Is it Safe to Use Stainless Steel Pots and Pans on a Ceramic Stove?
A ceramic or glass-top stove can give a whole new look to your kitchen. If you have cast iron pots, you can put them away and get out your stainless steel pots and pans. Change the stove top and the pots and pans at the same time to avoid damaging your new ceramic cooktop. Manufacturers recommend stainless steel pots for ceramic or glass stove tops. Does this Spark an idea?
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Using a Ceramic Cooktop
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Your ceramic cooktop is likely made of Ceran, a product created in Germany. After years of production with arsenic and antimony, Schott Ceran won the German innovation award for 2010 for a new production process that does not use heavy metals. Ceramic cooktop surfaces handle heat well from the underside source and have a sleek appeal with no burners or drip pans to clean. The cooktop requires extra care to avoid damage and surface scratches.
Avoiding Damage
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The glass or ceramic cooktop scratches like glass. Learn not to slide pots and pans from burner to burner. Lift the pan off the stove to move it to another burner. Remove heavy items from the cabinets over your cooktop. Just one drop of a heavy object will break the stove top. Clean the cooktop regularly and completely to avoid scratches from small particles like salt. Check the bottom of the pot before you place it on the stove, making certain it is dry and clean with no bumps. Do not use your cooktop as counter space. This may cause damage to the cooktop and is not a safe practice.
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Pots and Pans
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Use stainless steel pots and pans on your cooktop. The pots need to be flat on the bottom to make contact with the cooktop and cook evenly. Most manufacturers do not recommend glass pots and pans. Flat-bottom aluminum pans will work, but they leave gray marks or residue that is difficult to remove. Use pots the correct size, no larger than 1 inch more than the burner. Leave canning pots or gumbo pots for outside cooking if you have a ceramic cooktop, as the weight or the air restriction can damage the ceramic stove top.
Why Stainless Steel Works
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Stainless steel is the product of choice for pots and pans for ceramic and glass stove tops. It does not leave the gray marks of aluminum and does not have the weight or rough surface of cast iron. Glass cookware does not have the conductivity of stainless, and many glass pans are not flat on the bottom. Heat-resistant glass is the slowest conductor of heat, according to Utah State University Cooperative Extension Service. Choose stainless steel pots with heavy bottoms to avoid warping. Do not use a warped stainless steel pot on your ceramic cooktop, as it is no longer flat and will not conduct the heat properly.
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References
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