I grew up in the 50's, and cookware was not much thought about. My mother cooked many meals in aluminum pots or in cast iron skillets. Today, cookware is on the front burner! And everyone has an opinion about what heats best, what is safest and what cleans up the easiest.

Here at LoganBerry our all time favorite cookware is cast iron. It is superb for overall even heating and is indestructible. Cleanup issues depend on what we cooked, and yes, it can't go into the dishwasher and does need to be seasoned, but we don't worry about harmful or toxic metals leaching out into our food. Actually, if small amounts of iron do leach out, it can be a health benefit! More red blood cells!

Our next favorite is a good quality, heavy gauge stainless steel. Stainless steel by itself does not heat evenly, but with an aluminum or copper bottom disk to spread out the heat we find it excellent and clean up no problem. Stainless steel is durable, does not leach toxic metals and can be put in the dishwasher!

Copper is an excellent conductor of heat, but unfortunately is very toxic so all copper cookware must be lined with tin or stainless steel. Copper pots may need to be retinned from time to time, so for the price, we prefer stainless.

We also use enamel cookware which is heavy and heats evenly. It is actually cast iron with an enamel coating it a variety of bright colors. It is very durable and cleans up nicely.

Aluminum cookware has been transformed from the 50's. With the issues of toxins leaching into foods (esp acidic foods) and the ongoing studies of what impact aluminum plays in Alzheimer's disease, uncoated aluminum is rarely used today. Now we have anodized aluminum that has a hard, non-reactive surface.

Teflon coated pans had there day in the sun, but lately pans coated with polytetraflouroethylene have lost popularity due to the fact that when they are overheated or scratched they produce a decomposition product that is very toxic. Some high quality cookware use a thicker, better quality powdered ceramic or titanium mixed in with the nonstick coating to make them more resistant to deterioration.

Whatever is your favorite, be sure it is safe. There is too much toxic exposure around us that we can't do anything about, don't make your dinner another one!