What is the difference between an enamel pot and a stainless steel pot?!
What is the difference between an enamel pot and a stainless steel pot?
This is for cooking.
Answers:
If you are asking about enameled CAST IRON pans, yes they are the best conductors of heat by far. Amazing (and pricey) cooking vessels. If you are talking about regular enameled pans (like the pretty candy colored ones you see on QVC or HSN) they are just a coating on the outside, not the cooking surface, and have no bearing whatsoever on the cooking ability of the pans. They are enameled aluminum pans, usually nonstick, and no different than any other pans.
If you will tell us the exact pans you are wondering about, I think we could all give you better advice.....
Here's some info on the two:
Inert, Non-Reactive Cookware -- A Superior Choice
Enamel is actually a fused glass surface. Le Creuset and Chantal are two quality enamel brands. With proper care, a fine enamel pot lasts a lifetime, whereas inexpensive enamel cookware from variety stores has such a thin enamel layer that it chips easily and is not worth its purchase price. Once chipped, discard enamel kitchenware or enamel fragments will find their way into your food and the underlying metal will react with food. If it’s affordable, favor enamel pots.
Moderately Reactive Cookware -- A Good Choice
Stainless steel is the least reactive metal, and for many people, the most versatile and healthful cookware option. Of the various weights, heavy-gauge stainless or surgical steel is superior. It makes an acceptable set of basic pots, pans and bake ware. Remove food from metal as soon as it is cooked to minimize the food from developing a metallic taste. Once stainless steel has been scratched, through normal scouring, the leaching of metallic ions is more noticeable. Better yet, don't scour stainless cookware. When you've burned something onto the pot, cover the damage with baking soda or a strong detergent and let it rest for a day. The soda will "lift" off the scoarched food.
For more info see the link from which I found the information:
http://www.rwood.com/articles/healthy_co...
Let's make this simple, enamel is a coating. Stainless steel, well, it's just stainless steel
Enamel is a paint-like coating so Enamel pots are typically cast metal pots that are coated with enamel.
Stainless steel is a steel that is non-reactive with most liquids and foods so Stainless steel is a bare metal pot made from stainless steel.
For cooking, the most important thing for a pot is the bottom. A heavy/thick chunk of material where the pot sits over the heat source helps distribute the heat better so you don't have hot spots which can result in scorched food.
Of the two, typically an enameled pot has a heavy bottom. Stainless steel pots can have a heavy bottom, but there are thin stainless steel pots available.
In my opinion, thin bottom pots are only good for boiling water and steaming. Basically cooking somthing with a lot of liquid.
The thick bottom pots are great for browning, braising and stewing. They retain heat a lot longer so you can cook a long braise with the burner on low to med-low and not scorch the food touching the bottom of the pot.
I guess it just depends upon what you have.
Being a former chef and having used both, enamel is better for slow cooking or roasting, stainless steel is more for the stovetop, stainless steel roasters and cassorles are fine, but don't distribute the heat as well, and enamel is not a good pan or pot for sauted foods as it heats to quickly and can have hot spots.
So if you purchasinga set of pots and pans, get enamel ovenware and stailess steel pots and pans, you can saute in the one and bake in the other, and Le Creuset is sold in sets or individual pi\eces, they are expensive but last 20-30 years.