I have recently come across a line of stainless steel, aluminum disc
bottom cookware from "Homichef", clearly oriented toward commercial
kitchens. In North America, it is distributed by Eurodib; it seems to
be manufactured in Asia AFAICT. The specs look comparable to
something like Sitram Profiserie, including induction compatibility
(which is my primary requirement in cookware). It's a little hard for
me to get a handle on the thickness of the aluminum disc; the Eurodib
website (eurodib.com) claims a '1/2" aluminum clad bottom' -- this
can't be 1/2" of aluminum, as that would be enormous overkill, so I'm
thinking that refers to the total thickness of the bottom, including
the layers of stainless steel. Still, that means the aluminum disc
must be pretty hefty.

I've found it sold online at instawares.com and finestcookware.com.
Prices are lower than comparable Sitram pieces, and the disc bottoms
may be even heavier, but the question is -- are they built to last?

If anybody happens to have other recommendations of disc-bottom,
stainless, induction-compatible cookware in this general class, I am
all ears. (Er, in fact, I guess that would be all eyes.)

TIA,

--
Randall

"Randall Nortman" > wrote:
>I have recently come across a line of stainless steel, aluminum disc
> bottom cookware from "Homichef", clearly oriented toward commercial
> kitchens. In North America, it is distributed by Eurodib; it seems to
> be manufactured in Asia AFAICT. The specs look comparable to
> something like Sitram Profiserie, including induction compatibility
> (which is my primary requirement in cookware). It's a little hard for
> me to get a handle on the thickness of the aluminum disc; the Eurodib
> website (eurodib.com) claims a '1/2" aluminum clad bottom' -- this
> can't be 1/2" of aluminum, as that would be enormous overkill, so I'm
> thinking that refers to the total thickness of the bottom, including
> the layers of stainless steel. Still, that means the aluminum disc
> must be pretty hefty.

If you want to hear it straight from the horses mouth, go to the
manufacturer's web site at www.homichef.com. From this web site, it will be
obvious where they are located. Click on "English" at the bottom, and you'll
get redirected to www.ri-xing.com.

On the web site, they list the specs of the cookware. The body of the pans
are made of 304 stainless at 0.8 mm thick. The bottom will consist of this
layer, plus a layer of aluminum at 4 mm thick, plus a protective magnetic
(for induction capability) 430 stainless also at 0.8 mm, for a total
thickness of 5.6 mm. I think something was lost in the "translation", that
is converting from metric to inches. It is definitely not a 1/2 inch thick.
It's more like 0.22 inch thick total at the bottom, of which the aluminum is
0.16 inch thick. I'm not sure how that compares with Sitram and others, but
I'd think it's similar.

"wff_ng_7" > wrote:
> On the web site, they list the specs of the cookware. The body of the
pans
> are made of 304 stainless at 0.8 mm thick. The bottom will consist of this
> layer, plus a layer of aluminum at 4 mm thick, plus a protective magnetic
> (for induction capability) 430 stainless also at 0.8 mm, for a total
> thickness of 5.6 mm. I think something was lost in the "translation", that
> is converting from metric to inches. It is definitely not a 1/2 inch
> thick. It's more like 0.22 inch thick total at the bottom, of which the
> aluminum is 0.16 inch thick. I'm not sure how that compares with Sitram
> and others, but I'd think it's similar.

I did a little more looking for what the thickness of the aluminum disk is
on Sitram cookware. It is 6 mm on their Profiserie line and 7 mm on their
Cybernox line. That's 50% or more thicker than the Homichef cookware.

See http://www.sitramcookware.com/index.htm for more info on Sitram.

On 2007-02-07, wff_ng_7 > wrote:
> "wff_ng_7" > wrote:
> > On the web site, they list the specs of the cookware. The body of the
> pans

Ah, sorry, I had visited the manufacturer's website a couple of months
ago when I first encountered this line, and it did not have the
information it has now.

>> are made of 304 stainless at 0.8 mm thick. The bottom will consist of this
>> layer, plus a layer of aluminum at 4 mm thick, plus a protective magnetic
>> (for induction capability) 430 stainless also at 0.8 mm, for a total
>> thickness of 5.6 mm. I think something was lost in the "translation", that
>> is converting from metric to inches. It is definitely not a 1/2 inch
>> thick. It's more like 0.22 inch thick total at the bottom, of which the
>> aluminum is 0.16 inch thick. I'm not sure how that compares with Sitram
>> and others, but I'd think it's similar.
>
> I did a little more looking for what the thickness of the aluminum disk is
> on Sitram cookware. It is 6 mm on their Profiserie line and 7 mm on their
> Cybernox line. That's 50% or more thicker than the Homichef cookware.
>
> See http://www.sitramcookware.com/index.htm for more info on Sitram.
>

I have seen contradictory information on the Profiserie line in
different places, with retailers quoting anything from 6mm to 8mm of
aluminum. It is quite possible that it depends on the diameter of the
piece. Anyway, pieces of Sitram cookware show up on the shelves of
discount stores like TJ Maxx and HomeGoods (in the US), so I have had
the opportunity to actually go and handle some. I have no way to
measure it, but I can say that the bottoms definitely feel thick
enough. I've never handled disc bottoms that felt any thicker, and
I've definitely seen thinner. Given that the price difference between
Homichef and Sitram Profiserie is pretty small, it seems worth it to
go for the Sitram.

Thanks for the info.

--
Randall

On Feb 3, 9:35 am, Randall Nortman > wrote:
> I have recently come across a line of stainless steel, aluminum disc
> bottom cookware from "Homichef", clearly oriented toward commercial
> kitchens. In North America, it is distributed by Eurodib; it seems to
> be manufactured in Asia AFAICT. The specs look comparable to
> something like Sitram Profiserie, including induction compatibility
> (which is my primary requirement in cookware). It's a little hard for
> me to get a handle on the thickness of the aluminum disc; the Eurodib
> website (eurodib.com) claims a '1/2" aluminum clad bottom' -- this
> can't be 1/2" of aluminum, as that would be enormous overkill, so I'm
> thinking that refers to the total thickness of the bottom, including
> the layers of stainless steel. Still, that means the aluminum disc
> must be pretty hefty.
>
> I've found it sold online at instawares.com and finestcookware.com.
> Prices are lower than comparable Sitram pieces, and the disc bottoms
> may be even heavier, but the question is -- are they built to last?
>
> If anybody happens to have other recommendations of disc-bottom,
> stainless, induction-compatible cookware in this general class, I am
> all ears. (Er, in fact, I guess that would be all eyes.)
>
> TIA,
>
> --
> Randall

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