Question from SB
What is the best cookware for someone with mild sensitivities? Also is carbon steel cookware safer to use than regular stainless steel cookware. Lastly what is the best (in terms of safest) brand or type of stainless steel cookware out there?
Debra’s Answer
The best cookware for someone with mild sensitivities…Probably Pyrex and Visions are most inert, but if your sensitivities are mild, you can probably use any cookware.
For an overview of cookware, type “cookware” into my website search engine. There are a lot of Q&As on this subject.
Now, to answer your questions about stainless steel and carbon steel.
Carbon steel is used to make woks and I’ve also seen carbon steel skillets in restaurant supply stories. It is kind of greyish black. Made simply of iron with 0.1 to 1.2 percent carbon and even less manganese, carbon steel can be recycled and often contains about 25 percent recycled content whether it is so labeled or not.
Most pots and pans, cooking utensils, and flatware are made from stainless steel, which has a special ability to resist corrosion. The most extensively used type of stainless steel for household items is made from 71.95 percent iron, 18 percent chromium, 8 percent nickel, and 0.05 percent carbon. Stainless steel products can not be recycled and do not contain recycled material.
Stainless steel is generally considered the best choice for cooking because it is sanitary, nonporous, and the metals are highly stable. But stainless steel leaches nickel and chromium into food, which may be harmful to health, and environmentally, the mining and manufacture of steel is a highly technological, energy-intensive and polluting process. So it’s not one of my favorites, considering there are more healthful and environmentally-advantageous options available.
Debra, do you think carbon steel, such as in a wok, is safe to cook in?
Carbon steel is made of only two elements, iron and carbon. The only other elements allowed in plain-carbon steel are: manganese (1.65% max), silicon (0.60% max), and copper (0.60% max), but these are present in quantities too small to affect its properties.
Any of these elements could leach into food while cooking.
Because of the amount of iron in carbon steel, a carbon steel pan is very much like a cast iron pan—it can rust. So you need to “season” the pan in the same way you would season a cast iron pan (just search on “season a cast iron pan” for instructions.
I’ve been reading that there might be some concerns with cooking in cast iron as well, so that’s why I was wondering about the carbon steel as well (because of its iron content). Does the “seasoning” of the pan protect against some of the leaching? I wouldn’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. Seems like there isn’t a safe surface for quick heat transfer (such as stir frying in a wok).
Well the concern is about iron leaching from cast iron, which would be the concern with carbon steel as well. Iron is one of those elements, like salt, or even water, that is safe in normal amounts found in nature, but can become toxic when larger exposures happen on a regular basis.
“Safe” is a relative term that depends on dose, frequency, tolerance, and other factors. Some substances are inherently toxic even in very small amounts. Others are less toxic and require repeated exposures. I wouldn’t drink a drop of gasoline, but I wouldn’t be concerned about an occasional Chinese dinner cooked in a wok.
The Chinese use woks continuously. Do we see any health effects from this everyday exposure? I haven’t researched that.
Yes, interesting point. I’ve heard the same thing about cast iron: “People have cooked in cast iron for ages, so it’s obviously safe.” Then there is this newer concern about cast iron leaching. So I haven’t known what to make of it. If I purchased carbon steel, I would be using it more than occasionally, so that’s why I am wondering about the potential toxicity from repeated use. Sounds like there’s no way to know for sure.