Waterless Cooking

In cooking and food preparation, a shortage of water is a good thing. At least if you are concerned with healthy eating and getting the most nutritional value from your food. Much has been made recently about waterless cooking. The term means that ADDING extra water is not needed, as most meat and vegetables contain a lot of water naturally. Adding excess water can take out many of the nutrients in food. Waterless cooking also refers to cooking without the aid of oils or fats. There are several advantages of waterless cooking including higher nutrition value of food cooked, as nutrients are not lost to steam or diluted in water. Harmful fats are not introduced into the food either. Cooking time is decreased because heat is evenly distributed. Cleanup becomes easier and faster as well. Prepared food is tastier, too, because it is cooked in its own natural juices.

Many people have been using for waterless cooking because it heats up quickly. But actually, for this type of cooking, stainless steel performs better. Stainless steel disperses heat well and has excellent non-stick properties.

Waterless cookware is made of stainless steel of the highest quality. No metallic taste will be introduced to your food, and a non-stick surface like Teflon is not needed. Waterless cookware has a flat bottom to keep more surface area in contact with electric coils or a gas flame. This lets heat disperse evenly and eliminates hot spots.

The bottom of a proper waterless utensil or pot should have an aluminum or copper plate. This will aid in conducting heat throughout the piece. Heat retention is important too. The outer stainless steel does not radiate much energy, but since stainless steel cookware has an iron core, it will retain heat, so you can cook at lower temperatures.

Tight fitting lids are an important part of waterless cooking. Vegetables and meat have a high water content, so it's important to keep the water contained when it turns into steam. When the steam is sealed in, it assists in cooking. Waterless cookware has a steam valve that will whistle when enough pressure it built up to notify the cook that the food is almost done.

Most waterless cookware is offered in either seven or nine ply models. The main difference between the two is that the nine ply has more bonding agents between the layers. There is very little difference in total weight. In fact, it is unnoticeable when you hold the two different ply models of the same piece in your hand.

For cookware to be considered truly waterless it should have at least five layers. Many cookware sets are only triple plied, so they do not meet the requirement. Four additional requirements must be met for cookware to be considered waterless cookware.

They are:

-A high grade of stainless steel- often called surgical stainless steel
-Flat-bottomed pan for efficient heat transfer
-A thicker bottom plate for fast, even heat distribution
-Tight-fitting lids to seal in steam during cooking.

Stainless steel cookware and the waterless cooking style help you and your family eat better and healthier. True stainless steel makes this process possible. You also enjoy the benefit of faster cooking and faster clean up. So, shop here and find the stainless steel cookware to give your family higher nutrition with less hassle.