What is 18/10 stainless steel?

 

• The 18/10 refers to the proportion of chromium to nickel in the stainless steel alloy.  To be classified as stainless steel, an iron base alloy must contain at least 10.5 % of chromium.  The presence of chromium enables the steel to form an invisible layer of oxide that protects it against corrosion.
• If this layer is damaged, a new one forms immediately due to the oxygen content of the air.  Increasing the chromium content to 18% has further increased this protection.  The addition of nickel to the alloy increased its corrosion resistance while adding a bright polished appearance, hardness, and exceptional resistance to all temperatures.  As the nickel level is increased, the quality of the stainless steel is increased.  The “top of the line” boast 10% nickel content, the highest quality available in stainless steel.
• In addition a try ply encapsulated bottom ensures superb heat conductivity for rapid, even cooking.  A sandwich layer of aluminum between two layers of 18/10 stainless is best.
• Stainless steel alone is not an effective conductor of heat.  Aluminum on the other hand, readily absorbs heat.  By absorbing heat faster than the neighboring stainless steel, it can provide even heat distribution before heat is transferred to the food, for faster more thorough cooking without “cold spots” or scorching “hot spots”.  In a try-ply based, the aluminum is completely enclosed in stainless steel creating a finished base.

 

 

Gauge? We get lots of question what gauge are these, it would be nice if our suppliers could come up with this information, but as far as we have been able to find out this is more of a specification used for pluming, kitchen sinks etc.  Our best guess:

 

20g  is 0.9mm .033

18g is 1.2 mm 043 inch

16g is 1.5 mm .054 inch

14g is 2mm

12g is 2.5mm

10g is 3 mm

Unit of thickness of a metal sheet or wire. (1) For sheet metal, a retrogressive scale (higher numbers mean lower thickness) that starts with 10 gauge representing a thickness of 3.416 millimeters or 0.1345 inches. As the gauge number increases, the thickness drops by 10 percent. For example, a 12 gauge sheet is 2.732 millimeters thick, and a 13 gauge sheet is 2.391 millimeters thick. (2) For wire thickness there are two scales, see American wire Gauge for the first one. The second is a metric scale in which a gauge number is equal to 10 times the diameter of the wire in millimeters. For example, a 5 gauge wire is 0.5 millimeter in diameter and a 6 gauge wire is 0.6 millimeter in diameter.

 

Thanks to Steve (Design engineer) for your help!

 

If you find this to be inaccurate please contact us