Frank Spuderino

Thanks for the quick response. I ended up buying a piece by eurodib from their homichef line. On the site it says that the bottom is 4mm thick of aluminum but in the store on the demo cutaway model the bottom is at least a full cm. The odd thing is that when I inquired from the distributor about the maximum heat that the pan is able to withstand in the oven no one was able to give me an answer. This leads me to my following question. How accurate is oven ratings on cookware? Lines like vollrath say that their products can handle continual use at 450F while other more expensive cookware like Cuisinox elite says it can only withstand 400F. Then you have some companies like eurodib and josef strauss by orly global,that are sold at restaurant supply stores, that do not say anything and in the case of the latter say oven safe but do not give a temperature. What has been your experience with cook-top to oven cookware? Is there a general consensus that all good cookware is able to handle a certain heat? Or are certain types, Clad , SS with aluminum bottom,etc., able to withstand more than others? Thanks again.

Hi, First off I would like to thank you for writing such an informative piece with a large amount of discussion following it. I had a few questions though. You say that a thick aluminum base on a SS piece of cookware distributes heat efficiently through the bottom of the pot. I was wondering if that diffusion permeates into the sides of the pot. The best example I have is making tomato based pasta sauces. I have heard many conflicting stories about the use of aluminum pots and tomatoes even though a lot of restaurants use aluminum pots to make pasta sauces and transfer them into another container upon completion. It is my understanding that aluminum would react and create a metallic taste as well as damage the pot. So then this leads to SS cookware with a thick aluminum base but if the sides of the cookware do not benefit from the better heat transfer that the base receives from the aluminum does that mean that the bottom is hotter than the sides? This would mean that the sauce is cooked to various degrees depending on the distance from the bottom of the pot making for uneven cooking. The other question I had was that in Modernist Cuisine, (I know I'm lucky because my copy came in before expected), the authors inform the reader of a trick, vol 1 p.266, saying that by placing a 1-3cm solid aluminum block on the burner that the heat will be spread more across the skillet more evenly than the best copper pan is able to do. I know that this depends on if you have had a chance to look at the book but I was wondering if the same thing could be applied to an electric coil cook-top, the example in the book uses gas. I was also wondering then if this trick would eliminate the need for a full aluminum disc bottom on stainless steel cookware. Would it allow thin or less than 7mm disc bottom SS cookware to have the heat properties of copper especially in pots on the sides that are not in contact with the aluminum? Would the aluminum increase the responsiveness of changes in heat on an electric coil cook-top? I know this is quite a big post but is the sum of a lot thinking and searching for answers. Thanks