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.
Spoon busk
Galvanized steel spoon busks are not suited for tight lacing because the steel becomes brittle during the manufacturing process. Stainless steel spoon busks, on the other hand, are suitable if reinforced with a layer of flat steel behind the busk. Wissner, a busk and boning manufacturer in Germany makes stainless steel busks. They stopped making galvanized spoon busks because they were breaking under the pressure of tight lacing. If a person buys a spoon busk, they should make sure it is stainless steel and reinforce it with flat boning behind the busk.