The Heritage Steel Handbook
Everything you need to know about our cookware — how to use it, how to clean it, how it's built, and why we build it the way we do. Straight from the factory floor in Clarksville.
Guided tracks
Start hereOrdered sets of entries. Start to finish, or jump in anywhere.
Cleaning
How to easily keep your pans functional and beautiful.
Our Values
What is Heritage Steel all about?
Materials 101
What your cookware is made of — and why it matters.
A Grand Theory of Sticking
Everything that goes wrong between food and stainless steel is one problem wearing different costumes.
Clarksville NOW: How Heritage Steel is redefining made-in-America cookware
We were recently featured on Clarksville NOW - take a look!
The 5 Rules of Good Cookware
The ideal form of cookware combines even and efficient heating with chemical non-reactivity. Only multiclad stainless steel cookware truly meets all the requirements of good cookware.
Help — I Think I Killed My Pan
Left it on the heat, and now it's scorched black? You almost certainly haven't killed it. The oven-cleaner rescue — and why your pan can take it.
How to Clean Off Burnt-On Oil
The amber-brown film that soap won't touch is polymerized oil — cosmetic, not damage. Here's the ladder that takes it off, from a hot soak to the nuclear option.
The 3 Levels of Cleaning
Most nights, cleaning stainless is a thirty-second job. For the messes that fight back, match the effort to the mess — there's a level for that.
Before the first cook
Fresh out of the box, your pan needs one quick wash before its first meal — plus a few day-one habits that set it up for decades of cooking.
Metal Leaching: Effects on health, flavor, and cookware
While metal leaching can potentially alter the food you’re cooking and the cookware you’re using, there are no significant health concerns related to metal leaching.
Metallurgy 101
Understanding stainless steel cookware comes down to the metallurgy. The composition and reactivity of different steels determine how they will cook and last over a lifetime.
How to Clear Rainbow Tint
That rainbow-colored sheen on your stainless is harmless — just the steel reacting with the air. Here's what it is and how to wipe it away.
Why don’t we sell nonstick cookware?
An estimated $23 billion will be spent on nonstick cookware this year — and none of it is going to us, on purpose. Out of respect for our customers, the environment, and the product itself.
Why We Don't Make Nickel-Free Cookware
"Nickel-free" cookware is marketed as the healthier choice. Here's the honest science on nickel and stainless steel — and why a higher-nickel alloy like our 316Ti is actually the better, safer-cooking pan.
