There are a whole lot of gimmicks in the cookware world. You’ve probably seen the ads for cookware that promise cutting-edge heating technology, unmatched durability, and easy cleanup all in one (often quite pricey) pot or pan. Thankfully, stainless steel is not on that list. Durable and versatile enough to use in a restaurant kitchen, yet user-friendly enough for the average home cook, stainless steel is worth every penny in our book.
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To keep things balanced, however (and to make sure you know exactly what you’re buying), we wanted to list both the many pros of stainless, and some of the considerations.
If you’re still relatively new to the club when it comes to stainless steel cookware (and if so, welcome!), there are a couple of facts you might find useful—or at least interesting—to know before you buy your first pot or pan.
Below, you’ll find some of the (many) reasons we love this shiny, long-lasting material.
Because of stainless steel’s rugged, warp-resistant construction and high heat tolerance, it can be used in a range of cooking environments, from oven to stovetop to grill (and even on induction cooktops). It also works well for cooking with metal utensils, since there’s no coating, finish, or seasoning to worry about damaging—though obviously, don’t go gouging your metal tongs into the surface.
We won’t deny it: stainless steel is probably the nicest-looking cookware material out there (next to copper, of course). It also complements nearly any kitchen aesthetic, from an industrial restaurant kitchen to a more contemporary space.
Before purchasing your first piece of stainless steel cookware, make sure to keep these (relatively minor) considerations in mind.
One of the harder pills to swallow when it comes to stainless steel is the price: while you can certainly find budget-friendly stainless steel pots and pans, prices tend to start a bit higher than options like non stick and carbon steel. For premium, fully-clad stainless steel, you can expect to pay upwards of a hundred dollars for a small frying pan, and closer to two hundred for a large stockpot—even more if it contains a copper core.
That said, we feel the price per use more than justifies the cost, especially when considering how the price of replacing a cheaper pan every couple of years adds up.
Stainless steel sticks more easily than other cookware options, and that’s simply the nature of the beast. While you can reduce the amount of sticking by properly preheating your pan, as well as by using enough fat, you’ll never get the exact same results as a non stick or seasoned cast iron pan.
Stainless clad is far from the heaviest cookware material on the market. With that said, it’s still heavier than options like ceramic and non stick—particularly 5-ply stainless clad, which tends to weigh more than 3-ply due to the additional layers of metal. While it’s still considerably lighter than cast iron, this is still something to consider if you’re looking for a very lightweight option.
One of the reasons stainless steel is often clad, or layered, with other materials is that—while incredibly durable, rust-resistant, and non-reactive— it’s not actually a great conductor of heat by itself. Pretty much all pans marketed as stainless steel contain additional layers (or “ply”) of metals like aluminum, aluminum alloy, and copper, which circulate heat more effectively.
While generally quite user-friendly overall, stainless steel does pose a slight learning curve to beginner cooks. Learning how to manage the heat (we recommend starting with the burner on low or medium) as well as preheat the pan before adding food can help you avoid burnt, sticky messes—though honestly, carbonized onions or eggs that stuck more to the pan than your plate are a rite of passage for cooks using stainless steel.
Virtually anyone can reap the benefits of stainless steel. From veteran home cooks to folks just learning the basics, stainless steel—particularly high-quality stainless clad—sets you up for success, helping you feel more competent (and confident) around the stove. And while you don’t have to drain your bank account to get a decent piece of stainless steel cookware, we do recommend looking at these pieces as an investment: not only will your food taste better, but you’ll also be able to go much longer without replacing them.
OEMs have many factors to consider when choosing an investment casting supplier. From technology to team and process to price, there are a wide range of considerations to evaluate. Among the most important is the degree to which a vendor can offer you a complete investment casting solution. That’s because those companies that can provide a complete solution will ultimately strengthen your business and maximize the success of your project.
A complete solutions partner does so much more than just manufacture castings. A complete solutions partner simplifies your supply chain and makes your job easier. With a single point of contact and a single accountable vendor, you’ll have fewer purchase orders to manage and less finger-pointing on complex projects. You’ll also avoid the costs—and the logistical nightmare—of shipping parts from vendor to vendor throughout the project.
Partnering with a supplier who has end-to-end capabilities in-house all but guarantees that you’ll get quality results with less headaches.
As a complete solution partner to OEMs in a wide range of industries, Lamothermic has a comprehensive and streamlined casting process that prioritizes both precision and efficiency. Read on to learn how each step of our investment casting process combines to create a complete solution that adds value to your business.
Manufacturing precision parts efficiently and cost-effectively begins with the development process. When your investment casting supplier has experienced engineers in house, who know the equipment and processes, and know how to develop specifically for investment castings, you’ll always achieve a superior result.
From understanding various alloys, to knowing how to maintain critical dimensions and tolerances, to ensuring that your parts use the least amount of material necessary to achieve your desired results, a savvy team can make or break your project. This is especially true when it comes to parts with critical tolerances or complex internal geometries. Good developers ensure a smooth process and exceptional results.
At Lamothermic, our team has decades of experience developing for the casting process. We know how to evaluate your needs, suggest improvements, and monitor the process every step of the way. With multiple tools and resources at our disposal, including the latest software, 3D printers, whiteboards, and even old-fashioned paper and pencil, we brainstorm and explore innovative solutions and refine concepts that make your parts better. In fact, every project we take on runs through our development team to ensure a quality result.
The right tooling plays an essential role in creating investment castings that meet critical dimensions and minute tolerances over any quantity of parts. High-quality tooling means an efficient process, that’s on spec and on time, while low-quality tooling means inconsistency, rework, and lost time.
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At Lamothermic, we can create the tooling you’ll need to make your parts or use your existing tooling in order to streamline your production process. Not sure if your tooling will work? Our engineers and tooling experts evaluate it thoroughly and make the necessary adjustments to ensure seamless compatibility and optimal performance with our machines. Whether you bring your own tooling or need us to create custom solutions, we have the expertise to deliver precision, efficiency, and long-term reliability. With our team, you’ll always have the confidence that your tooling is up to the task.
Prototyping is vital to the design phase of any project, and ensures a precise result. In order to cut down on lead times, investment casting suppliers who offer rapid prototyping services can achieve a more time-efficient process.
Thanks to the latest 3D printing technology, at Lamothermic we can create prototype castings quickly and without the need for hard tooling. Utilizing 3D printed patterns, we can get a prototype into your hands quickly to validate the design, test functionality, and make adjustments before committing to full production. This is especially valuable for new product launches, or when you only need a few pieces in order to evaluate fit and performance.
A complete supplier who offers this type of fast-turn prototyping service will simplify the process, ensure a quality result that meets all of your fit and quality needs, and ultimately reduce the time it takes to scale up production. You’ll get your parts faster without having to worry that they don’t meet even the strictest requirements.
When your investment casting supplier offers automated processes, you’ll gain many benefits. Whether it’s faster production, more consistent accuracy at scale, or higher overall quality, robotic automation leads to a smoother process and a better result.
From injecting waxes at scale to around-the-clock robotic dipping, it pays to look for an investment casting supplier who prioritizes automation.
At Lamothermic, we’ve invested in robotic automation at key steps within our casting process to ensure the most accurate, consistent result on your parts and products. This allows us to offer faster ramp-up times, higher quantities, lower variability, and greater accuracy even over runs into the millions of parts.
All of the operations we’ve described thus far culminate in the actual casting of your parts. And when it comes to full-service investment casting suppliers, it’s important to look for a vendor who can pour a wide range of alloys. This means they can handle a wider range of parts, and can often recommend alloys that will save you money, increase quality, or otherwise result in a better outcome.
At Lamothermic, we work with a variety of metals including carbon steel, low alloy steel and tool steel. We can work with various grades of stainless steel, nickel and cobalt based alloys, and lead-free copper alloys. This gives you a wide range of possibilities from a single vendor, and gives you the flexibility to run various parts composed of various metals with a single, accountable supplier.
In some cases, the final cast part requires additional processing to meet critical specifications or tolerances. And this finishing process is another critical step that is often overlooked by investment casting suppliers. In order to save time, lower costs, and reduce the need to ship your parts through additional vendors for CNC finishing, it pays to utilize a single vendor who can offer this type of end-to-end solution.
That’s why we maintain a sophisticated level of CNC machining capabilities. Our milling centers, turning centers and multi-axis machining systems can put precise finishing touches on even the most complex parts. This adds value to the process by saving time, reducing costs, and maximizing accountability along the way. When you have a single vendor who can deliver finished parts to your exact specifications, consistently, accurately, and at scale, your business will be stronger.
Some parts, depending on their application, require special finishing touches. When you work with a vendor who offers these capabilities, you’ll save time and achieve a superior result.
At Lamothermic, we can provide you with heat treatment services, including annealing, hardening, tempering, and more, all from a single point of contact. These processes give your finished parts the desired strength, durability and resilience you need.
We also offer assembly services where our technicians can build components and assemblies using your cast parts along with other outsourced third-party parts. Once again, by choosing a vendor that can provide a comprehensive, complete, process, you’ll save time, lower costs, and eliminate the need to manage multiple vendors performing separate, complex processes.
We believe your parts are only as good as your vendors’ QC and testing protocols, so you should expect your manufacturing partner to make quality a top priority. If you want to reduce rework, eliminate quality issues, and do away with stress throughout your investment casting project, look for a vendor who prioritizes quality and has the systems and processes in place to do so at scale.
We have developed a robust Quality Management System that provides a framework for consistently achieving superior workmanship, excellent customer service, and continuous improvement. This means you can be confident your standards will be met on every part, every time.
Before we begin a project, we determine the job’s requirements and set quality benchmarks. Then, all parts undergo an extensive QC process to verify they meet specs within the tightest tolerances.
We use spectrographic analysis to confirm the chemical composition of every pot of metal we pour, and non-destructive testing to detect irregularities and defects in finished parts. This allows us to ensure precision output to you, and means your parts will be done right every time.
The last step in the process, inventory and logistics, is one area where an end-to-end investment casting supplier can really shine. From pre-stocking necessary raw materials, to keeping par levels of finished parts skidded up and ready to ship, to drop-shipping finished, inspected parts to your customers, a trusted partner that helps you manage your inventory can greatly reduce complication, time, and cost. At Lamothermic, we can do all of these things and more.
Working with a complete solutions provider makes even the most complex manufacturing projects more efficient and cost effective. And with a wide range of potential vendors available, it’s a good idea to evaluate how your business can benefit from either a partial process or a more comprehensive solution.
If you think you would benefit from a single, accountable point of contact who can manage your investment casting project from concept to completion with maximum success, contact us today.
Our team of developers, engineering, casting and project experts is standing by to discuss your next project. We look forward to hearing from you!
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