Aluminum vs Stainless Steel Cookware

[ribbony]

Scanpan - if you want to use aluminum, it is not teflon covered but has a tough titanium ceramic impregnation. Stainless is our prefeered option for cooking in most situations. We are both Chefs and if we arrive to manage a cooking operation that has old Al pots, we toss them and get stainless replacements.

There are some good Aluminum pots and pans made in Europe that do not seem to oxidise at all and do not pitt. Pitted pots just show that they were made from poor quality Aluminum and why be a Guinea Pig for Altzheimers research.

Teflon - has been recently indicated as being very suss in relation to health issues. Overheat it and the effect is a lot worse. Read up about the effect of overheated teflon on parrots in the same airspace. We do not use teflon on any of our gear and you do not need to, if you regulate the heat properly when you cook the food.

[ribbony]

Scanpan - extrqact from their home page. "Our cast aluminium products with patented ceramic titanium coating have always been the quintessential of SCANPAN® products, helping us throughout all these years to stand out from the crowd and bringing us to where we are today. The simple idea behind the technology is that the ceramic titanium is heated to 30,000°C, when the molten titanium fuses to the product’s compressed aluminium core, and the non-stick coating is then applied and hardened. As aluminium is an excellent conductor of heat, it distributes the heat across the bottom and sides of the product, achieving an even distribution of heat."

[Bash]

we use hard-anodized Circulon cookware for the simple reason that this is what we used ashore. One doesn't want the admiral to feel constrained at sea because... uhhh..... a happy wife is..... ummm...... less noisy.

[Tom Spohn]

It may not be the aluminum per se, but the common alloys that use copper to alloy. I switched to stainless for my boat and titanium for mountain climbing. If you can afford it titanium is the best.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by ribbony

Scanpan - if you want to use aluminum, it is not teflon covered but has a tough titanium ceramic impregnation...

Excerpted from the SCANPAN FAQs page
➥ Scanpan Cookware Canada - Titanium Ergonomic Cooking Equipment (Click on FAQ)

“... SCANPAN ERGONOMIC features a specially formulated nonstick surface, which is oven safe to 500̊ F (260̊ C), and no decomposition of the SCANPAN nonstick compound is expected up to that temperature. This feature is unrivaled in the industry. However, the nonstick surface of SCANPAN Cookware still contains the chemical compound PTFE (Teflon), which will start to decompose and release fumes at approx. 660̊ F (340̊ C) ...”

[NewMoon]

In over 30,000 miles of extended cruising in 22 and 26-foot power boats, mostly on the Inside Passage of BC and SE Alaska, we've always eaten very well. We're not pro chefs but good food is a priority. Space is a big issue, and in a small planing boat keeping weight down is as well.

We carry a carefully chosen set of four SS pots with thick multi-layer bottoms. They cook very well and last forever. We have also used Calphalon, the extra-thick "Pro?" models. Coated, so we don't get the aluminum chemical reaction with some foods, very durable, and reasonably even heating.

[jallum]

I hadn't heard about this aluminum/alzheimer's meme until today. It appears that the current scientific thinking is that there is no relationship between the two. Here are a few sources, so you can decide:

alzheimers.org - Article List
alzheimers.org.uk - Aluminium and Alzheimer's disease
scientificamerican.com - Is there any proof...

[ribbony]

GordMay - Good research, I stand corrected on that. Looks like it is hard to avoid PTFE on the coated Al cookware apart from the anodised type. That kinda narrows it down to the SS cookware, the anodised and the well seasoned black steel skillets that we use for omletts and eggs.

New Moon - the Calphalon cookware looks good. We have not used it, only an Indian made equilvent made by hawkins, very durable item.

[clockwork orange]

Zeehag,its a fallicy to think you can just ignore weight on a heavy cruiser,every inch you sink that beast below its waterline is costing you performance and thats ok if you just dont care or have never actually experienced reasonable performance in a sailboat.You will never keep weight under control without the right attitude,one frypan does make a difference.I use a 5 piece calpholan set at home,2 of which i rarely use so i would leave them off the boat,a reasonable weight savings.
Steve

[sarafina]

We don't use it on the boat, but for back packing we have titanium with folding handles;

REI Ti Ware Nonstick Titanium Cookset at REI.com

Light and effeciant, an nice to cook in. You would prolly want to add a larger piece like this;

REI Ti Ware Nonstick Titanium Pot - 4 Liter at REI.com

It's nice to have a big pan as well for sauteing and boiling pasta and soups and stuff.

Not cheap, but really nice. And LIGHT.

[Ofer]

Originally Posted by sarafina

We don't use it on the boat, but for back packing we have titanium with folding handles;

REI Ti Ware Nonstick Titanium Cookset at REI.com

Light and effeciant, an nice to cook in. You would prolly want to add a larger piece like this;

REI Ti Ware Nonstick Titanium Pot - 4 Liter at REI.com

It's nice to have a big pan as well for sauteing and boiling pasta and soups and stuff.

Not cheap, but really nice. And LIGHT.

Would the titanium set hold up for every day cooking and would it produce good results?

I have no problem with the cost any other downsides?

[sarafina]

I think they are well made and the nonstick surface seems sturdy. I wonder if the handles might be a weak spot. And I would use a flame tamer under them to aid in heat distribution. In back packing there is a fair amount of water boiling and then adding stuff. On board there would be other things going on cooking wise. I suggest you go into an REI and take a look and maybe buy one of the stand alone pots and do some test runs with it.

A flame tamer is a heavy round disc of aluminum that spreads the heat out evenly under any pan. Mine is a cheap ($2) disc, maybe 1/8 inch thick. I use it at home even under my good 'ware, really aids evening the gas flame. If you have access to some aluminum sheet stock thats heavy you could cut one out. Mine has a little bump out on it with a hole for hanging it on a nail that's handy.

[clockwork orange]

I was looking online for a really small woodstove and found some that were made for winter tent camping that were made out of titanium, even heat distribution was one of the claims so maybe its perfect for cookware,certainly worth researching.
Steve.

[Ofer]

Ok it made sense to go with few quality items.

Here is what I got so far:

SCANPAN 8" Classic Frypan
8 Classic Frypan- **TRY ME SPECIAL** [20001200] - $49.95 : Scanpan Cookware, Free Shipping on Scanpan Titanium nonstick cookware



All-Clad LTD 11-Inch Square Nonstick Griddle
Amazon.com: All-Clad LTD 11-Inch Square Nonstick Griddle: Kitchen & Dining
in addition to the obvious I was Hoping to use the above for pizza using the magma BBQ


Calphalon One Infused Anodized 5 Quart Dutch Oven http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BSTXA8/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

can I bake bread using the above dutch oven?



I have a general pot to boil water and for steaming etc also have a kettle for boiling water


My new stove
http://www.dickinsonmarine.com/image/twoburner.jpg

My new BBQ and oven...I hope I can use it to bake
Gas 007

what am I missing?

[hellosailor]

Ah jeeze, aren't there any racers or race-tained cruisers out there? If you are concerned with weight you either buy TITANIUM cookware from any cmaping or mountaineering store, or you go REAL LIGHT by eating cold food and tossing both the stove and cookware.

If you care about what you eat and prefer hot food well made, you don't ask what the pan is made from, you pick a good pan for each use that you intend. And if you don't know what the right pan for each use is--expect to replace 'em a few times because none is right for everything or eveyrone.

My black iron skillet is priceless, but I won't make eggs in it. The eggs get a teflon-over-I don't know what skillet, with nice rounded edges. Actually two of them, one is small for 2-3 eggs and it cooks fast. The other is much larger, 11? 12? " for company and other purposes.

My saucepan is commercial grade Calphalon (hard anodized aluminum) which predates the lighter "consumer" grade stuff they sell now. Great for slow cooking sauces, etc. which never stuck and herat very evenly, but it takes forever to boil water in a pan that has that much heat mass.

And then again there's the enameled steel lobster pot, much cheaper than a big stainless pasta pot but up to both tasks just as easily.

Try a thrift shop, look at the pots and pans because many are crap but great things like Revereware (stainless with a copper bottom, lasts forever and cooks pretty well, been aorund since the 40's or 50's) pop up cheap too.

Or...go to a Bed Bath & Beyond store, there are all sorts of fiendish things like colanders that collapse and fold FLAT for storage these days.

And don't buy a pressure cooker, unless you plan to do some serious studying and strict recipe-following, because once you seal it up and fire it up, you've got no control over what is coming out, unless you've spent some serious time learning how to use it. In which case, they're great.