Stainless steel cookware is preferred by professional chefs and home cooks alike.
It is easy to work with, heats up quickly and consistently, and has virtually no risk of leaching dangerous chemicals into your food.
Stainless steel is easy to clean and most modern sets are dishwasher safe.
Invest in the right set and you could see your cookware last for decades.
If you want to protect the health of your family then stainless steel cookware is the obvious choice.
Learn why stainless steel is better than other materials, and take a look at the safest stainless steel cookware set for your kitchen.
The Safest Stainless Steel Cookware Set to Buy Today
We have two suggestions that are among the safest stainless steel cookware sets that you can use in your kitchen.
This particular mirror polished set is affordable and one of the lowest-cost safe stainless steel cookware sets that you will find today.
The the3-Ply stainless steel of this cookware has no coating, meaning that is free from any health hazards.
This set has that classic look and comes with a cool grip helper handle that provides extra support.
It includes all of the essentials for popular pieces and comes with a lifetime warranty for your peace of mind.
Buy from reputable brands when choosing the safest stainless steel cookware sets.
Cuisinart is a top recommendation for its long record of safety, reliability, and market-beating lifetime warranty.
Stainless steel is one of the safest cooking materials and is the obvious choice if you want to limit the toxins consumed by your family and friends.
What Makes Stainless Steel Safer Than Other Cookware?
There are various material options when it comes to selecting home cookware.
Nonstick cookware offers impressive handling performance that can make some recipes easier, but there are concerns about ingesting foreign materials when the coating starts to wear down.
Copper cookware is popular for its aesthetics and durability, but it could leach chemicals into food.
Aluminum cookware is incredibly affordable, but it can leach metal into food, especially when cooking with acidic ingredients.
Due to all the concerns surrounding toxicity, many home cooks are turning to stainless steel cookware.
Even when the cookware is combined with nickel to prevent corrosion, it is still considered safer and more inert than other metals.
The US Food and Drug Administration considers stainless steel cookware to be safe for food preparation when it has around 16% chromium in its composition.
This covers all types of stainless steel cookware that you will find on the market today.
While stainless steel cookware is considered inert, there is some leaching that occurs.
Some of the chromium from the metal can leach into food, but it is not at levels dangerous to human health.
Chromium is necessary for a balanced diet, with most adults needing between 50 and 200mcg every day.
Nickel is a component of most stainless steel (some products are made without nickel), and this can also leach during the cooking process.
We get a nickel in our diet from chocolate, grains, and nuts.
Some of our dietary nickel comes from our cooking appliances, like stainless steel pots and pans.
The amount of nickel leached from stainless steel cookware isn’t known to be dangerous.
Because stainless steel cookware doesn’t have an additional coating, and because the amount of metal it can leach into food is minimal, it is considered the safest cookware around.
When you get down to the micrograms, all-metal cookware leaches something into food.
Stainless steel leaches far less than aluminum or cast iron.
You Can Minimize Leaching When Cooking With the Safest Stainless Steel Cookware
There are ways to limit your exposure to trace minerals from your pots and pans.
Purchasing nickel-free cookware is one way to reduce your intake of nickel.
Products that use 18/0 and 18/8 stainless steel, or 400 series stainless steel, reduce your exposure.
- You can also avoid cooking acidic food (such as pasta sauce made with tomatoes) in your stainless steel cookware. For acidic sauces, an enamel pot will eliminate metal leaching altogether.
- You can remove food immediately after it has cooked. This will limit its exposure to the stainless steel.
- When cleaning, avoid abrasive detergents and scouring pads. These can damage the metal and contribute to leaching.
Even with these steps, there will still be some trace metal elements that end up in your food.
As we’ve covered in the previous section, these are minimal and aren’t known to cause adverse side effects in healthy people who consume balanced diets.
Don’t stress the details when using stainless steel cookware.
With a quality set, you’ll be able to keep your family safe, and most types of stainless steel cookware are considered to be non-toxic.