Which utensils do you use for cooking? 

Are you using Nonstick pans or Aluminium vessels for cooking your food? Or the pressure cooker is part of your daily cooking?

If yes then you might be unknowingly inviting severe health issues like Hypothyroidism, PCOD, Loss of memory, complications of the heart, kidney, and even cancer.

So which is the safest cookware in the Indian market? Coming up the other side, cookwares in India ranked from worst to best. Stay tuned.

Most people nowadays are well aware of the importance of eating healthy. However, few know that the cookware that you use is just as important.

A cooking utensil is much more than what you might think it to be. When the cooking utensil is heated, definitely some part of it liches into the food.

Even the healthiest of diets can lead to serious health complications  (Constipation, Skin Problems, Lack of Energy, Paralysis, Liver Problems, Heart Complications, Brain disorders) if your pots and pans are toxic.

So making things simple for you, I examined the most commonly available cookware in the Indian market and based on how safe they are for cooking? I’ve divided them into five categories.

Starting with category no. 1, which includes all types of 

Non-Stick Cookware

Over 90% of the urban Indian homes used nonstick cookware. 

You go to a shopping complex; you find that most of the cooking utensils lying there have a nonstick coating on it. 

Obviously, because it is very convenient (easy to use, easy to clean, not heavy, less oil is required) to use, but did you know that it is also the most dangerous?

So much so, that once a german man has sued a nonstick cookware company because a toxic fume produced from it has killed his parrots.

Most nonstick pans are coated with Poly Tetra Fluoro Ethylene, a plastic polymer also known as Teflon.

When you cook in Teflon, and you see that smoke coming up out of the pan? If you have to trap that smoke and have it lab tested you would find so many toxic chemicals present in it including heavy metals like Mercury and Cadmium.

These toxic fumes have been proven to do serious damage to the body, especially to the brain and lungs.

Some cheap nonstick cookware may also have a chemical called PFOA (Polyfluoro Octanoic Acid) which is life-threatening as it stays in the body for long.

After many researches, it has been linked to various types of cancers. It is said that nonstick cookware is still not banned in India.

Basically, if you’re looking for a healthy lifestyle, nonstick cookware should not enter your kitchen.

You need not wait till the chip off, just replace them right away.

And if you thought the granite cookware is any better because they are being marketed that way, you need to think again.

These two again are coated with the same toxic PTFE (Poly Tetra Fluoro Ethylene).

Category no. 2 includes

Aluminium Cookware

Again, one of the most commonly used cooking utensils is made of aluminium. 

aluminium rose to fame because it is abundantly available, cheap, durable, lightweight, versatile, good thermal conductor, and recyclable.

Today aluminium has become the most commonly used commercial cooking utensils by far. But unfortunately aluminium is toxic.

The problem is that when we cook in an aluminium vessel, it slowly leeches in the food. 

In fact, you can do an experiment, 

• Buy a new aluminium vessel, and do its weight. 
• Start using for daily cooking and after three years weigh it again 
• You will find a considerable decrease in the weight of the vessel. 

This is because most of the aluminium entered the food which was cooked in it.

Aluminium is a thyrotoxic metal that gets deposited in the body. 

Today doctors clearly apprehend that the upward search in the thyroid cases could be the excessive use of the aluminium utensils.

Not only this, using aluminium vessels for cooking can lead to serious complications of the heart, kidney, and brain.

These days in the market you can find all sorts of aluminium vessels. 100% aluminium vessels, some alloy of aluminium, an aluminium vessel with nonstick coating, Hard anodized aluminium vessels soon, and so forth.

Avoid all of these, as they do pose some serious threats to your health.

Coming to category no. 3, which includes

Stainless Steel Cookware and Ceramic Cookware

Another standard option in the Indian market is stainless steel cookware. 

100% stainless steel is definitely a better choice than the ones which we have already discussed in the previous two categories.

Although this too has hidden dangers. You might have come across stainless cookware with copper bottoms, haven’t you? 

No doubt copper is a good conductor of heat, but it is generally not recommended for cooking as it reacts with oils, acidic foods which may prove detrimental.

Certain stainless steel cookwares have an excessive amount of nickel to provide extra shine. It should be avoided as nickel is a highly toxic metal. 

X: Y, The ratio of chromium to nickel decides the so-called grade (how safe it is for cooking) of stainless steel. 

The first number represents the percentage of chromium while the second number represents the nickel. The lesser the amount of nickel, the safer it is.

Talking about ceramic cookware no doubt 100% ceramic cookware is safe, but the problem is that it is so hard to find and it is very, very expensive.

Most so-called ceramic cookware in the Indian market is not more than its coating over aluminium. So do not waste your money on them.

Category no. 4 includes

Cast Iron Cookware, Brass Cookware, Glass cookware, and Bronze Cookware

These are among the safer options available in the market. However, they do have certain limitations.

For example, cast iron is very heavy and needs much care as it’s prone to rust. And if you are cooking in a rusted vessel, you are allowing toxins to enter your body.

But if you are ready to take care of a cast iron, it is definitely recommended.

Brass cookware is another excellent option. According to Indian tradition, brass utensils need to be re-tinned naturally before use.

When food is cooked in such brass utensils, it keeps almost 93% nutrients. Aluminium, on the other hand, retains only 13-15% nutrients.

Personally, I have been using brass cookware for over six months now, and I have clearly noticed its benefits.

The only downside of bras is that you will need a little more care while washing.

Glass is another safe option, ideal for my microwave cooking.

Bronze cookware, another alloy metal is commonly known as Kansa metal is best in this category. It keeps almost 97% of nutrients. It was widely used for cooking in India 30-40 years back, but unfortunately, it is rarely seen in the market nowadays.

If you can get it, then go for it.

Now before I reveal the best utensil cookware to cook in, here are some of the

Few dishonorable Mentions

The Pressure Cooker

The pressure cooker was not a part of our Indian cooking heritage until a few years ago when this foreign technology hit the Indian market and became intensely popular, and why not it cooks the food in just half the time.

But did you know that the food cooked in the pressure cooker is not actually cooked but broken and is devoid of almost all vital micronutrients?

The undue pressure exerted on the food kills almost 90% of the nutrients. Doesn’t matter what material your pressure cooker is made of? The food cooked in it will be deficient in nutrition.

Using a pressure cooker, you might be saving some time, but you are losing on your health.

So which is the best cookware in the Indian market? Well, category no. 5 includes none-other-than 

Clay Pots 

Earthen pots are by far the most scientific and the healthiest cookware ever made. 

The porosity and the natural insulation properties of clay cause the heat and moisture to circulate evenly throughout the clay pots due to which there is hardly any nutrient loss.

Yes, it’s only on the clay pot that you can retain 100% nutrients of the food. Because it is made from the earth, its composition is exactly what is needed for the human body.

Having over, eating essential minerals in their right quantities, earthenware is much better than any metal cookware in the market.

Clay has Manganese, Magnesium, Iron, Phosphorus, Sulphur & many more essential minerals in their right quantities. Not only the food prepared in clay pots is healthiest, but also the tastiest.

This is not just a theoretical concept, but having used clay pots for a while now, I can bet on it. The only downside of a clay pot that you might feel that it cooks slowly.

If a Dal (Lentil) is prepared in a nonstick container in 15 minutes, in a clay pot, it will be prepared in 25 minutes. In fact, that’s how foods should be cooked, slowly. 

Considering the more flavourful and nutritious dish that clay produces in the end, I think it’s totally worth the effort.

Prefer local vendors to get them at low prices, but these are also available online.

So if you want to amp up your healthy lifestyle, start using clay pots.

SUMMARY

To sum up, we have seen over more than 10 cookwares so far. Among all,

• Clay pots are by far the best cookware. 
• Brass, Bronze, Glass, Cast iron are good. 
• Stainless steel is okay. 
• Aluminium and Non-stick cookware are the worst and should be avoided at all costs.

So next time when you go out to buy cookware, make sure to choose it wisely.

So, friends, that’s all for this article, I hope you find it to be helpful, if yes then please show me your support by sharing this once.

And if you are reading this line, I will be very thankful to you. If you have any doubt kindly contact me here and drop a comment, I will be more than happy to reply to your comment.