Yes, but only briefly. You can safely deglaze a pan with wine or use a splash of citrus or vinegar in a stir-fry, but you should avoid long simmers with highly acidic foods (like tomato sauce) as they will strip your seasoning and give your food a metallic taste.
Avoid cooking highly acidic foods (e.g., tomatoes, vinegar, citrus, and wine) for extended periods, as acids strip the pan's seasoning and cause a metallic taste. Additionally, do not simmer low-and-slow stews, boil soups, or cook delicate proteins (like flaky white fish) that are prone to sticking.
Benefits of Stainless Steel for Cooking
It is non-reactive, so foods will not taste metallic when cooked in stainless steel. It is ideal for delicate seafood, milk-based sauces, and acidic ingredients like tomatoes. Unlike aluminium and copper cookware, stainless steel is compatible with induction cooktops.
Vinegar, tomatoes, wine, and citrus are known to strip out the seasoning on the cookware's surface. After use of acids in a carbon steel pan, the seasoning does deteriorate, but that is a natural process of cooking. The pan is not ruined, but you will need to add another layer of seasoning to your cookware.
Stainless steel cookware is non-reactive, meaning it does not interact with acidic or alkaline foods. This prevents leaching of metals into food, making it a safe choice for a variety of cooking applications.
The absolute safest, least toxic cookware materials are cast iron, carbon steel, and 100% ceramic. These materials are completely inert, meaning they won't leach harmful heavy metals or chemicals—such as PFAS, PTFE, PFOA, lead, or cadmium—into your food, even when exposed to high heat.
Carbon steel is considered safe for cooking. As long as it's used and maintained properly.
To neutralize acid in food, use an alkaline ingredient like baking soda, balance the flavor with fats and sweeteners, or add neutral bulk.
In most cases, wrapping your food in foil is safe, but it's best to avoid acidic or salty foods that can break down the foil's protective layer, potentially allowing it to react with food. Some of the main offenders are tomatoes and tomato-based dishes, citrus fruits, vinegars and cured or brined meats.
Stainless steel, a kitchen staple
Though some studies show that stainless steel may leach a minimal amount of nickel and chromium into foods during cooking (more on leaching in a moment), it's a popular and generally safe choice for cookware like pans and pots.
Yes, you can cook tomatoes in carbon steel, but only for short periods (like a quick sauté or for an omelet). However, you should never simmer or stew them. Because tomatoes are highly acidic, they can strip your pan's protective seasoning and leach metallic flavors into your food.
Mercury, lead, chromium, cadmium, and arsenic have been the most common heavy metals that induced human poisonings. Here, we reviewed the mechanistic action of these heavy metals according to the available animal and human studies.
Carbon Steel Pans are very well loved by many home cooking enthusiasts and professional chef's alike, and with good reason. This cookware boasts the durability and heat tolerance of cast iron, but the benefits of an easy release cooking surface like that of non-stick, and the thermal conductivity of stainless steel.
Heat the Pan: Place your Mineral B Carbon Steel Fry Pan on medium heat. Add butter or oil and let it melt, swirling the pan to coat the surface evenly. The butter should foam slightly without browning, indicating the pan is ready. Cook the Eggs: Pour the egg mixture into the pan.
Edge Care Series (Part 5) #5: Acidic foods can deteriorate knives over a long period of time – especially carbon steel knives! Carbon steel is particularly reactive with highly acidic foods, such as lemon, tomatoes, or onions.
Traditional Italian cooking relies on several natural, time-tested techniques rather than processed sugar to tame overly acidic tomato sauce.
The most acidic foods—measured by a low pH value and their tendency to cause reflux or wear down tooth enamel—include lemon juice (pH 2.3), soda and energy drinks (pH ~3.1), and citrus fruits (like oranges and grapefruits).
A small amount of acidity cuts through that richness and brings everything back into focus. That's why so many dishes finish with acid: – Lemon on fish – Vinegar in sauces —Pickles with rich meats – Citrus in salads It's not about making food sour. It's about making flavors come alive.
Compared to low-carbon steel, stainless steel offers a massive upgrade in strength, hardness, and most importantly corrosion resistance. High carbon steel offers strength rivaling and sometimes exceeding stainless steel, but is largely a niche material in the manufacturing world.
Made In Carbon Steel cookware is free of coatings, non-toxic, and chemical-free, offering a lifetime of naturally non-stick cooking. Non-stick pans are convenient until the coating begins to wear down—or worse, peel and chip—leaving you to scrape food off the surface and release microplastics.
Gordon Ramsay exclusively uses and endorses HexClad Hybrid Cookware for both his home kitchen and his studio/YouTube sets.
Yes, but only briefly. You can safely deglaze a pan with wine or use a splash of citrus or vinegar in a stir-fry, but you should avoid long simmers with highly acidic foods (like tomato sauce) as they will strip your seasoning and give your food a metallic taste.
Nutritionists and medical experts do not rank a single "absolute worst" food for inflammation, but processed meats (like bacon, hot dogs, and salami) and sugar-sweetened beverages (like sodas and energy drinks) are widely considered the top culprits.
Stainless steel is one of the safest, most durable cookware options available. It doesn't react with food, even when exposed to high temperatures or acidic ingredients. Look for high-quality stainless steel, such as 304-grade or 18/10 stainless steel, which contains chromium and nickel to resist corrosion and rust.