UK MasterChef Guide - Which Kitchen Cookware is Best For Me

When considering the suitable cookware collection for your kitchen, it’s important to first consider which pots and pans are compatible with your hob or stove type. Many materials and cookware construction types are suitable for all hob types, but many are incompatible with induction hobs. As the most energy efficient cooking surface, many brands are moving towards an induction-friendly cookware approach. With induction stovetops, all of the heat is going directly into the cookware instead of heating the area around your hob. At MasterChef we design all of our pans in a non-stick aluminium for 2 key reasons, firstly to ensure we can offer our cookware to homes with induction stovetops, and secondly due to the part aluminium plays in creating a greener future.

Why Choose Aluminium Cookware?

Aluminium is naturally lightweight, making it a versatile choice for any home. For those who prefer a lightweight pan for tossing vegetables, throwing together a stir fry and transporting pans when serving meals, aluminium is a great cookware material for differing strength levels and ages.

Simultaneous to this, being natural lightweight inherently requires less fuel to transport from manufacturing point to the customers themselves. MasterChef is committed to playing a part in cultivating a greener future throughout our kitchenware, choosing recyclable and naturally regenerating materials where possible.

Though aluminium is a manmade material, unlike many other cookware materials, 100% of it can be recycled – and most importantly, can recycled infinitely. Providing you care for your pans, you can purchase consciously through investing in aluminium cookware with the assurance that yours will not be the first or the last hands to touch these pans.

What are the Benefits of Aluminium Cookware?

Don’t let the lightweight design of aluminium cookware elude you, lightweight does not always equate flimsiness. Aluminium is naturally light, even when dealing with cast aluminium Dutch oven style pots, you will notice that they are much lighter than their cast iron counterparts.

Not only are they no less robust than those at a more premium price point, they are much easier to maintain. The non-stick material enables you to drip dry your pans, and can last decades when cared for properly. We would generally not advise dishwashing however, in order to retain the premium non-stick finish.

Aluminium as an alloy is great for heat conductivity. The design of the alloy is perfect for even heat distribution, much better in fact than iron or steel which take longer to heat on average.

Where aluminium is a good choice globally speaking, it is also personally much kinder on your energy bills. The conductivity design also enables aluminium to cool down very quickly, rendering it a perfect options for busy home cooks do who do not have time to agonise over cookware maintenance.

What Cookware Works with Induction Hobs?

Due to the science behind induction-based heat conductivity, induction cookware must be made of a magnetic based material. A simple home cook trick to test induction suitability is to grab a magnet from your fridge and place it against the bottom of your pan. If the cookware you have has weak adhesion to the magnet you can be assured that the heat conductivity will be patchy at best.

We would always advise sticking to flat-bottomed pans when using induction cookware, traditional Asian woks can prove tricky and are better suited to an open flame. Whilst aluminium cookware is generally less suited to induction cookware, our entire cookware collection are fitted with magnetized bases to ensure compatibility with induction stoves.

In conclusion there are a variety of factors that will determine your cookware choice. Our particular collection was designed for home cooks with a passion for culinary experimentation that do not necessarily have the time or resources to work with robust high-maintenance materials such as cast iron or steel - a great option for eco-conscious cooks with a penchant for time efficiency when cooking.