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It's true that borosilicate Pyrex is better than the newer stuff, but honestly both are inferior to stoneware, cast iron or stainless steel. You will not find a

It's true that borosilicate Pyrex is better than the newer stuff, but honestly both are inferior to stoneware, cast iron or stainless steel. You will not find any professional kitchen cooking in glassware.

oh_sigh 8y ago
Depends...if it is just you and your partner, cooking a couple of meals per week but also eating out a lot and not cooking for children/other housemates? Go for the glassware if you like the looks. If you're cooking frequently or intensely, go for the steel options for durability plus ultimately versatility
gordaco 8y ago
But glassware can be used in microwaves, and metal can not. I don't cook in glassware, but I very frequently heat food in glassware.
- black-tea 8y ago
  Microwaves might convenient but are inferior to conventional ovens. You won't find one in a professional (high end) kitchen.
  - vostok 8y ago
    Do you happen to have a source for this? One can find articles that seem to imply the opposite. > A few of Mr. Myhrvold’s microwave recipes — an eggplant Parmesan, which purports to turn the vegetable creamy instead of rubbery, and a steamed chocolate sponge cake — echoed ones I had seen before. (Mark Bittman has written in The New York Times about using the microwave to make several dishes, and “Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook” includes a recipe for microwaved pistachio spongecake.) https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/dining/microwave-cooking-is-more-than-just-reheating-your-coffee.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/dining/microwave-cooking-...
    - black-tea 8y ago
      Many chefs in high end restaurants won't accept a microwave. Michel Roux Jr even complained when contestants used them on British TV show Masterchef.
      - benj111 8y ago
        If you want to start name dropping, what about Heston Blumenthal? I bet he has a microwave. I'm sure some chefs reject microwaves to make a point. I would contend its a minority though, I would also contend that it's to allow the Mr Rouxs of the world to justify inflated prices, rather than any inherent problem with the machine.
    - code_duck 8y ago
      Despite that he wrote an elaborate technical cookbook, does anyone from the gourmet chef world really consider Nathan Myhrvold an authority on cuisine or cooking techniques or taste?
  - poooogles 8y ago
    Chef Ping is found in plenty of high end kitchens; I know plenty of chefs who use them from pubs right the way up to two star kitchens. Hell, even some of the sponge cake on the menu at el Bulli was microwaved.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    When microwaves were fairly novel, contemporary cookbooks and magazines acted as if future Americans would be cooking all foods in the microwave. From what I recall, my mother cooking pork roast in the microwave did not last very long.
- kibibyte 8y ago
  Metal actually can be used in a microwave safely. For example, sheet pans with rounded edges and metal bowls are quite safe, as long as you have a decent amount of something in those containers to absorb any energy that the metal reflects. Plenty of prepackaged meals found in grocery stores have a thin sheet of metal in the packaging to change the way the meal heats up in the microwave. Things like crumpled aluminum foil, a metal fork, or random bits of decorative metal in a dish could cause electrical arcing because charge can build up on the "edges" (e.g. the tines of a fork). Of course, it's more convenient to use something like glass because we just don't have to give it a second thought (aside from the whole exploding glass problem). And for that, it's reasonable to simply avoid putting any metal in a microwave.
burfog 8y ago
The overall best glass is probably fused silica. I doubt you can find it for anything other than high-end lab gear. The best glass for shatter resistance is the stuff used for large telescope mirrors, but that too would be expensive and I think somewhat easy to scratch. The scratch resistance would dramatically improve with a sapphire coating, as is done on the laser scanner windows in supermarket checkout lanes. Metal doesn't really qualify if you want something transparent. I've noticed that it is very difficult to find stainless steel that is polished on the inside. The outside is normally polished, but I'm seldom trying to clean food off of the outside.
- icebraining 8y ago
  > Metal doesn't really qualify if you want something transparent. Well, there's Aluminium oxynitride aka ALON aka "Transparent Aluminium". Probably a bit expensive for cookware, though.
  - durkie 8y ago
    The "transparent aluminum" thing really needs to die. By the same logic you could just call normal glass "transparent silicon"...
    - code_duck 8y ago
      You could call lead crystal (aka crystal, which people often think is something other than glass) transparent lead by the same token. It’s 40 to 60% lead oxide by weight.
- code_duck 8y ago
  Fused silica, aka quartz, is also employed widely in the cannabis industry. Cannabis concentrates are typically vaporized, or dab, from quartz ‘bangers’ or ‘nails’. Google Quave Club Banger or Joel Halen for more info.
devit 8y ago
Borosilicate glass (and some aluminosilicate glass-ceramic) is transparent, doesn't leech iron or nickel into the food, is easier to clean since limescale doesn't bind easily to it, doesn't rust when exposed to salty water, can be used in a microwave oven, unlike cast iron and stainless steel. The only disadvantage is that it shatters if you drop it or hit it with enough force.
- philwelch 8y ago
  Iron is a nutrient, though.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    Indeed, and cast iron pans are specifically employed by vegans for the dietary iron they provide.
- marcosdumay 8y ago
  Stainless steel shouldn't leech anything into your food, no matter what's inside it. (It's used to store many kind of acids, and doesn't leech anything into those. I hope your food is tamer than pure fluoridric acid, for example.) But there is a lot of stuff labeled "stainless steel" that stains. Sometimes even before you buy it.
benj111 8y ago
You probably won't find professional kitchens using stoneware, the only exceptions I can think of would be things like tagines, where its more down to cultural baggage, than inherent properties of the material. I'm not sure you'd find much cast iron either, who wants to be lugging around cast iron all day. Use in professional kitchen doesn't prove some underlying superiority, its just a different set of optimisations. I want to make a caserole, fry on hob, then in the oven, in a dish that I can present on the table, put the leftovers in the fridge, and be able to put the container back in the oven or microwave to reheat. That isn't what a professional kitchen is optimising for.

oh_sigh 8y ago

Depends...if it is just you and your partner, cooking a couple of meals per week but also eating out a lot and not cooking for children/other housemates? Go for the glassware if you like the looks. If you're cooking frequently or intensely, go for the steel options for durability plus ultimately versatility

gordaco 8y ago

But glassware can be used in microwaves, and metal can not. I don't cook in glassware, but I very frequently heat food in glassware.

black-tea 8y ago
Microwaves might convenient but are inferior to conventional ovens. You won't find one in a professional (high end) kitchen.
- vostok 8y ago
  Do you happen to have a source for this? One can find articles that seem to imply the opposite. > A few of Mr. Myhrvold’s microwave recipes — an eggplant Parmesan, which purports to turn the vegetable creamy instead of rubbery, and a steamed chocolate sponge cake — echoed ones I had seen before. (Mark Bittman has written in The New York Times about using the microwave to make several dishes, and “Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook” includes a recipe for microwaved pistachio spongecake.) https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/dining/microwave-cooking-is-more-than-just-reheating-your-coffee.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/dining/microwave-cooking-...
  - black-tea 8y ago
    Many chefs in high end restaurants won't accept a microwave. Michel Roux Jr even complained when contestants used them on British TV show Masterchef.
    - benj111 8y ago
      If you want to start name dropping, what about Heston Blumenthal? I bet he has a microwave. I'm sure some chefs reject microwaves to make a point. I would contend its a minority though, I would also contend that it's to allow the Mr Rouxs of the world to justify inflated prices, rather than any inherent problem with the machine.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    Despite that he wrote an elaborate technical cookbook, does anyone from the gourmet chef world really consider Nathan Myhrvold an authority on cuisine or cooking techniques or taste?
- poooogles 8y ago
  Chef Ping is found in plenty of high end kitchens; I know plenty of chefs who use them from pubs right the way up to two star kitchens. Hell, even some of the sponge cake on the menu at el Bulli was microwaved.
- code_duck 8y ago
  When microwaves were fairly novel, contemporary cookbooks and magazines acted as if future Americans would be cooking all foods in the microwave. From what I recall, my mother cooking pork roast in the microwave did not last very long.
kibibyte 8y ago
Metal actually can be used in a microwave safely. For example, sheet pans with rounded edges and metal bowls are quite safe, as long as you have a decent amount of something in those containers to absorb any energy that the metal reflects. Plenty of prepackaged meals found in grocery stores have a thin sheet of metal in the packaging to change the way the meal heats up in the microwave. Things like crumpled aluminum foil, a metal fork, or random bits of decorative metal in a dish could cause electrical arcing because charge can build up on the "edges" (e.g. the tines of a fork). Of course, it's more convenient to use something like glass because we just don't have to give it a second thought (aside from the whole exploding glass problem). And for that, it's reasonable to simply avoid putting any metal in a microwave.

burfog 8y ago

The overall best glass is probably fused silica. I doubt you can find it for anything other than high-end lab gear. The best glass for shatter resistance is the stuff used for large telescope mirrors, but that too would be expensive and I think somewhat easy to scratch. The scratch resistance would dramatically improve with a sapphire coating, as is done on the laser scanner windows in supermarket checkout lanes. Metal doesn't really qualify if you want something transparent. I've noticed that it is very difficult to find stainless steel that is polished on the inside. The outside is normally polished, but I'm seldom trying to clean food off of the outside.

icebraining 8y ago
> Metal doesn't really qualify if you want something transparent. Well, there's Aluminium oxynitride aka ALON aka "Transparent Aluminium". Probably a bit expensive for cookware, though.
- durkie 8y ago
  The "transparent aluminum" thing really needs to die. By the same logic you could just call normal glass "transparent silicon"...
  - code_duck 8y ago
    You could call lead crystal (aka crystal, which people often think is something other than glass) transparent lead by the same token. It’s 40 to 60% lead oxide by weight.
code_duck 8y ago
Fused silica, aka quartz, is also employed widely in the cannabis industry. Cannabis concentrates are typically vaporized, or dab, from quartz ‘bangers’ or ‘nails’. Google Quave Club Banger or Joel Halen for more info.

devit 8y ago

Borosilicate glass (and some aluminosilicate glass-ceramic) is transparent, doesn't leech iron or nickel into the food, is easier to clean since limescale doesn't bind easily to it, doesn't rust when exposed to salty water, can be used in a microwave oven, unlike cast iron and stainless steel. The only disadvantage is that it shatters if you drop it or hit it with enough force.

philwelch 8y ago
Iron is a nutrient, though.
- code_duck 8y ago
  Indeed, and cast iron pans are specifically employed by vegans for the dietary iron they provide.
marcosdumay 8y ago
Stainless steel shouldn't leech anything into your food, no matter what's inside it. (It's used to store many kind of acids, and doesn't leech anything into those. I hope your food is tamer than pure fluoridric acid, for example.) But there is a lot of stuff labeled "stainless steel" that stains. Sometimes even before you buy it.

benj111 8y ago

You probably won't find professional kitchens using stoneware, the only exceptions I can think of would be things like tagines, where its more down to cultural baggage, than inherent properties of the material. I'm not sure you'd find much cast iron either, who wants to be lugging around cast iron all day. Use in professional kitchen doesn't prove some underlying superiority, its just a different set of optimisations. I want to make a caserole, fry on hob, then in the oven, in a dish that I can present on the table, put the leftovers in the fridge, and be able to put the container back in the oven or microwave to reheat. That isn't what a professional kitchen is optimising for.