optimally crisp surface. These pans are designed
to quickly fry ingredients in a small amount of fat
-- specifically, ingredients that are flat and
therefore (or for other reasons) do not need to be,
or should not be, sauted.
Rondeau (Braiser, Casserole, Low Casserole):

This is a low, wide, double-handled pan. The
sides are right around one-third as tall as the
diameter of the pan. This can be a very versatile
pan for tasks as diverse as browning bones to
poaching delicate meats and fishes. The lack of a
long handle means it wont take up much
stovetop real estate, and it goes easily from
stovetop to oven. The two major variants (not
that all manufacturers stick to the same
nomenclature) are the Casserole and the Low
Casserole, which have sides that tend to be higher
or lower than those of a Rondeau. A Casserole is
essentially a large saucepan with two loop
handles instead of one long handle, while a Low
Casserole is essentially a saut pan with two loop
handles instead of one long handle. Another
variant on this theme is the high end Paella Pan,
such as those manufactured by Sitram and
Paderno, which has deep curved sides and a thick
conductive base.
Enameled Cast Iron Casserole (Cocotte, French
Oven, Dutch Oven): This is a specific kind of
Casserole that deserves special mention due to its
design. The enamel lining makes the pan
nonreactive, while the extra heavy, thick layer of
cast iron provides even heat for long, low braising
and simmering. These come in both round and
oval shapes, the latter being especially useful for
braising large pieces of meat on the bone. An
interesting traditional variant is the Doufeu,
which has ribs or nodules on the interior surface
of its lid. The lid is deeply indented so that it may
be filled with ice water, which encourages internal
vapors to condense on the ribs or nodules and
drip back into the braise. A truly traditional
Dutch Oven is raw cast iron, rather than
Dutch Oven is raw cast iron, rather than

enameled, and occasionally footed for use over
coals.
Stock Pot: This is a pot designed for making
stocks. The shape is tall and narrow to limit
evaporation, with sides approximately equal to
the diameter of the base. This design allows
stocks to be simmered a long time for maximum
flavor extraction and minimal loss of liquid. Stock
pots at around 12 - 18 quarts make excellent
vessels for boiling pasta with the addition of a
Pasta Strainer Insert.
Saucepan (Low Saucepan): This is a pan for

making sauces and reductions. The sides are
traditionally half as tall as the diameter of the
pan, which provides a large surface area for fast
evaporation. The low sides provide easy access to
a whisk for making roux and mounting sauces.
Also useful in the larger sizes as a general
purpose pan for blanching/steaming vegetables,
reheating liquids, etc.
Tall Saucepan (High-Sided Saucepan, Saucepot,
Saucepan): Otherwise similar to the Low
Saucepan, but the sides are taller in proportion to
the diameter of the pan -- around 75%. As a
result, the Tall Saucepan does not encourage fast
evaporation like its shorter brother. Rather, this
pan is best suited for warming/reheating sauces,
soups, stews and other liquids in situations where
additional reduction is not desired. Due to its
proportionally greater volume, the Tall Saucepan
is more useful than its shorter brother as a
general-purpose pan for blanching/steaming
vegetables, reheating liquids, etc.
Sauteuse Evase (Slant-Sided Saucepan,
Windsor Saucepan, Sauteuse Conique, Conical
Windsor Saucepan, Sauteuse Conique, Conical

Sauteuse, Fait Tout, Chefs Pan, Reduction Pan):
This is a saucepan that has been optimized for
reductions. The sides are angled out from the
base to provide 25% more surface area for
evaporation. In addition, the sides are even lower
than those on a Low Saucepan -- usually one-
third as tall as the diameter of the pan. Due to its
geometry, which is neither particularly high nor
particularly low, the Sauteuse Evase may be used
for sauting in the larger sizes, and the smaller
sizes can be very useful in place of a Low
Saucepan. Such versatility has conferred upon
this pan the name Fait Tout, which means does
everything. (Note: Le Creuset makes a non-
traditional Windsor that has slanted sides, but
is relatively tall and narrow. This pan does not
have the same performance characteristics as the
traditional designs.)
Curved Sauteuse Evase (Curved Sauteuse,
Saucire, Sauteuse Bombe, Saucier, Chefs Pan):
As the name suggests, this pan is otherwise
similar to the Sauteuse Evase, only with curved
rather than straight sides. In smaller sizes, the
curved sides provide easy access to every corner
of the pan with a whisk or spoon for sauce
making. In larger sizes, the curved sides facilitate
one-handed tossing of the food when sauting.
What Materials Are Used?

As previously discussed, cookware materials differ
in two important qualities: reactivity and thermal
properties.
Reactivity
Reactivity
Materials that are highly reactive tend to have
chemical reactions with other substances around
them. A good example would be iron, which tends
to react with oxygen to form iron oxide or, as we
commonly know it, rust. This is significant to
cooking because there are certain ingredients and
certain ways of cooking in which it is
disadvantageous to have a reactive cooking
surface because the ingredients will react with the
cooking vessel and produce undesirable colors
and/or flavors. Highly reactive cookware
materials include iron, copper, aluminum and
carbon steel. Nonreactive cookware materials
include stainless steel and enamel. A special case
is anodized aluminum, which is aluminum that
has been treated with an electrolytic process to
create a harder surface that is still somewhat
reactive, but significantly less so than untreated
aluminum. Similarly, a process called annealing is
used to turn reactive carbon steel into harder, less
reactive black steel and blue steel.
As it so happens, materials that are highly
reactive also tend to have highly desirable
thermal properties (and vice-versa), as we will see
below.
Thermal Properties
Thermal properties refers to those aspects of a
material that have to do with heat. So, before we
begin, perhaps we should have an understanding
of what heat and temperature are.
In all substances above absolute zero there exists
a certain amount of movement in the atoms or
molecules that make up that substance. This is a
kind of kinetic energy, which is a fancy physics
term used to refer to the mechanical energy a
body has by virtue of its motion. Temperature is a
measure of that kinetic energy. The greater the
kinetic energy -- i.e., the faster the particles are
moving -- the higher the temperature reading will
be on the thermometer.
Heat is a little more difficult to nail down. In the
scientific sense, it is a measure of the amount of
energy transferred from one object to another
because of the temperature difference between
those two objects. In other words, if you put a
cold object down on top of a hot object, the
energy that is transferred from the hot object to
the cold object would be measured as heat. Heat
is not, strictly speaking, a word that describes the
is not, strictly speaking, a word that describes the

energy contained inside an object -- it is only a
word that describes the energy exchanged
between the two objects. The energy an object
possesses due to its temperature -- let's say the
sum total of all the atomic vibrations in an object
-- is properly called Internal Thermal Energy. All
that said, laypeople commonly understand heat
to include both heat as transferred energy and
heat as internal thermal energy, and that is the
usage I will employ in this article.
So, how does heat make it from the burner at the
bottom of your pan through to the other side and
into the food? The answer is: Conduction. As
Harold McGee says:
Quote
When thermal energy is exchanged from one
particle to a nearby one by means of a collision or
a movement that induces movement (through
electrical attraction or repulsion) the process is
called conduction. Though it is the most
straightforward means of heat transfer in matter,
conduction takes on different forms in different
materials. For example, metals are by and large
good conductors of heat because, while their
atoms are fixed in a latticelike structure, the outer
electrons are very loosely held and tend to form a
free-moving fluid or gas in the solid. This
same electron mobility makes metals good
electrical conductors. But in nonmetallic solids
like ceramics, conduction is more mysterious. It
seems that heat is propagated not by the
movement of energetic electrons -- in solids of
ionic- or covalent-bonded compounds, the
electrons are not free but by the vibration of
individual molecules or of a portion of the lattice,
which is transferred to neighboring areas. This is
a much slower and less efficient process than
electron movement, and nonmetals are usually
referred to as thermal or electrical insulators,
rather than conductors.
***
As we have seen, heat conduction in a solid
proceeds either by the diffusion of energetic
electrons, or by vibration in crystal structures. A
material whose electrons are quite mobile is likely
to donate those electrons to other atoms at its
surface: in other words, good conductors are
usually chemically reactive. But inert compounds,
by the same token, are poor conductors.
by the same token, are poor conductors.
Ideally we would like to have a pan that provides

even heat, that is able to hold a lot of heat and
that responds promptly to changes in the heat
source. These three things all depend on two
properties of the materials used in the pan:
thermal conductivity and heat capacity.
Thermal Conductivity is a physical property that
describes how fast a given material can move heat
around. Materials with good thermal conductivity
are able to transfer heat from one part of the pan
to another very quickly and efficiently, which
provides even heat. The graphics below illustrate
how thermal conductivity affects evenness of
heat.
This illustration shows how heat, applied to a

single point, is conducted through an infinitely
thick piece of metal in an arbitrary unit of time
(say, one second or one minute). As we can see,
when we look at the highly conductive material,
the material within the area we are considering is
all about the same temperature. On the other
hand, the less conductive material is nice and
warm close to the heat source but is rather cool
out towards the edge of the radius. This is
because the highly conductive material was able
to take the heat from the single heat source and
distribute it throughout the area very quickly. The
less conductive material just cant move the heat
as fast, and so was not able to move much heat to
the outer areas during the space of our arbitrary
unit of time. Lets take a look at how this would
work in a pan:
This illustration shows how the same single

source of heat is conducted through a piece of
cookware. Note that the highly conductive
cooking surface is more or less all the same
temperature, whereas the less conductive cooking
surface is warmer in the middle and cooler
towards the outside. That warm part in the
middle is the dreaded hot spot -- the same thing
that creates a burnt ring on the bottom of the pan
when you cook a long-simmered tomato sauce.
But, you may well ask, what if we just leave the
less conductive pan on the heat for a longer
period of time? Wouldnt the edges eventually
warm up? Good question. Lets take a look:
This illustration shows how much heat the less

conductive material can distribute through an
infinitely thick piece of metal when you leave it on
the heat longer than the arbitrary unit of time we
specified above (say, 3 seconds or 3 minutes). As
we can see, heat is conducted a much greater
distance from the heat source, which we would
distance from the heat source, which we would

expect given the greater interval of time. If we
look at the original radius of the area we
examined at first, we can see that the temperature
at the edge of that area is just about the same as it
was in our original unit of time for the highly
conductive material. Great, you say, all we have to
do is heat the less conductive material a little
longer and its the same thing. Not so fast. Lets
have a look at how it would work in a pan:
This illustration shows how the same single

source of heat is conducted through two pieces of
cookware made of the less conductive material
when it is left on the heat longer than our original
arbitrary unit of time. As we can see, the cooking
surface with the same thickness we used in the
earlier example is hotter overall, but the center of
the pan is still significantly hotter than the edges
of the pan -- a hot spot. The thicker cooking
surface, on the other hand, has a fairly uniform
distribution of heat at the top where the food
would be making contact. In fact, the distribution
of heat and temperature at the top appears to be
quite similar to what we were getting from the
highly conductive material in our original
arbitrary unit of time.
So, what does this all tell us? It tells us that the
thickness of cookware materials is important, and
that less conductive materials can potentially
provide even heat just as well as more conductive
materials but the less conductive materials must
be thicker and it will take more time for the pan
to come up to temperature. The issue of time is
an important one, and brings us to the second
effect of thermal conductivity: responsiveness.
Responsiveness refers to a materials ability to

respond to changes in the heat source. I think we
have all experienced the phenomenon of turning
the heat off under a cast iron skillet only to have
the meat continue to sizzle and cook as though
nothing had happened. This is because cast iron
does not have good thermal conductivity and a
cast iron pan is not able to respond to the
decrease in the heat source by cooling off quickly.
When considering responsiveness, it is useful to
imagine the cookware as a bucket of heat with
faucets dumping heat into and draining heat out
of the bucket.
In this illustration, thermal conductivity is

illustrated by the size of the faucets. The highly
conductive material is able to move heat from the
heat source into the cookware rapidly because it
has a large faucet dumping a lot of heat into the
heat bucket. The less conductive material doesnt
move heat from the heat source into the cookware
nearly as efficiently, so the size of the faucet is
smaller. Looking at the illustration, it becomes
apparent that the highly conductive bucket will
fill up with heat faster than the less conductive
bucket. Another way of stating this is that the
highly conductive material is able to respond
more quickly to an increase in the heat source by
filling up with heat and getting hotter -- it is more
responsive.
The faucets on the bottom of the heat buckets

demonstrate that the same principle works in the
opposite direction. The highly conductive material
can also quickly drain heat out of the bottom of
the heat bucket -- by conducting the heat into the
the heat bucket -- by conducting the heat into the

food, into the air, into water, etc. -- and respond
to changes in the heat source by cooling off
quickly. The less conductive material, with its
smaller faucet, is once again not able to respond
as rapidly. The graphic below gives the thermal
conductivity for several common metals used in
cookware (as well as a couple of others you will
recognize, just for the sake of comparison). From
a purely technical standpoint, the thermal
conductivity of a material changes depending on
the temperature of the material, so these numbers
are not strictly true for all temperatures. That
said, the relationship between the various
materials remains roughly the same no matter
what the temperature, so these numbers are a
good indication of the relative conductivity of
these materials.
As we can see, copper has by far the best thermal

conductivity, with stainless steel having very poor
thermal conductivity. This is why copper provides
such even heat, while stainless steel is notorious
for hot spots. You may refer to this chart
(http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/thermal.html)
for data on the thermal conductivity of other
elements. Of note is the fact that all the materials
used for cookware have pretty good thermal
conductivity overall. Copper has the second best
thermal conductivity of all elements, and even
iron -- which we normally think of as being fairly
sluggish in this regard -- has better thermal
conductivity than 80 other elements!
The foregoing information leads us to an
interesting conclusion: that more conductive
materials are able to conduct heat more
materials are able to conduct heat more

efficiently into food compared to less conductive
materials. This supposition is borne out in the
following experiment: Start with two pans of
approximately the same size/thickness, one of
cast iron and the other of copper. Place both in a
high oven and preheat for an hour (this will
ensure that both pans have accumulated
approximately the same amount of heat). Now,
open the oven door, take two approximately equal
steaks (or chops or similarly massive cuts of
meat) and drop one into each of the two pans.
Wait five minutes, remove the steaks and
examine the browned side. You should notice that
the steak in the copper pan is more browned than
the steak in the cast iron pan. Cut into each steak
and you should find that the steak in the copper
pan is more cooked through than the steak in the
cast iron pan. This is because the copper pan, due
to having better thermal conductivity, was able to
conduct more of its accumulated heat into the
steak than the cast iron pan. This all assumes,
however, that the cast iron pan and the heavy
copper pan were holding the same amount of heat
in the first place, which is the reason it was
important to choose pans of approximately the
same size and thickness which leads us to the
second important thermal property:
Heat Capacity
Thus far we have mostly been talking about heat

in its pure scientific sense: as it relates to the
transfer of thermal energy. Now, we will turn out
attention to the second meaning of heat, as it
relates to internal thermal energy. Every object --
for our purposes, every chunk of metal -- can not
only be described as being at a certain
temperature, but also as holding a certain amount
of heat. For example, if we have a one pound
piece of iron and a five pound piece of iron, both
at 200 degrees C, it doesnt take too much
thinking to wrap our minds around the idea that
the 5 pound piece of iron is holding more heat
than the smaller piece. This is easily understood
by nothing more than the fact that it had to sit on
the stove a lot longer before it came up to
temperature. A more scientific experiment would
be to drop each piece of iron into equal sized
containers of water and measure how much the
temperature of the water goes up in each
container. If you do this experiment, you will find
that the water in the container with the large
piece of iron is significantly warmer than the
water in the container with the smaller piece.
This is because the large piece of iron stores more
This is because the large piece of iron stores more

heat than the small piece, even at the same
temperature.
As it turns out, various materials differ in their
ability to store heat. In other words, some
materials can hold more heat at a given
temperature than others. For example, a one
pound chunk of aluminum holds a lot more heat
than a one pound chunk of copper at the same
temperature. The scientific term that quantifies a
materials heat storage capabilities is called
Specific Heat. Specific heat is the amount of heat
it takes to raise one unit of a substance by one
degree. The most common way specific heat is
expressed is the amount of heat, measured in
Joules
(http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictJ.html#joule)
it takes to raise one gram of a substance by one
degree Kelvin, or: Joules per gram per degree
Kelvin (J/g K). That said, you may also see
specific heat expressed as British thermal units
per pound per degree Fahrenheit (Btu/lb F) or
calories per gram per degree Celsius (cal/g C) and
so forth depending on the measurement system
used. Well stick with good old J/g K for this
article.
Confused yet? It gets even more complicated
(http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/SpecificHeat.html)
. We also need to settle on a reference standard.
Specific heat is not an absolute measurement like
a meter or a kilogram. A meter is an absolute
quantity -- something that is a meter long is a
meter long and something that is two meters long
is twice the length of a meter. Temperature
systems, on the other hand, work differently.
Take the Celsius scale, for example... the values of
1 and 100 are arbitrarily set at the freezing and
boiling points of water. Why? Why are there 100
units between the freezing and boiling points of
water? Is 20C twice as hot as 10C? How? Well, as
it so happens, water has an unusual ability to
hold a lot of heat, so scientists have arbitrarily
designated the specific heat of water as 1. Thus,
all specific heat measurements are given relative
to the specific heat of good old H2O. The
illustration below lists the specific heat values for
the most commonly used cookware materials.
As we can see, aluminum has a very high specific

heat indeed over double that of iron. This
would lead us to conclude that a one pound
chunk of aluminum holds more heat than a one
pound chunk of iron at the same temperature.
But wait... cast iron is supposed to hold the most
heat, right? Yes and no. It is true that the chunk
of aluminum holds more than the chunk of iron,
but we havent accounted for the density of the
materials. The illustration below shows the
density of the same materials.
OK... now we can see that iron is a lot more dense

than aluminum. A one pound piece of aluminum
would be almost three times the size of a one
pound piece of iron. Since cookware is described
in terms of its thickness (i.e., the volume of the
in terms of its thickness (i.e., the volume of the

materials rather than the weight) it is more useful
for us to understand the heat carrying capabilities
of a given volume of metal rather than a given
mass of metal. To obtain these figures, we can
simply multiply the specific heat by the density to
arrive at specific heat per cubic centimeter.
Now the picture looks completely different,

doesnt it? Aluminum is way down there on the
bottom, iron and copper are in the middle, and
steel is up at the top. These are much more useful
numbers that more accurately reflect the way
materials are deployed in cookware. A
understanding of these numbers can take us a
long way towards understanding the difference
between a 3 mm thick aluminum bottom and a 7
mm thick aluminum bottom -- also between a 3
mm thick aluminum bottom and a 2 mm thick
copper bottom. This is because we can use these
numbers to understand the Heat Capacity of
various cookware.
Heat Capacity is the term we will use to describe
the total heat holding capabilities of an entire
piece of cookware. For example, if we have an 11
inch saut pan with a 7 mm thick aluminum
bottom, we can calculate the heat capacity of that
base. If I plug in a radius of 14 centimeters (half
of the 11 inch diameter) and a height of .7
centimeters into this handy online calculator
(http://grapevine.abe.msstate.edu/~fto/tools/vol/cylinder.html)
we get a volume of 431 cubic centimeters.
Multiplying that by the specific heat per cc
number from above, we get an overall heat
capacity of 1043. Now let us compare this
aluminum bottom to a copper bottom at 2.5 mm.
aluminum bottom to a copper bottom at 2.5 mm.

The volume of the copper bottom is much smaller
-- only 154 cubic centimeters. Using the number
for copper from above, we arrive at an overall
heat capacity of 531, or around half that of the
aluminum bottom. This may seem fairly esoteric,
but in fact we have just used materials data to
compare a 67 dollar Sitram Profisserie saut pan
with a 7 mm aluminum base to a 140 dollar
Sitram Catering saut pan with a 2.5 mm copper
base. What does this tell you? It tells you that
youre better off buying the cheaper pan if you
want a saut pan with a high heat capacity so you
can dump a whole bunch of stuff into it all at the
same time.
A good way to conceptualize heat capacity is to

return to our heat bucket illustration from
above.
The illustration above shows the difference

between two otherwise similar cooking vessels
made with different amounts of the same
material. Because they are made from the same
material, the thermal conductivity (as illustrated
by the size of the faucets) is the same. As we can
see, the pan made with more material has a larger
heat bucket and is able to hold more heat at a
given temperature -- it has a larger heat capacity.
All that said, we come to the final piece of the

puzzle: integrating heat capacity and thermal
conductivity. As we look at the illustration above
we cant help but notice that the heat faucets are
the same size, meaning that the thermal
conductivity was the same for the two cooking
vessels being compared. This means that the
vessels being compared. This means that the

vessel with the smaller heat capacity will come up
to temperature -- "fill up with heat -- more
rapidly than the vessel with the larger heat
capacity. But, as we can recall from the
illustration up in the thermal conductivity
discussion, the size of the faucet is not always the
same. Some materials have better thermal
conductivity than others.
The illustration above demonstrates the

interaction of thermal conductivity and heat
capacity. Here we have three cooking vessels with
different thermal conductivities and heat
capacities: low/high, high/high and low/low.
With a little thinking, we can understand that the
low/high pan will take longer to heat up and will
be less responsive than the high/high pan.
However, if we take the low/high pan and use a
smaller amount of the low conductivity material,
we reduce the thermal capacity and make it into a
low/low pan. Now, if we compare the high/high
pan and the low/low pan, we can understand that
they will fill up with heat right around the same
time. The faucet is smaller for the low/low pan,
but it also has a much smaller bucket to fill up.
The high/high pan and the low/low pan are
equally responsive. But, there may be a price to
pay... The only way to reduce the thermal capacity
of the low conductivity pan is to use less of the
low conductivity material. How is this done? It is
done by making the pan thinner. This is
important because, as demonstrated way back in
the section on thermal conductivity, when the low
conductivity materials become thinner there is a
conductivity materials become thinner there is a

cost to be paid in evenness of heat. The low/low
pan may be as responsive as the high/high pan,
but it may also have hot spots.
These are the tradeoffs that one must deal with

when designing cookware. It is always a constant
compromise to design a pan that has a large
enough thermal capacity so it wont lose all its
heat when food is added to the pan, is thick
enough to provide even heat and yet is also
responsive to changes in the heat source.
One last bit of science... There is a quality that

nicely quantifies the relationship between a
materials thermal conductivity and its specific
heat. This is called Thermal Diffusivity and it
reflects what actually happens when heat is
applied to a material To arrive at this number we
divide thermal conductivity by density multiplied
by specific heat.
Looking at this illustration, it would seem that

copper is the best material among those
commonly used for cookware. And, indeed it is
the case that copper is theoretically the best
performer in most cooking applications. However,
copper is expensive and heavy, and there are
many cases where other materials may be just as
good or even better. Well come back to this later.
How are the Materials Deployed
There are several overall design philosophies that

can be implemented in cookware. Take a
saucepan, for example. A saucepan may be made
saucepan, for example. A saucepan may be made

of thin stainless steel, it may be stainless steel
with a conductive base of either aluminum or
copper, it may be raw aluminum, it may be
aluminum with an interior lining of stainless
steel, it may be fully clad aluminum with stainless
steel on the inside and the outside, it may be
heavy copper with an interior lining of stainless
steel, or it may have another design. Below we
will take a look at the various designs that are
commonly used for stovetop cookware.
Aluminum
- As we know, aluminum has good thermal
conductivity, and aluminum pans provide even
heat when the cookware is sufficiently thick.
Thickness of materials is also important for heat
retention because aluminum has relatively low
specific heat per cubic centimeter.
- Highly reactive with both acidic and alkaline
foods, which can cause off flavors and colors.
- Often warps as a result of high heat cooking.
- Soft and prone to scratching.
- Light.
- Inexpensive.
- Common uses: Almost every pan in the kitchen
is manufactured in raw aluminum. Due to its
reactivity, it is best used in cooking tasks where
the food is neither too acidic nor alkaline and will
spend a relatively brief time in the pan.
- Representative manufacturers: Wear-Ever
Anodized Aluminum
- This is aluminum that has been treated by an
electrolytic process which makes the outer surface
both harder and less reactive. Otherwise similar
to raw aluminum.
- Can be incredibly difficult to keep clean.
- Moderately expensive.
- Things to consider: certain cookware
manufacturers claim that an anodized aluminum
cooking surface is stick resistant. However,
owners commonly report that this does not reflect
their experience, and anodized aluminum pans
that are not kept scrupulously clean are often
quite sticky.
is manufactured in raw aluminum. Since
anodized aluminum is less reactive than raw
aluminum, one need not be so concerned about
minimizing opportunities for chemical interaction
between the food and the pan. Nevertheless,
prolonged contact with acidic or alkaline foods
can still result in off flavors and colors. This
design does not have any particular advantages
for heating large volumes of thin liquids in stock
for heating large volumes of thin liquids in stock

pots, rondeaux, casseroles, etc.
- Representative manufacturers: Calphalon
(Commercial and Professional lines), Circulon
Aluminum with an Interior Lining of Stainless
Steel
- All the thermal benefits of aluminum, but with a
nonreactive cooking surface provided by a thin
layer of stainless steel.
- The aluminum layer may be raw aluminum or
anodized aluminum.
- Unlike aluminum alone, lined aluminum is not
likely to warp.
- Data: All-Clads interior lined cookware has an
aluminum layer of 3.94 mm
- Very expensive.
is manufactured in this design. This design does
not have any particular advantages for heating
large volumes of thin liquids in stock pots,
rondeaux, casseroles, etc.
- Representative manufacturers: All-Clad
(MasterChef and LTD lines)
Aluminum with an Interior and Exterior Lining
of Stainless Steel
- This design, with an interior thermal layer
completely surrounded by other metals on the
inside and the outside is often called fully clad.
- Otherwise similar to Aluminum with an Interior
Lining of Stainless Steel, with the addition of an
exterior layer of stainless steel.
- Due to manufacturing considerations, the
aluminum layer in fully clad cookware is often
significantly thinner than the aluminum layer on
comparable interior-lined cookware. This can
negatively impact both evenness of heat and heat
capacity.
- May be cleaned in the dishwasher.
- Things to consider: Some manufacturers claim
to employ special multi-layer interiors that are
better than pure aluminum layers. Dont be fooled
by this marketing ploy. The interiors of these
pans are 99% the same as those employed in the
other fully clad designs.
- Data: All-Clads interior/exterior lined cookware
has an aluminum layer of 2.03 mm. Demeyere
employs an aluminum layer of 2.3 mm on woks,
3.0 mm to 3.3 mm on conical sauteuses and
simmering pots and approximately 3.9 mm on
fry pans.
- Very expensive.
is manufactured in this design. This design does

large volumes of thin liquids in stock pots,
rondeaux, casseroles, etc.
- Representative manufacturers: All-Clad
(Stainless line), Calphalon (Tri-Ply Stainless),
Demeyere (conical sauteuses, simmering pots,
fry pans and woks).
Aluminum with an Interior Lining of Stainless

Steel and an Exterior Lining of Copper
- Otherwise similar to Aluminum with an Interior
Lining and an Exterior Lining of Stainless Steel,
with a copper exterior instead of a stainless steel
exterior.
- Very expensive.
- Things to Consider: Regardless of what
manufacturers may claim, the copper exterior
does not confer any of the thermal advantages
associated with copper, because it is too thin to
make any impact on the thermal properties of the
pan. It does, however, confer many of the
maintenance issues associated with copper (see
below).
- Representative Manufacturers: All-Clad (Cop-R-
Chef line), Calphalon (Tri-Ply Copper line).
Copper with an Interior Lining of Stainless Steel
- Copper has the best overall thermal properties
for most cooking tasks. It has excellent thermal
conductivity and a high specific heat per cubic
centimeter. This means that it provides extremely
even heat, is very responsive and holds a lot of
heat without needing to be all that thick.
However, the thermal conductivity is so fast that
copper pans not retain heat well once off the heat
-- this is the converse of responsiveness.
- Very heavy, especially in the larger sizes.
- Copper tarnishes. This does not effect
performance, but can be aesthetically unpleasing
to some. Brushed exterior copper can be easily
and effectively cleaned with Barkeepers Friend
and a Scotch Brite pad. Mirror-finished exteriors
must be cleaned with polish or (less effectively)
with vinegar and salt.
- Extremely expensive.
- Things to consider: Although manufacturers of
stainless lined copper sometimes claim that their
product is better than the competition, in fact
Falk Culinair developed the process by which
stainless steel and copper are bonded together to
make this cookware. All cookware employing this
design is made from the exact same materials,
regardless of price.
- Data: Most of the stainless-lined copper
cookware sold in America is 2.3 mm of copper
bonded to .2 mm of stainless steel -- 2.5 mm of
bonded to .2 mm of stainless steel -- 2.5 mm of

copper/stainless steel bimetal. Mauviel makes
three lines: two Cuprinox lines at 2.5 mm and
2.0 mm and the Table Service line at 1.6 mm.
This last line is meant for table presentation and
not for real cooking. Make sure you know what
thickness you are buying!
is manufactured in this design. Especially useful
for cooking tasks that require the ultimate in heat
control (e.g., making delicate temperature-
sensitive sauces) or those where it is particularly
beneficial to take advantage of coppers ability to
conduct a lot of heat all the way up the sides of
the cooking vessel (e.g., reductions). This design
does not have any particular advantages for
heating large volumes of thin liquids in stock
- Representative manufacturers: Bourgeat, Falk
Culinair, Mauviel.
Copper with an Interior Lining of Tin

- Otherwise similar to Copper With an Interior
Lining of Stainless Steel, but employing tin
instead of stainless steel on the interior.
- Tin is less durable than stainless steel. After a
while, the tin lining will wear out and the interior
will have to be re-tinned. May not be used at high
heat, as this will cause the tin lining to blister and
melt.
- Tin has significantly better thermal conductivity
( 0.666 W/cm K) than stainless steel. As a result,
some people feel that tin-lined copper offers the
ultimate in temperature control for sauce making.
- Very expensive (less expensive than stainless-
lined copper).
is manufactured in this design. From a practical
standpoint, probably useful to most home cooks
as a dedicated pan for sauces only. I do not
recommend it for home cooks.
- Representative manufacturers: Mauviel
Copper with an Interior and Exterior Lining of
Stainless Steel
- Otherwise similar to Copper with an Interior
Lining of Stainless Steel, but the copper is fully
clad in stainless steel.
- Due to manufacturing considerations, the
copper layer in fully clad cookware is often
significantly thinner than the copper layer on
comparable interior-lined cookware. This can
negatively impact both evenness of heat and heat
capacity. However, this design should confer
more thermal benefits than Aluminum with an
Interior and Exterior Lining of Stainless Steel.
Interior and Exterior Lining of Stainless Steel.

- May be cleaned in the dishwasher.
- Extremely expensive.
- Things to consider: Although these pans would
seem to confer many of the benefits of heavy
copper with none of the maintenance concerns,
the cost of this cookware is so high that one is
often paying substantially more for cookware
with less copper than the already expensive big
boys in Copper with an Interior Lining of
Stainless Steel. That is a high price to pay for the
privilege of throwing a pan in the dishwasher.
- Data: Best estimates put the copper interior at
somewhat less than 2.0 mm thickness.
- Common uses: Many of the common kitchen
pans are manufactured in this design. This design
does not have any particular advantages for
heating large volumes of thin liquids in stock
- Representative manufacturers: All-Clad (Copper
Core line).
Cast Iron
- Cast iron has fairly low thermal conductivity
and a high specific heat per cubic centimeter.
This means that cast iron pans are slow to heat
up/cool down, have excellent heat retaining
properties and need to be quite thick to avoid hot
spots. In practice, cast iron is never thick enough
to provide absolutely even heat. As a result, most
good cast iron pans are quite massive and the
general practice is to preheat for a long time on
one heat setting until the heat equalizes and the
entire cooking vessel is approximately the same
temperature. At this point, the pan will hold its
heat and remain at more or less the same
temperature throughout for long/low cooking or
short/high cooking.
- Cast iron is highly reactive and prolonged
contact with acidic foods can create off flavors.
This can be somewhat mitigated by seasoning the
cast iron, which is a process whereby successive
layers of cooked-on fat are built up over the
porous iron surface. This limits the reactivity
somewhat and provides a fairly non-stick
natural surface. Regardless, cast iron is not
recommended for cooking tasks involving acidic
foods and long cooking.
- Very inexpensive.
- Common uses: Skillets, chicken fryers, grill
pans, Dutch ovens.
- Representative manufacturers: Lodge is the only
company still producing cast iron cookware, but
antique examples by Griswold and Wagner
(among others) may be found for sale.
Enameled Cast Iron

- Similar to cast iron in thermal properties, but
with a coating of nonreactive enamel inside and
out. Because it is nonreactive, enameled cast iron
is perfect for cooking tasks that take advantage of
cast irons heat retaining ability for long, low
cooking.
- Enamel is an insulator and has very poor
thermal conductivity. As a result, these pans are
not good for quick browning. Because enamel and
iron have such different thermal properties,
enameled cast iron must not be heated too high
nor cooled down too quickly or the enamel may
chip and crack.
- Very heavy.
- Moderately priced to moderately expensive.
- Common uses: Enameled cast iron casseroles,
sauce pans, fry pans.
- Representative manufacturers: Chasseur,
Descoware, Le Creuset, Staub.
Carbon Steel
- Carbon steel has a slightly higher specific heat
per cubic centimeter than Iron and the thermal
conductivity is even lower. At this point, there is
little to be gained by going for maximum
thickness, because it would take forever to heat
up. As a result, carbon steel cookware is usually
manufactured in a medium gauge of
approximately 2.0 mm.
- Similar to cast iron, the heat does even out
somewhat once the carbon steel pan has been
sufficiently preheated. Nevertheless, the heat will
never really be even all that even, and carbon
steel pans are best used for quick cooking tasks
where evenness of heat is not a primary concern.
- Like cast iron, carbon steel is highly reactive and
needs to be seasoned. Unlike cast iron, however,
carbon steel is soft and significantly less porous.
As a result, carbon steel may be seasoned
sufficiently in 15 minutes and old seasoning is
easily removed with a scouring pad if the cook
wishes to re-season the pan.
- Carbon steel cookware is not cast, it is formed
from sheets of carbon steel and pressed into
shape. This allows manufacturers to produce a
wide variety of specially designed pans for
specific cooking tasks (omelet pans, crepe pans,
chestnut pans, etc.). Since carbon steel is cheap, a
cook can easily and affordably accumulate a
number of purpose-designed pans.
- Light.
- Very inexpensive.
- Common uses: Fry pans, saut pans, crepe pans,
omelet pans, woks.
omelet pans, woks.

- Representative manufacturers: These pans are
not particularly associated with any
manufacturers, and they are all more or less the
same.
Black Steel/Blue Steel
- This is carbon steel that has been treated by a
process of annealing, which makes the surface
harder and less reactive. It also imparts a
distinctive black or gunmetal blue color to the
carbon steel.
- Because the surface is harder, black/blue steel
seasons more like cast iron in terms of its
durability and persistence. Because the surface is
less reactive, one need not be so concerned about
minimizing opportunities for chemical interaction
between the food and the pan.
- Very inexpensive.
- Common uses: Fry pans, saut pans, crepe pans,
omelet pans, woks.
same.
Enameled Carbon Steel

- Thin carbon steel with a coating of enamel
inside and out to render the pan nonreactive.
- Extremely prone to buckle and warp, which
often causes the enamel to chip. Relatively poor
thermal conductivity and heat retention result in
hot spots and inferior browning capabilities.
- Light.
- Extremely inexpensive.
- Common uses: Sauce pans, steamers, coffee
pots. Cookware of this design is only useful for
boiling water.
same.
Stainless Steel
- Stainless steel holds the honor of having the
worst overall thermal characteristics of all the
metals used for cookware. It has the highest
specific heat per cubic centimeter and the lowest
thermal conductivity -- not a good combination.
- Needless to say, evenness of heat is out of the
question and stainless steel cookware must be
thin or it will never become hot. Hot spots are
inevitable.
- Extremely durable and strong. Warping is only a
problem at the very lightest gauges.
- Fairly inexpensive.
- Fairly inexpensive.
- Things to consider: Dont be fooled by copper
bottoms that arent clearly a disk of some kind.
This thin metal layer on the bottom quarter of the
pan confers none of the thermal advantages of
copper.
is manufactured in this design. However, it is
only truly useful for boiling water.
same.
Thus far, all the cookware designs we have
discussed have been straight gauge, which
means that they have the same thermal properties
in all parts. Now we will profile two popular
hybrid cookware designs that have different
thermal properties on the bottom and the sides.
Specifically, these cookware designs have
materials with good thermal properties on the
bottom, and materials with not-so-good thermal
properties on the sides.
Stainless Steel Body with an Aluminum Base
- This design begins with durable, nonreactive
stainless steel and adds the thermal benefits --
evenness of heat, high specific heat per cubic
centimeter, responsiveness -- of aluminum to the
bottom of the pan.
- Because the aluminum base only covers the
bottom, virtually no heat is conducted from the
base up into the heavy stainless steel sides of the
pan.
- Moderately expensive to expensive.
- Things to consider: 1) Due to the way this
cookware is manufactured, the aluminum disk
can never quite cover the entire base of the pan.
The percentage of the base covered by the
aluminum disk varies from manufacturer to
manufacturer and is one indication of quality. 2)
Cooks are sometimes apprehensive that foods will
scorch and burn on the parts of the pan that are
not covered with aluminum -- namely the sides
and the portions of the base not covered by the
aluminum disk -- because these are essentially
plain stainless steel. This is only possibly a
concern in conditions where the flame heating
the pan is larger than the pan itself, and
significant heat from the heat source is in direct
contact with those portions of the pan. Such
conditions are rare in the home kitchen, and can
largely be mitigated by adjusting the flame
appropriately and not using pans of this design
that are too small in diameter for the stove on
that are too small in diameter for the stove on

which they will be used. 3) Some manufacturers
claim to employ special multi-layer bases that
are better than pure aluminum bases. Dont be
fooled by this marketing ploy. The bases on these
pans are 99% the same as those employed in the
other aluminum disk bottom designs.
- Data: Both Paderno Grant Gourmet and Sitram
Profisserie employ an aluminum base that is 7
mm thick. Demeyere Apollo employs a 5 mm
thick aluminum base in its disk bottom pans.
- Common uses: Many of the common kitchen
pans are manufactured in this design. Particularly
well suited to tasks where the important area for
the transfer of heat from the pan to the food is
the bottom of the pan: saut pans, tall sauce pans,
rondeaux, stock pots.
- Representative manufacturers: Demeyere
(Apollo line for casseroles, saut pans, saucepans
and stock pots), Paderno (Grand Gourmet line),
Sitram (Profisserie line).
Stainless Steel Body with a Copper Base

- This design begins with durable, nonreactive
stainless steel and adds the thermal benefits --
evenness of heat, high specific heat per cubic
centimeter, responsiveness -- of copper to the
bottom of the pan.
- Otherwise similar to Stainless Steel Body with
an Aluminum Base.
- Moderately expensive to expensive.
- Things to consider: Demeyere Sirocco has two
interesting innovations in its implementation of
the copper base design. 1) The copper base is
completely enclosed in stainless steel, allowing
these pans to be cleaned in the dishwasher. 2)
The copper base extends the full diameter of the
pan, so that the maximum possible cooking
surface area is in contact with copper. However, it
is not the case that Demeyeres implementation
covers 30% more of the base than the traditional
implementation, as they claim. Rather, the copper
disk continues to extend beyond the point where
the stainless steel on the bottom of the pan begins
to curve upwards to form the sides. Since the
copper base does not actually contact the stainless
steel beyond the point where it curves up, no heat
is conducted into these parts of the pan exactly
the same as it is with the traditional
implementation. This is well illustrated by this
graphic
(http://www.demeyere.be/images/tekinductopot.gif)
from Demeyeres web site. Again, be wary of
marketing hype and take any claims of special
multi-layer conductive materials with a big grain
of salt.
of salt.
- Data: Demeyere Sirocco employs a 2.0 copper
base for casseroles, saut pans, saucepans and
stock pots, while Sitram Catering has a 2.5 mm
copper base for most pans and a 2.0 mm copper
base for pans with the smallest diameters.
- Representative manufacturers: Demeyere
(Sirocco line for casseroles, saut pans, saucepans
and stock pots), Sitram (Catering line).
How Much Of The Various Materials Are

Used
Based on the foregoing, we now have basis for
understanding the effects of various materials
used in various amounts. We can understand
that, for instance, a 4 mm thick aluminum saut
pan with an interior lining of stainless steel will
provide better evenness of heat than a 2 mm thick
aluminum saut pan that is fully clad in stainless
steel. Likewise, we can understand that a stainless
saut pan with a 7 mm aluminum base will hold
more heat than an otherwise similar pan with a 5
mm aluminum base or a 2.5 mm copper base. We
can also understand that the pan with the copper
bottom will be much more responsive to changes
in the heat setting on the stove while still having
even heat.
So, now it is up to you to ask yourself some

questions. You want a saut pan. Fine. Do you
really care whether the heat goes all the way up
the sides? Probably not. OK, then. It probably
doesnt make sense to spend all the money on
straight gauge cookware. Alright, were going with
a disk-bottom design. So... do we care whether
the heat goes all the way to the very edge of the
base? Not really. After all, we are going to be
tossing the food around quite a bit as we saut.
Doesnt make sense to spend big bucks on
Demeyere Sirocco, then. The next choice is
whether we want a copper base or an aluminum
base. Since the kind of sauting we do tends to be
all on high heat, having lightning-quick thermal
conductivity doesnt matter all that much to us.
Well go with aluminum then. Now that we have
decided to go with an aluminum disk bottom
saut pan, all that remains is to determine the
thickness of the aluminum base. This will largely
be determined by economics. Since we
understand that more aluminum means more
heat capacity and more evenness of heat, well get
the saut pan with the thickest aluminum base we
the saut pan with the thickest aluminum base we

can afford. Other considerations may be price,
weight, aesthetics, brand loyalty,
versatility/suitability for other cooking tasks --
any number of things. And, of course, these
answers may not be your answers. What is
important is that we will be making an informed
choice.
Please join me in the Q&A with your questions
and comments.
Post your questions here -->>Q&A

(http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?
act=ST&f=108&t=25718&)
Copyright 2003 Samuel Lloyd Kinsey. All Rights
Reserved.
Any unauthorized duplication or use is strictly
prohibited.
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Understanding Stovetop Cookware - eG Forums 31/05/2010 10:58 ..

Welcome to eGullet.org! This website is a service of the

Welcome to the eGullet Culinary Member

imagine, this course requires no ingredients and

4. How are the materials deployed? This comes

What Kind Of Cooking Task Do You Want

the pan. A lid allows the addition of liquids to

Rondeau (Braiser, Casserole, Low Casserole):

Dutch Oven is raw cast iron, rather than

Saucepan (Low Saucepan): This is a pan for

Windsor Saucepan, Sauteuse Conique, Conical

What Materials Are Used?

is not, strictly speaking, a word that describes the

by the same token, are poor conductors.

Ideally we would like to have a pan that provides

This illustration shows how heat, applied to a

This illustration shows how the same single

This illustration shows how much heat the less

distance from the heat source, which we would

This illustration shows how the same single

Responsiveness refers to a materials ability to

In this illustration, thermal conductivity is

The faucets on the bottom of the heat buckets

the heat bucket -- by conducting the heat into the

As we can see, copper has by far the best thermal

materials are able to conduct heat more

Thus far we have mostly been talking about heat

This is because the large piece of iron stores more

As we can see, aluminum has a very high specific

OK... now we can see that iron is a lot more dense

in terms of its thickness (i.e., the volume of the

Now the picture looks completely different,

aluminum bottom to a copper bottom at 2.5 mm.

A good way to conceptualize heat capacity is to

The illustration above shows the difference

All that said, we come to the final piece of the

vessels being compared. This means that the

The illustration above demonstrates the

conductivity materials become thinner there is a

These are the tradeoffs that one must deal with

One last bit of science... There is a quality that

Looking at this illustration, it would seem that

How are the Materials Deployed

There are several overall design philosophies that

saucepan, for example. A saucepan may be made

for heating large volumes of thin liquids in stock

not have any particular advantages for heating

Aluminum with an Interior Lining of Stainless

bonded to .2 mm of stainless steel -- 2.5 mm of

Copper with an Interior Lining of Tin

Interior and Exterior Lining of Stainless Steel.

Enameled Cast Iron

omelet pans, woks.

Enameled Carbon Steel

that are too small in diameter for the stove on

Stainless Steel Body with a Copper Base

How Much Of The Various Materials Are

So, now it is up to you to ask yourself some

the saut pan with the thickest aluminum base we

Post your questions here -->>Q&A

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