• Kitchen
    • How to Choose Cookware
      • A No-Nonsense Guide to Cookware Materials
      • Cladded sidewalls vs. disc-bottomed cookware
      • Cookware Thickness Database
      • Thermal Rankings: Gas
      • Thermal Rankings: Electric and Induction
      • Heat retention myths and facts
      • How to choose an enameled Dutch oven (Le Creuset, Staub, Lodge, etc.)
      • Lids: Glass vs Stainless vs Universal
      • Handles: Rivets vs Welds vs Screw-On
      • What’s the difference between 3-ply (tri-ply) and 5-ply and 7-ply?
    • How to Choose a Knife: In-Depth Product Reviews: Kitchen Knives, Sharpeners, Knife Blocks, and Other Knife Storage
    • How to organize pots and pans (and dishes, cutting boards, and lids) with racks and shelving
    • High-Powered Blenders: An In-Depth Review of Vitamix vs. Blendtec vs. Oster vs. Also-Rans
    • How to Choose Steamer and Pasta Inserts
    • Garlic Presses
    • Induction Stoves
    • How to Choose Sous Vide Equipment
      • In-Depth Product Review: ANOVA Precision Cooker (an Immersion Circulator for Sous Vide Cooking
      • Does pot material matter for sous vide cooking?
    • How To Choose a Cooktop
    • In-Depth Product Reviews: Silicone Spatulas, Turners, and Scrapers Comparison
  • Home
    • A Post-Plastic Home: Known and Unknown Dangers of Plastic, and Alternatives
    • Affordable Water Distillation
    • Sleep
      • Blue Light Special: How to get more sleep in one easy step
      • In-Depth Product Review: White Noise Generators as Sleep Aids
  • Body
    • Eat Poop or Wash Your Hands
    • In-Depth Product Review: A Guide to Feminine Hygiene Products (Menstrual Pads, Diva cups, etc.)
  • Science
    • Does cooking food create toxins and carcinogens?
    • Is Induction More Efficient Than Electric Coil or Gas?
    • Induction Interface Discs: Why They Don’t Work Well
    • Maillard Reactions (Why Food Tastes Good)
    • What’s the healthiest cooking oil?
    • Understanding Imperfect Science
  • Food
    • Emergency Meals – Fast, Easy Cooking for Busy People
    • Fake vs. Real Foods: A Savvy Buyer’s Guide on How to Identify Genuine Food Products and Forgeries
    • Garlic: anti-cancer and cardiovascular health benefits
    • Nutrition
      • The Green Smoothie is the Most Important Meal of the Day
      • Paleo Diet: It’s A Starting But Not Ending Point
    • Food Safety
    • What’s the healthiest cooking oil?
  • Books
    • In-Depth Product Review: Amazon Kindle Fire 7 (2015) Tablet
    • Cookbooks
      • In-Depth Book Review: The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen
  • Baby
    • Food and drink
      • Nutrition: Avoiding Palm Olein in Baby Formula
    • Safe Plastic Breast Milk Storage Bags: A Guide
  • Cleaning
    • Kitchen
      • In-Depth Product Review: Bar Keepers Friend (BKF)
  • Travel/Outdoors
    • In-Depth Product Review: Iwatani ZA-3HP Portable Butane Stove
    • Taking risk out of driving cars
  • Deals

CenturyLife.Org

You are here: Home / Products / Waterless Cookware – real or fake? 316 stainless – scam or legit? And what the heck is “surgical” stainless steel?

Waterless Cookware – real or fake? 316 stainless – scam or legit? And what the heck is “surgical” stainless steel?

I sometimes see marketing claims about “surgical” stainless steel, which is a meaningless term. I’ve even seen regular 304 stainless steel being advertised as “surgical” before. 316 stainless is just more corrosion resistant than 304; it’s not worth paying a premium for it unless you are a commercial kitchen or cook a LOT of acidic/salty meals. You can also find nickel-free stainless, but unless you suffer from nickel allergies, that’s not worth a premium. And titanium, while nice as a hardening agent, is unnecessary for cookware.)

Then there are companies out there that promote their cookware as “waterless,” when really they just mean “steaming without a steamer basket, like a low-tech pressure cooker without the pressure.” If you have a decent-quality pot with heavy-enough lid, you can steam food without a steamer basket if you measure the water very carefully so that most of the water is water vapor during cooking and so there is very little water at the end of the cooking process. I’d rather have a larger margin for error, so I use steamer baskets instead.

None of this means that so-called waterless cookware is bad. In fact, some waterless cookware is quite good. But oftentimes you can get similar performance for a lot less money. Generally speaking, think twice about buying from companies that:

– Use the term “surgical stainless.” The term is meaningless.

– Have no mainstream retail channels, but instead pay hosts/hostesses to socially pressure friends/family into buying products.

If you find yourself being pressured to buy cookware you didn’t want, there is a little-known FTC regulation that gives you the right to cancel orders under certain conditions at homes or temporary business locations.

If you buy something at a store and later change your mind, you may not be able to return the merchandise. But if you buy an item in your home or at a location that is not the seller’s permanent place of business, you may have the option. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Cooling-Off Rule gives you three days to cancel purchases of $25 or more. Under the Cooling-Off Rule, your right to cancel for a full refund extends until midnight of the third business day after the sale.

The Cooling-Off Rule applies to sales at the buyer’s home, workplace or dormitory, or at facilities rented by the seller on a temporary or short-term basis, such as hotel or motel rooms, convention centers, fairgrounds and restaurants. The Cooling-Off Rule applies even when you invite the salesperson to make a presentation in your home.

Under the Cooling-Off Rule, the salesperson must tell you about your cancellation rights at the time of sale. The salesperson also must give you two copies of a cancellation form (one to keep and one to send) and a copy of your contract or receipt. The contract or receipt should be dated, show the name and address of the seller, and explain your right to cancel. The contract or receipt must be in the same language that’s used in the sales presentation.

 

Copyright © 2013-2024 CenturyLife.Org · All Rights Reserved. We're independent. We don't have sponsors or get free/discounted stuff, so we don't get pressure to say nice things about bad products. We buy and use stuff ourselves. To pay for website maintenance, we link to sites which pay us a small referral fee, at no cost to you. To support this site, you can shop by clicking on links to retailers. CenturyLife.Org is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Questions? Contact us here.

Popular Posts

• How to Choose Cookware

• How to choose a portable induction cooker

• How to choose an enameled dutch oven

• How to choose clad/tri-ply stainless (Is All-Clad Worth it?)

• Even heating rankings: gas and electric

Copyright © 2013-2024 CenturyLife.Org · All Rights Reserved. Disclaimers