What to pay attention to when buying cookware
"Some cookware can spoil your enjoyment of cooking: Rattling lids, hot handles, pots and pans that burn everything, outwardly curved bases having poor conductivity, which take ages to boil water, pots that have become unsightly or are difficult to clean.
To enable you to avoid experiences like this, here are one or two tips that you should watch out for when purchasing cookware:
The Material
The body of your new stoveware should consist of stainless steel or high-quality aluminium or robust cast iron. These materials are proven, food-neutral and guarantee perfect cooking results. Stainless steel is especially low-maintenance and hygienic, as it is dishwasher-compatible.
The Base
The base under cookware should facilitate convenient cooking and frying. To guarantee this, it must have certain properties and fulfil corresponding prerequisites. We at Schulte-Ufer offer you two variants - they take account of different cooking customs, but guarantee excellent cooking results!
Lightning Fast -
the protherm® all-stove copper base
The protherm® all-stove copper base is our trademark! We are the only German company still to provide stoveware with a copper base. Needless to say, we do not do this on a whim, but for good reasons:
The base of a pot or pan is, as already described, crucial for optimum preparation. For anyone seeking a base with outstanding conductive and regulating properties, there is no escaping our premium base, the protherm® all-stove copper base.
The protherm® all-stove copper base consists of three layers: the stainless steel base, the copper core, which lies in the middle, and the stainless steel end plate.
Thanks to copper's optimum heat conductivity, the stoveware heats up quickly and evenly. At the same time, the heat supply can be optimally regulated by the copper base - pots and pans with a copper base respond directly to upward or downward adjustment of the temperature. It is almost as if the heat supply were being controlled on the pot and not at the stove switch. As a result, there is little or no risk of anything being overcooked. Consequently, you not only save time and energy with the protherm® all-stove copper base, but you also cook in a manner that is extremely gentle on vitamins.
The protherm® all-stove copper base lends itself to use on all common stove types (glass ceramic, gas, electric) including induction hobs.
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1 Stainless steel pan base |
The Perennial -
the ecotherm® aluminium encapsulated base
The ecotherm® aluminium encapsulated base offers an alternative to the protherm® all-stove copper base. This base consists of different materials and follows a different heat principle: while copper is a perfect heat conductor, aluminium is synonymous with excellent heat storage.
The aluminium base stores the absorbed heat when bringing to the boil on the highest level. As soon as the food starts to cook, the energy supply can be reduced. From this moment onwards, the stored heat supports the cooking process by being supplied to the food to be cooked reliably and continuously over a longer period. An aluminium base is ideally suited to preparing dishes with a longer cooking time.
The ecotherm® all-stove aluminium encapsulated base also lends itself to use on all common stove types (glass ceramic, gas, electric) including induction hobs.
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1 Stainless steel pan base 2 Aluminium core 3 Stainless steel induction base |
Conclusion: Our bases enable you to gain time, conserve energy and cook in a healthy manner!
Base Deflection
Regardless of the base variant you choose, stoveware must rest optimally on the hotplate. That is why strict guidelines need to apply to the manufacture of the base:
Cookware bases arch outwards in heated state - the base material expands. To ensure that a pot or pan, when heated, does not start to bob on the hotplate, it is recommended that the base be given an exactly defined inward inclination. This must not be too large or too small, but must be individually tailored to each item of cookware. This requires a great deal of experience and state-of-the-art electronics. With us, you can rely on this being the case, with no ifs or buts.
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The Lids
Rattling is not part of the craft of cooking. This is not just because rattling is annoying, but also because a good lid ensures that the steam remains in the pot. This is particularly important for gentle cooking with a small amount of added water and for frying without fat.
Lids should therefore be shaped so as to allow steam to condense at the lid and to drip back into the pot as water - and this is true of ours. This preserves vitamins, mineral compounds, colour and taste.
The Pouring Rim
To enable drip-free and unerring pouring, every pot and every pan should have a stabilizing pouring rim.
The Handles
Make sure that your new stoveware has handles that are ergonomically well-formed, heat-insulating and integrally connected to the body of the stoveware. Pot and pan handles should be constructed so as not to press or cut into the user's hands. They need to be large enough to be held firmly in the hand and not to slip out of the hand during pouring.
While stainless steel handles are fully dishwasher and oven-compatible, plastic handles are subject to minor constraints: For example, frequent cleaning in a dishwasher may cause them to lose some of their strength of colour, and they can only be used in an oven up to a temperature of 180 C.
The Surfaces
The surface of stoveware should facilitate straightforward cleaning - no matter whether cleaning is done by machine or by hand. High gloss polished surfaces can be cleaned at any time without great effort. Copper surfaces, on the other hand, require intensive care, as copper oxidizes, forming a patina. Preventing this patina formation presupposes regular cleaning with a commercially available copper maintenance product.
