The Best Cookware for Glass Stoves: What To Look For
A glass ceramic or induction stovetop is one of the more attractive options for your kitchen. It’s sleek and sophisticated and adds a little something extra classy to the area. But what’s the best way to take care of it?
Well, there are a few tips and tricks for how to keep it clean, like using proper cleaner and not glass cleaner. Then there’s also the bad habit a lot of us have of leaving hot pans on the burners or trying to clean the range while it’s still hot.
Both of these are a no-no when trying to take care of your glass stovetop. That’s not the only potential problem. Did you know that using improper pots and pans on your glass stovetop could cause surface degradation?
So today, we are going to go over the right cookware to keep your glass stove cooking into the next decade without excessive wear and tear. You want your kitchen to smell amazing but also look the part.
Why Stainless Steel Cookware for a Glass Stovetop?
One of the biggest issues with glass stovetops is the weight factor. People tend to think a glass stovetop can handle the weight of heavy cookware. In fact, heavy pots and pans like a cast iron skillet or stoneware are too much for the glass. Even the coarse texture of the cookware can be an issue.
Lightweight options are best for glass stovetops. Stainless steel and hybrid cookware from HexClad is the strongest option on the market — easy on the range and induction compatible.
While there are a variety of ways that stainless steel and hybrid cookware take the cake. Of course, we’ll get to all the reasons in a minute. But first, this cookware is one of the lightest options that won’t sacrifice quality. It really is the best option for you and your glass range.
Here are a few more ways that you can expect your stainless steel to outperform the rest and keep your glass stove looking new.
Stainless Steel Is Induction-Ready
One of the more popular options in recent kitchen renovations is the addition of induction stovetops. Induction cooktops are a safer option as the surface doesn’t heat up or stay hot.
The danger of burns is minimized with an induction cooktop. It’s no wonder that cooks of all kinds are looking into this sleek option. The one issue with induction stoves, however, is that the initiating of the heat only happens with certain types of pans.
That’s where stainless steel or hybrid cookware comes in.
Thankfully, stainless steel and hybrid pans can work on induction ranges. With an induction stove, you can turn on a specific burner, but it won’t turn on until it comes into contact with a magnetic metal. Stainless steel and hybrid cookware can initiate heat, while cast iron pans or aluminum options don’t.
Stainless Steel Won’t Scratch the Glass Surface
The lightweight benefit of stainless steel keeps unnecessary pressure off the glass surface. This heavy force is one of the ways that glass stovetops deteriorate faster. Another added benefit is that stainless steel is smooth to the touch, which means that the exterior of stainless steel won’t bother the smooth surface texture of the glass.
The Mohs hardness scale is a test used to determine the strength or hardness of minerals. Each mineral is placed against the glass to determine how close to a 10 those minerals fall. The closer to 10, the harder the mineral.
Pans made from cast iron, enamel, and other ceramic cookware, among other materials, are hard enough to scratch glass, making them either a nine or 10 on the scale. If this is the case, they’re highly likely or even guaranteed to scratch your cooktop.
This is why the weight of heavier cookware, like cast iron cookware or an enamel dutch oven, will scratch the range when you move it around while cooking. One minute you’re flipping an egg in a frying pan, and the next moment you’re trying to buff out scratches on your range (and sorry to burst your bubble, but those scratches aren’t going anywhere).
You’re stuck with blemishes on your stovetop because you chose the wrong saute pan for your range.
Aluminum and Copper Can Leave Residue on Glass
Copper and aluminum pots and pans are generally lightweight and still have some of the same features as stainless steel. This is true. However, the qualities of these pans aren’t on the same level as stainless steel or hybrid pans, no matter how hard they try.
While aluminum conducts heat well, it doesn’t have the ability to initiate heat on induction stoves but will work on traditional glass cooktops.
But copper and aluminum also have another negative aspect on glass that most people don’t realize with the first few uses. These types of cookware sets generally undergo chemical processes to give them a nonstick cooking surface.
You may have heard some aluminum pans referred to as hard-anodized cookware in the past. This kind of cookbook possesses a coating that has to be added to the exterior of the pan.
But with coated copper and aluminum alloys comes the risk of leaching into food. With acidic ingredients comes a high pH balance.
This pH reacts to the alloys in aluminum and copper and can potentially leave behind a metallic flavor in your meal (and probably not doing any favors to your health either).
This can also happen with the exterior chemical process that your pans have undergone. But instead of metal properties seeping into your food, they stick to your range, leaving behind residue that will eat away at the glass surface.
What Should You Look for in Cookware for a Glass Stovetop?
While stainless steel or hybrid cookware is the best metal alloy for glass stovetops, there are other factors to influence your purchasing decision. There are a few things you should keep in mind when shopping for the best cookware set.
Just because two brands are stainless steel doesn’t mean they’re created equal. You need stainless steel that can stand up to anything without potentially wrecking the kitchen. Thankfully, the HexClad stainless steel hybrid cookware set is exactly what you need.
We have all the reasons you should make the switch to this versatile cookware here.
Handles That Stay Cool
Our stay cool handle technology is an advantage you might not even realize you’re missing in your current pan set. When you need to toss, flip, or stir ingredients, there’s nothing worse than having to reach for a pot holder just to touch the handle because they get too hot to touch.
Then there’s the issue of straining noodles or sliding food out of the pan. You’ll leave your hand with scorch marks just trying to get dinner on the table. But with our pots and pans, you can touch the handles at any time during the cooking process, and they’ll never be a bother.
It’s an advantage that you won’t even realize makes a big difference, but the grip of the handle in your hand versus an unwieldy quilted buffer is a big deal.
Cookware That’s Metal-Utensil Safe
Metal utensils have an added advantage of precision when flipping food. They are also better for more delicate foods, like flaky fish and or fried green tomatoes.
You’ll need a utensil with a thin but sturdy end that won’t ruin your food or rip apart your fish. Silicone utensils can be too bulky or flimsy to really handle the ingredients properly. In the process of all that utensil wrangling, you end up with a messy plate.
But the problem with using metal utensils is that most pans can’t stand up to the job. So you need to choose the best stainless steel hybrid pan for the challenge. Lucky for you, our hybrid pans were built just for this.
This gleaming cookware features two layers of stainless steel with an aluminum core sandwiched in the middle. This means you’ll get the utmost in heat retention mixed with the toughness of high-quality metal cookware.
Your metal utensils will be right at home in these pans — and you won’t have to worry about tarnishing or scratching the cooking surface.
Easy-To-Clean Cookware
The more we cook and perfect certain techniques, the more adventurous we become. With the addition of new and exciting ingredients come bigger and bigger messes. If you have a dishwasher, it’s no big deal.
But if you aren’t cooking with HexClad nonstick pans, are you sure your no-name 12-piece cookware set is dishwasher safe? Some of those brands out there that claim to be the best or the most durable pots and pans are hand-wash only. That means you’ll spend even more time and energy spent in the kitchen after you just exerted a ton of effort on that over-the-top meal.
Washing a sink full of dishes by hand is the last thing we are prepared to do right now. With HexClad, you won’t have to. Our cookware is strong enough to stand up to high heat and the power wash that a dishwasher dishes out.
The result? A cleaner dish tomorrow without so much wasted time and energy today.
Stainless Steel Inside and Out
Another great feature of a stainless steel hybrid nonstick cookware set is that it is considered a non-reactive metal. This means that the pan won’t react to acidic foods or foods with a high pH balance. Instead, the cooking surface will remain neutral, ensuring that metal and chemicals aren’t found anywhere in your meal.
There is a benefit to having aluminum in your cookware, however, and HexClad won’t deny it. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat, meaning it heats up fast and evenly.
To ensure that our stainless steel cookware has this property, we added a layer of aluminum to the core of our pans between two layers of stainless steel for great heat conductivity.
This means that you get the durability of the strongest pan on the outside, with an even and quick heat distribution.
Cooking on Glass Shouldn’t Be Hard
Glass stove tops are more and more popular and are a beautiful feature in any updated kitchen. If you are thinking of getting a glass cooktop or just had it installed, wonderful.
However, you need to take care of it the right way to keep it looking sleek and shiny for years to come. To do this, you need to treat the range the right way. Get off to a good start with HexClad cookware.
If you want to be a pro in the kitchen, you have to think like a pro — and cook like one. HexClad is the induction cookware you need and is ideal for your glass top stoves. Spoiler alert: they are oven safe too.
We know you’ll love it as much as we do.
Sources:
8 Habits That Can Ruin a Glass Stovetop | Allrecipes
