Differentiate and choose: stainless steel soup pot and aluminum pot

How to choose a pot that suits you? We believe that many people have been troubled by whether to choose stainless steel or aluminum products. Even some people don't know how to distinguish between stainless steel and aluminum soup Pots. You may find some direction by reading the article below.

How to distinguish aluminum and stainless steel from the appearance?

Most stainless steel products look very bright, like a mirror. It feels very smooth to the touch by hand. When you tap the stainless steel pot with your hand, there will be a relatively crisp sound.

Aluminium products have a frosted appearance and cannot refract light. There is a dull sound of mind when tapping an aluminum pot with your hand.

If you currently have an aluminum pot and a stainless steel pot, the best way to tell is to measure their weight, and the one with the heavier weight is the stainless steel one.

Some misunderstandings about the judgment of stainless steel and aluminum: 

Many people will use magnet detection to distinguish stainless steel and aluminum, thinking that it is stainless steel if it can be adsorbed, and vice versa. This is a very common misjudgment of stainless steel.

There are many types of stainless steel. Ferritic stainless steel and martensitic stainless steel that can be adsorbed by magnets may be ferritic stainless steel and martensitic stainless steel. Under normal circumstances, austenitic stainless steel is non-magnetic and cannot be adsorbed by magnets. When stainless steel is weakly magnetic, it can be attracted by magnets, but the strength is relatively weak.

Therefore, there is no scientific basis for simply using a magnet to judge whether it is stainless steel or whether it is a high-quality stainless steel.

How to choose a stainless steel pan or an aluminum pan according to your needs?

Both stainless steel and aluminum have their own advantages and disadvantages. The key to how to choose depends on your material preference, usage scenarios and budget.

*Advantages of stainless steel:
1. Better thermal insulation;
2. Exquisite appearance;
3. Corrosion-resistant materials;
4. If properly maintained, it can be cost-effective in the long run.
*Disadvantages of stainless steel:
1. Poor thermal conductivity and long heating time.
2. The price is more expensive than aluminum.
*Advantages of aluminum:
1. Fast heat conduction, heating food faster than stainless steel;
2, with a price advantage.
3. Lightweight, suitable for outdoor cooking.
*Disadvantages of aluminum:
1. In terms of long-term cost-effectiveness, it is not as good as stainless steel.
2. Reactivity (poor response to acidic or alkaline foods)

If you want to invest in a pot that will last a long time, look good and won't rust, and don't mind that it takes longer to heat than aluminum and is more expensive, then stainless steel will be your best bet.
If you're looking to buy this pan for short (occasional) cooking needs, and don't mind that it holds less heat than stainless steel and has a shorter lifespan, then an aluminum pan would be your best bet.