What is clad? Are aluminum pans and stainless steel pans clad?

Cookware innovation has been developed substantially. Starting from one kind of material to make a pan, now we can see that the manufacturers have mixed materials to build the better cookware for their customers.

What is clad?

Clad consists of layers of metal which we call ply. Therefore, clad cookware is constructed by at least 3 layers of different metal that has its unique purpose and advantages to create better quality cookware. For example, a sandwich of stainless steel with aluminium as a core, which we can call it tri-ply clad cookware. The other cookware can have more than 3 ply, like 5 or 7 which are more hi-end material. Not only aluminum and stainless steel, the manufacturers also use copper to make clad for making a better heat and even heat distribution. This is another kind of hi-end product as well.

Clad Tri-Ply Cookware

This type of cookware can be found in many cookware brands. In each ply has its own purpose in construction. Stainless steel layer helps with durability and long-last usage, while aluminum layer helps distribute heat evenly and reduce hot spot. In some cases, they use magnetic stainless steel to make cookware suitable for induction.

Besides tri-ply, there are also 5-ply and 7-ply! How magnificent!

Clad 5-ply Cookware

5-ply cookware is constructed with 5 layers of metals which can reduce the chance of warping after a long period of time. But as you can guess, the more layer, the heavier, and it can be at a higher price too.

Clad 7-ply Cookware

Like the other types, 7-ply is constructed with layers of aluminum and stainless steel; there might also have magnetic stainless layers for the induction stove. Of course, the weight is heavier and the price is higher than 3-ply and 5-ply.

Summary

The differences of each ply construction of cookware are the amount of layers and the prices. What you can find in the cookware market is 3-ply and 5-ply cookware. So, if you are looking for something worth the money, clad tri-ply should be what you need. But for the more sophisticated cookware, you can get 5-ply or 7-ply cookware. Depending on the layers, there will be slightly more weight in easy ply. However, the quality of cooking doesn’t come from the amount of ply, but the comprehension of techniques and ingredients. Another concern is about the price. The more layers, the more expensive.