Surface chemistry of cooking
Stainless steel is considered stainless because it has at least 11% chromium by mass. Chromium is a relatively inert metal and does not rust or react as easily as plain carbon steel. This is what makes it an exceptional material for cooking. It is also fairly inexpensive, but does not have a very high thermal conductivity. From a surface standpoint, this is because of the thin layer of chromium oxide that is formed on the surface. This thin layer protects the metal from rusting or corroding. While it is protective, the oxide layer is not very conductive, which makes cooking food less efficient than it could be. For most cooking applications, high thermal conductivity is desirable to create an evenly heated surface on which to cook. In this way, stainless steel is usually not considered high-grade cookware.
SAE 316L stainless steel
SAE 316L grade stainless steel is the second most common austenitic stainless steel after 304. Its primary alloying constituents after iron, are chromium (between 16–18%), nickel (10–12%) and molybdenum (2–3%). The addition of molybdenum provides greater corrosion resistance than 304, with respect to localized corrosive attack by chlorides and to general corrosion by reducing acids, such as sulphuric acid. 316L grade is the low carbon version of 316 stainless steel.