Best Utensils for Cooking According to Ayurveda

By Consumer Advise Team
Posted On

The quality of the utensils has a tremendous effect on food safety and a healthy lifestyle. For this reason, always choose the best utensils for cooking according to Ayurveda. As per this holistic healing system, copper, gold, bronze, silver, brass, and stainless steel are most beneficial and safe. But there is more!

In this article, you will learn about the most suitable utensils from an Ayurvedic point of view. To make you understand better, we have also included avoidable utensils. Know the crucial points to choosing a perfect utensil at the bottom of this article.

best utensils for cooking according to Ayurveda

Which are the best utensils for cooking as per Ayurveda?

Copper utensils

Copper utensils

Utensils made with copper have been used from ancient times to prepare foods. You can confidently count on a copper pan or pot to cook your food with perfection. Any copper cookware conducts heat all over the surface evenly. Whether you are a professional chef or just a homemaker, copper utensils are the best utensils for cooking according to the Ayurveda system.

Most microbes find it challenging to live on the surface of the copper materials, so you will have less chance of getting infected by germs.

Not only for the food, but copper utensils are also used to store water as the water also remains pure and free of any bacteria, viruses, and other microbes. 

Copper has 58.7 Siemens/m electrical conductivity and 386 W/m.K thermal conductivity, the second-highest after silver. They help with fast heating and cooking, but copper is cheaper than precious gold and silver.

Brass and Bronze utensils

Brass and Bronze utensils

Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, can preserve almost 98% of the nutritional content present in the food. On the other hand, brass is an alloy of copper and zinc with similar benefits. According to Ayurveda, they are the best utensils to cure anemia, diarrhea, and inflammation.

The pans and pots made of bronze or brass can withstand the test of time due to their durability. As brass and bronze do not have a high thermal conductivity as silver or copper, they can keep the food warm for several hours. 

Silver utensils

Besides a healthy lifestyle, using silver utensils for cooking or serving foods is a sign of elegance, and it helps to grow a strong immunity and maintains a healthy metabolism. According to Ayurveda, people used silver in a calcined formulation, called RajataBhasma, for over 5000 years.

Silver utensils

RajataBhasma (RB) is a calcined silver compound widely used by practitioners of Ayurveda for various ailments like depletion of body elements, neurological disorders, muscular dystrophy, infertility, diabetes, various infectious conditions etc.

Ayurvedic Study

In Ayurveda, it is mentioned that silver can boost children’s brainpower in their growing phase. Thus, in many Indian households, food is served to children in silver utensils.

Stainless steel utensils

Stainless steel utensils

In an Indian household, most of the utensils are made of stainless steel- from pans to mixing bowls. As the name suggests, they are stainless, which does not rust easily.

Stainless steel is an iron alloy with at least 10.5% chromium, less than 1.2% carbon. The chromium content in stainless steel forms shiny white chromium oxide with the presence of oxygen in the air, and this oxide layer is inert and does not react with acidic food.

For this reason, stainless steel cookware remains shiny for many years. Other than that, the utensils also don’t crack easily due to their durable nature.

They are also easy to clean, and the colors remain the same throughout the usage. Stainless steel utensils are the best utensils for cooking to keep the food flavors intact.

Cast iron utensils

Cast iron utensils

Cast iron utensils are heavy-duty cookware. The primary reason behind this is that they can be used at high temperatures that other utensils cannot tolerate. Capability to retain heat makes these cookwares ideal to fry foods or cooking dishes that usually take a long time.

The surface is also naturally non-stick, which makes cooking easy on the cast iron cookware. Cast iron utensils are the best utensils for people suffering from iron deficiency as the dishes cooked retain iron from the cookware’s surface. 

Glass utensils

Glass utensils

Over the years, glass utensils like cups, glasses, and bowls have become a part of the cooking process. Most people prefer utensils made out of sturdy materials, and tempered glass utensils can also be durable and robust.

Borosilicate glass utensils can withstand approximately 350 degrees Celsius temperature, and they are ideal for cooking food in the microwave. Besides being more demanding than any regular glass utensil, the study glass cookware doesn’t catch scratches easily. 

Clay utensils

Clay utensils

Earlier, almost everyone used to have clay utensils to cook and eat. To avoid any impurities, it’s better to move back in time, and we should restart using clay utensils. The utensils made from clay may not look attractive but cooking food in them has several health benefits. As the utensils are made of clay, they do not cause any pollution.

The clay cooking pots are highly durable as they are made using years-old deep burning techniques.

The absence of any toxic materials in these earthen pots and pans offers you healthy foods after cooking. But as the thermal conductivity of clay is very low, cooking takes time and needs lots of energy. In this regard, you might also take note that clay pots are incompatible with induction cooktop under standard conditions.

Which utensils should you avoid for cooking?

Now, as you know about the good ones, you better know about the ones that do not ensure the quality of the cooked food. Don’t get shocked as you might be using some of them in your kitchen at present. 

Aluminum Utensils

Aluminum cookware is exceptionally lightweight, and that’s why many prefer to buy utensils made by using pure aluminum. If you are looking for the best utensils for cooking, according to Ayurveda, never use aluminum utensils.

Aluminum Utensils

The acidic food ingredients can react with the surface of the utensil. Food items like vinegar, tomatoes, or anything containing acid can cause a significant change in flavor and taste.

Though the aluminum that is getting mixed with the food is minimal, cooking food in these utensils for a long time can cause health issues.

As an alternative to aluminum utensils, you can use hard-anodized cookware. This anodized coating of the hard anodized cookware protects the whole aluminum surface and evenly spreads the heat across the surface. 

Ceramic utensils

Ceramic utensils for cooking

If a utensil is made entirely using ceramic, then there is no problem with that and cooking food is relatively safe. But if there is only a ceramic coating on the cookware you are using for cooking purposes, it is not good as copper or stainless steel utensils.

It is often seen that the ceramic coating on top of cookware remains soft and starts getting peeled off after a couple of months of usage.

Whenever it happens, several harmful materials such as lead, arsenic, etc., that mostly remain present in the coating start to get mixed in the food. If you are determined to get one such cookware, check out the ceramic cookware that does not have adverse effects.

Non-stick Utensils

Non-stick Utensils

Non-stick cookware or utensils have a Teflon coating on the surface. It is a safe material, but it remains stable below 260 degrees Celsius. Beyond this temperature, it starts to release toxic chemicals in the food cooked in that utensil.

So, there are two options: either you don’t use non-stick utensils, or you can keep an eye on the temperature while cooking a dish. Nowadays, several dishes require a non-stick cooking surface, so it is not easy to completely give up on non-stick cookware.

Granite utensils

Granite utensils

Though the name is granite, it has a carbon steel core coated with porcelain enamel. The enamel coating on top of the granite surface may disintegrate after using it for some time.

Whenever that happens, you may find impurities in your food. Then it would be best if you replaced that with a new one. But just like non-stick cookware, you can use it for a long time unless and until you are exposing it to excessive heat that the utensil cannot withstand. 

Melamine utensils

Melamine utensils

Melamine is an organic compound widely used for making utensils worldwide.

While it is very budget-friendly and has a decorative design, the utensil will start to melt and decay if we overheat them. If it takes place, then you should get concerned about safety.

The melamine compounds will leak into the food and drink you consume in such a condition. Thus it is not safe.

How to choose the best utensil for cooking?

We can understand that you are super excited to buy some of the new utensils after knowing the health benefits. But there are several things that you need to consider. Whether you plan to buy a complete utensil set or a single one, read the following section carefully to understand them better. 

Ayurvedic Reference

The world around us is changing, and to keep up with the fast pace that the world is progressing, one needs to be healthy. Your health depends on the food and the utensil for cooking. So, choose the best utensils made with materials according to Ayurveda.

Look for a utensil that has no toxic materials and keeps the nutritional benefits of the food intact. Some neutralize the effect caused by the presence of contaminants in the food. So, to stay healthy, choose utensils made of copper, brass, bronze, stainless steel, or cast iron. 

Ease of Cleaning

After cooking and eating the food, one thing that most of us hate is cleaning the utensils. Don’t you think it is better to choose utensils that are easy to clean?

Some utensil materials do not catch stains easily, and if they do, you can clean them by simply running them under tap water.

So, keep it in mind and read the product descriptions before purchasing it to know about this particular feature. If you can’t fit cleaning dishes in your busy schedule, then the best option for you is stainless steel utensils. 

High Durability

It would be best if you always chose utensils with a high durability. It varies for different types of utensils suitable for various recipes. For example, you can confidently use highly durable stainless steel or cast iron utensils for cooking on the flames of the gas stove. But, a glass utensil cannot fit this purpose. Borosilicate glass utensils are fragile, but they are best for microwave ovens.

Compatibility 

The utensil you are using for cooking needs to be compatible with your cooking method. Your cooking style always influences the cookware that you choose for your kitchen. It is better to select cast iron utensils for a non-stick cooking surface or if you need to cook deep-fried food.

Know your oven type to get a better idea of the utensil you require for your kitchen. For example, almost all utensils for cooking are compatible with gas stoves, but only a few are induction-friendly.

Cost of the Utensil

Whenever you are going to buy utensils, never go over the budget. If you pay out a whole lot of money on a utensil and that product doesn’t last long, then it’s natural that you will feel disappointed. So, follow our recommendations.

All the cooking utensils, according to Ayurveda, are priced in terms of material, design, and weight. While silver and gold are extremely costly, you can opt for stainless steel, cast iron, or copper utensils.

Best utensils for Cooking – the verdict

So, we have reached the end of the article, and now you might have a better idea about the best utensils for cooking and the ones you should avoid. But no matter which type of utensils you are using, you need to replace them after a certain period. It is always preferable to choose copper, bronze, or brass utensils as per Ayurveda.

Whether buying your utensils online or offline, make sure the utensil is from a good brand and suitable for cooking. So, next time you will purchase cookware or any utensil, remember the tips that we have mentioned at the end of the article.

Be smart, be sensible, and make sure that only healthy foods come out of your kitchen by using utensils that ensure that the food quality remains good. 

Leave a Comment