Waterless Cookware Blog

Multiple layers (or plies) of #304 surgical stainless steel (18/10 chromium/nickel blend) represent a unique feature of quality waterless cookware.   Ply count less than five is generally indicative of cookware incapable of waterless cooking performance.  More than five plies (7-ply, 9-ply for example) add weight and heat retention but only marginally improve waterless performance.

Many brands (Calphalon, All-Clad, Kitchen Aid, Cuisinart, Rachael Ray to name a few) offer ‘Tri-Ply’ stainless cookware which is inadequate for waterless performance.  There are other deficiencies in these brands as well—lack of vapor-seal/steam/temperature control lids and absent a critical design feature—the horizontal ‘lip’ or ‘well’ of true waterless pots and pans upon which the lid rests.

Synthetic or glass coated cookware (Teflon and ceramics) generally sport single ply construction and simply fail to meet waterless cooking fundamentals.

Multiple ply stainless steel construction is only part of what makes quality waterless cookware both unique and superior among all other types.

Compressed between plies are ‘elements’ or layers of heat-conductive metals (copper, aluminum, titanium—up to 12 elements or distinct metal layers are commonly available).  Stainless Steel retains heat better than any other metal; but doesn’t transfer heat as efficiently as some metals.  For this reason, efficient heat-conductive ‘elements’ are sandwiched between plies during fabrication.  The result is unparalleled, user-friendly, food-friendly performance.  Of this construction, Harold McGee says “…these hybrids are the closest thing we have to the ideal chemically inert but thermally responsive pan.”  (page 791, On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen:  2004 Scribner edition).

What’s in a Ply?  …the waterless difference!   …and that difference is chemically inert, thermally responsive cookware—the only nonstick, non-toxic cookware capable of true waterless cooking performance.