Cooking on high on stovetop is bad for cookware?

[Ceepa]

Today DH was cooking eggs for DC. I told him the water needed to be on high for boiling, he had turned the knob to a notch or two below high. I pointed out that the water needed to be on high.

He told me he never puts things on high because it's bad for the cookware. What? I have never heard this and can't find anything like that online.

He said it as if I were somehow the oddball who didn't know this. So does that sound right to you?

In the past he has also informed me that it's bad to turn the steering wheel all the way to one side (I agree), it's bad to let gas in your car's tank get too low because of sludge (I agree), it's bad to tighten screws too much (I agree).

So I agree with most of his "extremes are bad for the proper working of these mechanics" but this one has me scratching my head.

[hillview]

Um nope

[smiles33]

I've only heard of not cooking on high with nonstick cookware, but not for boiling water.

[ncat]

I do not understand why, but my multi-clad pans instructions say not to use them on high. So we don't, even when boiling water. Our other pans (old revere ware and cast iron) go on high.

[wellyes]

I wouldn't ever use high with non-stick.
My DH only uses high to heat water to boiling, but when it boils, turns it down a smidge.

[salsah]

He is probably right. When I saw shopping for a tea kettle (I was looking at only ss ones), they all said not to use on high heat. I don't know why. I had never heard that before. I still boil water on high. (although I've burned enough pots you would think that I would have learned my lesson by now.)

[MontrealMum]

I seem to recall that my copper bottomed pots say that you shouldn't turn past med. when you use them, though I don't know the reasoning behind that. And I've heard that about non-stick as well. Cast iron and everything else (mostly stainless) around here goes on high, especially for water.

[sunshine873]

I don't really get it either, but when I got my Le Cruset pan the sales lady told me to use low to med heat for best results & to help keep things from sticking.

[fumofu]

When we got stainless steel pot set and also Le Creuset cast enamel cookware the instructions say to only use medium heat or below. I do that when I do anything BUT boil. When I boil water, I use medium high, but never high.

ETA: We just got the Le Creuset cast enamel frying pan to replace our nonstick. It conducts heat really well on medium heat. I can't imagine using anything higher than medium without burning.

[MommyAllison]

My stainless steel set says not to cook on high...but I do. :bag Really though, how can you stir fry and sear things on medium?!

[daisymommy]

My stainless steel set says not to cook on high, and with non-stick you should never do that as well, as it gives off even more of the horrible chemicals and will give you "Teflon flu".

[ChristinaLucia]

My mom always said this and would scream at me if I used it on high. I am completely not able to turn it to high.

[american_mama]

I heard a blip or two about this when shopping for triply cookware a year ago. I don't recall if it was just for triply cookware or all pots and pans. I never heard a rationale for it and consider it dubious advice, and I ignore it.

[vludmilla]

I always boil water on high heat and have never burned a pan while boiling water. I don't use high heat for most other cooking because it doesn't seem necessary.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I can tell you from experience that high heat is no good for enameled cast iron cookware. DH uses Alton Brown's steak cooking method and it requires high heat on the burner and then in the oven at 500 degrees. The enamel came off the skillet and stuck to the burner, over time.

[mikala]

I read a bit about this at one point and it sounded like there were a couple variables. The recommendation seemed to mostly apply to gas burners because of the possibility of really high heat and empty pans. So I do boil water on high with electric burners but use medium or medium-high for most everything else.

[mypa]

Yes, when I had hard-anodized Calphalon it specifically said not to use on high to pre-heat a pan but it was ok when boiling water. I believe the high heat will warp the metal. I didn't use mine on high at all and my pans still warped a little, enough that it was not usable on my smoothtop. I returned them.

But boiling water on high should be fine as the water will absorb the heat.

[Uno-Mom]

Yeah, I don't think you can make a blanet statement. High on my electric range isn't nearly as powerful as med-high on my mom's gas range. In order to get a propersear, we do high. When I cook at her house, I'd do med-high.

I believe that most people agree the risk of non-stick is if you heat it DRY and at high temps. Or if you put it in an oven over 400ish. That is when it off-gasses the chemicals. Everybody else I know that is worried about non-stick at lower temperatures... they just avoid it all together and use cast iron as their non-stick. If you really distrust the product, why cook on it at all? (Personally, I use both.)

[Ceepa]

So we have stainless steel, not nonstick. Electric burners, not gas.

And it sounds like boiling water shouldn't be a problem, but some of you try not to use high for general cooking, and I don't think I do that often.

Thanks for weighing in everyone.

[wellyes]

I believe that most people agree the risk of non-stick is if you heat it DRY and at high temps.

I'd clarify that to "dry at any temp, and avoid high temps altogether". I believe nonstick pans have warnings to not use at high temps at all.

I boil water in a stainless steel pot at the max. If the pan has an infinitesimal warp as a result, I don't really care.

[cckwmh]

I know it has to do with warping of the pans.

Specifically Le crueset/cast iron can crack if used on high heat. it is more likely to crack if the pot/pan is cold instead of slowly pre-heating it at low heat and with electric stoves.