If you’re reading this article, chances are you’ve become a proud owner of the new glass top stove, congratulations. Glass top stoves are stylish, easy to use, and most importantly, easy to clean.
But the bad news is, you might need to throw away your old cookware set and invest in the new one designed specifically for glass top stoves. [no_toc]
By using the wrong cookware, you risk damaging your stove and can even break the top. Here are the most critical things to keep in mind when choosing cookware for your glass top stove.
1. Choose the right material
When it comes to cooking on the glass top stoves, the materials your cookware sets are made of are highly important. Each glass top stove requires its own material, so read the manual carefully. There are 5 widely used materials to look out for:
- Carbon steel: Carbon steel cookware is extra durable and excellent at keeping the heat. It’s lightweight, thin, and usually has a smooth surface, making it a great choice for glass top stoves. But cheap, low-quality sets wear down very quickly and become unsafe to use.
- Stainless steel: One of the most popular choices for all stoves, stainless steel cookware is perfect for glass tops too. It’s durable and affordable. Plus, it doesn’t react with acidic and alkaline food and doesn’t corrode. But it poorly conducts the heat, so look for stainless steel cookware with aluminum or copper core in the bottom to retain the heat.
- Titanium: Non-allergic, non-reactive, durable and lightweight titanium cookware is just what you need. It’s absolutely stretch-resistant, which means it will serve you for years. The heat-up time is fast and it perfectly conducts the heat. Titanium cookware doesn’t warp or dent and often features antibacterial coating. The downside is the price. Titanium cookware costs a fortune but it’s worth its price tag.
- Lined copper: Copper cookware is expensive as well and despite a great number of perks it has one huge downside. It disperses the heat well but reacts to everything so your food may have some metallic or any other poisonous taste. Plus, copper cookware warps easily. Look for the set lined with stainless steel, silver, or tin to keep your food’s taste and nutrients.
- Aluminum: Unlike other cookware sets, aluminum cookware is budget-friendly yet strong and durable. It’s lightweight so it doesn’t scratch the glass top. Aluminum cookware is ideal for frying and sautéing thanks to its excellent heat-responsiveness. The downside is, aluminum does react to alkaline and acidic foods.
2. Structure
The structure of most glass top stoves doesn’t allow using oversized cookware. Apart from the material, you’ll need to pick the correct size of your pots too. Look for cookware items with one inch either bigger or smaller than your burner size. Glass top stoves don’t produce enough heat to cook on dented or curved surface. Choosing cookware of the right size will fix the problem.
3. Cooking time
Yep, you read that right. Consider how much time you’re going to spend cooking each day or week. This will help you determine if your cookware purchase is worth a big investment. If you’re going to cook once in a while, feel free to buy budget-friendly cookware sets.
Picking the right cookware for your glass top glass can play a crucial role in how long your stove will serve you and what quality of your meals will be.
