Can you cook tomato sauce in a stainless steel pot without it tasting like metal?

Answer 1

Yes, you can cook 'acidic' type foods such as tomatoes in stainless steel cookware because it is a non-reactive metal. Porcelain cookware is also non-reactive. What this means is that the materials will not 'react' (produce metal salts/molecules through chemical reactions) with the acids contained in many foods- citrus, tomatoes, etc, so there is no 'metallic' taste to the food. Cast iron and aluminum are both 'reactive metals', and will react with most foods, although I have never noted a metallic taste to foods cooked in this type of cookware, such as coffee in an aluminum coffee pot. Trivia: it was known in folklore that cooking in iron cookware helped prevent anemia, long before it was known to be an iron deficiency illness, and in fact, before it was called anemia!

Answer 2

Yes, you can cook tomato sauce in a stainless steel pot without it tasting like metal. To prevent this, make sure the pot is of high-quality stainless steel (such as 18/10 grade) and has a non-reactive surface. Also, avoid using high heat and acidic ingredients for prolonged periods of time.