The principles of cooking without water are relatively simple and straightforward.

Principle 1: high-quality stainless steel used to protect food

Many people use aluminum cookware because their excellent thermal conductivity allows them to heat up quickly and evenly. But there have been studies that indicate that aluminum cookware can react with some foods and may not be good for your health. One solution is to use stainless steel cookware.

The waterless cookware is made of high-quality stainless steel, which does not allow the flavors of metal to seep into the food. Stainless steel is also easier to clean and does not require coatings like Teflon, which can also penetrate food.

The highest grade of stainless steel available is surgical stainless steel. It contains approximately 18% chromium and a higher percentage of nickel thanks to “ordinary” stainless steel. Surgical stainless steel’s popularity is due to its shiny appearance that lasts for the life of the product. Its excellent corrosion resistance is due to a passive and invisible oxide film that forms on the metal surface in air.

Principle 2: High heat capacity and conductivity.

Because waterless cooking does not use water or oil as the cooking medium, the pan itself must have excellent conductivity and heat retention properties to ensure even cooking. Waterless cookware achieves this through a carefully designed composite construction. Good quality waterless cookware has multiple layers, particularly at the bottom of the pan (where conductivity and heat retention are critical). At a minimum, a waterless container should have a bottom layer made of a highly conductive metal such as copper or aluminum, a heavy inner layer of a metal with a high heat capacity such as iron or steel, and a top layer of steel. stainless (the top layer is the layer that comes into contact with the food).

Principle 3: Flat bottom used for efficient heat transfer

Cookware bottoms are machined flat so that as much surface area as possible is in contact with the coils of an electric stove. The machined surface also offers better efficiency with gas stoves.

Principle 4: bottom plate used to evenly distribute heat

Multi-element, multi-layer construction distributes heat evenly across the bottom of the pot or pan. This eliminates hot spots that can burn food.

Principle 5: Iron core used to retain heat.

Once cookware is heated, it retains its heat due to the high heat capacity of the heavy iron core, so the cooking pot maintains a nearly constant temperature throughout the cooking process.

Principle 6: Special cap to prevent water from escaping

The lid forms a seal with the pot, blocking the natural moisture that escapes from the food during the heating process. Food can be cooked in its own natural juices, so that vitamins and minerals are retained.

Since vegetables contain a large amount of water, there is little or no need to add anything when cooking. The water that comes off the vegetables when they cook turns into steam and is contained in the pot next to the lid. Steam helps the cooking process.

Note: If you are frying and need to reduce a little water / juices, you can open the lid slightly or open the steam valve to let steam escape, then close the lid to let the food finish cooking in its own juice.

Principle 7: Advanced knob with steam valve used to announce when to turn off the heating.

Once the natural juices generate enough steam, a whistle or steam valve notifies the cook. At that time the cook can put out the fire. This saves energy and the food cooks at a constant temperature, due to the pot’s heat retention capacity and the heat of the steam inside the pot.

The result is tastier and healthier meals!

Foods cooked with these seven cookware principles cook faster, at lower temperatures, and in their own juices, resulting in tastier and healthier meals.

Read the remaining articles in the series: How do waterless cookware work? How to cook with kitchen utensils without water? …