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Why Do Some Cooking Pots Have Wooden Handles?
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By eHow Contributing Writer
Metal Pots
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To understand why some cooking pots have wooden handles, we need to first understand why cooking pots are made out of metal. Metal is a conductor of heat. That means that heat moves through it very quickly and easily. When the bottom of the cooking pot is heated, the heat is conducted through the metal of the pot into the food inside, cooking it. This, along with the fact that most metals won't burn at cooking temperatures, makes metal an ideal material to use for cooking. Unfortunately, it also poses a problem for anyone trying to hold onto the cookware.
Negative Side of Conduction
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The heat doesn't just go into the food--it goes through the whole metal cooking pot, including the handles. As the heat moves away from the fire, the temperature gets lower, but the metal handles of many cooking pots can still get hot enough to scorch your hands. And the longer you leave a cooking pot on the stove, the hotter the handles will get.
Solution
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Wood is an insulator--a material that doesn't conduct heat well. When the handles are covered with wood, the heat doesn't flow through the wood quickly, which means that the handle stays cool, making it safe to grip. Wood is flammable, but it requires a higher temperature than the outer rim of the cooking pot to ignite. Wood isn't the only insulator used on cooking pots. Ceramics and plastic also make good insulators which can be used to prevent the handle from overheating. The only place where wooden handles aren't useful is on pots and pans which go in the oven. In the oven, the handle is exposed directly to very high temperatures, which can cause it to ignite.
eHow Article: Why Do Some Cooking Pots Have Wooden Handles?
