With the growing popularity of nutritious and flavorful meals cooked in the home, more and more people are turning to waterless cooking as an alternative to traditional, water-based cooking methods. Practitioners of waterless cooking are experiencing tastier, more attractive and healthier meals with less cooking time than is possible with water-based cooking techniques. This series of articles explains what waterless cooking is, explains the advantages of waterless cooking, describes the specialized surgical stainless steel cookware required for waterless cooking, and more.

Part 1 - What is Waterless Cooking and Waterless Cookware

What is Waterless Cooking?

Waterless cooking is an alternative to traditional, water-based cooking methods. The food is cooked in special waterless cookware primarily in its own natural juices, which results in a healthier, tastier, and more attractive meal.

What is Waterless Cookware?

Waterless cookware is a special kind of cookware with a unique design and construction to facilitate cooking foods in their own natural juices. Whether boiling, braising, poaching or slow cooking, most traditional cooking methods require some amount of added water. But as anyone who has ever experienced a plate of limp, pale, overcooked broccoli knows, too much water can ruin the taste, texture and appearance of your food. By using specially designed waterless cookware, you can create great-tasting, healthy meals in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods.

Waterless cookware cooks foods at low temperature in their own natural juices, which not only retains flavor and texture but also keeps the natural vitamins and minerals from being leached away during the cooking process. The result is food that tastes better, is healthier and that retains its natural bright color and crispy texture throughout the cooking process.

Is Waterless Cooking Really "Waterless"?

There are numerous conflicting opinions regarding whether you should ever add water for waterless cooking. On one extreme many waterless proponents state that you should never add water; otherwise it is not waterless cooking. Other proponents recommend adding water and give precise guidance on how much water to add. The truth is less clear-cut; whether waterless cooking is totally waterless depends on the type and amount of food that you cook; you can add a little water or almost no water and let the foods cook in their own juices. When adding water, the general rule of thumb is to add 1 ounce of water per quart of cookware. Remember though that this is only a guideline; as you gain experience with your waterless cookware, you will learn the amount of water that is most satisfactory for your specific cookware, the types of food that you cook and your personal preferences.

Why Surgical Stainless Steel Waterless Cookware?

The best waterless cookware uses surgical stainless steel because it's a higher quality of stainless steel. More detail will be given on the construction of waterless cookware and the special properties of surgical stainless steel in subsequent articles.

Read the remaining articles in the series to learn more on where to buy high quality waterless cookware at affortable price and recommended waterless cookware books and recipes.

About the Author: Joyce Walker is an enthusiastic cook. Over decades of cooking, she's experienced diverse cuisines and has utilized many kinds of specialty cookware. She has extensive knowledge of natural food and health and many years of practice of Tai chi and Yoga. She has come to recognize waterless cooking as the ultimate cooking technique for healthier and tastier meals for a person or family with a busy lifestyle.