Stainless steel acid or base, and the solution temperature. Uniform corrosion is typically easy to avoid because of extensive published corrosion data or easy to perform laboratory corrosion testing. However, stainless steels are susceptible to localized corrosion under certain conditions, which need to be recognized and avoided. Such localized corrosion is problematic for stainless steels because it is unexpected and difficult to predict. Acidic solutions can be categorized into two general categories, reducing acids such as hydrochloric acid and dilute sulfuric acid, and oxidizing acids such as nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid. Increasing chromium and molybdenum contents provide increasing resistance to
Stainless steel bakeware may be clad in stainless steels, to enhance their cleanability and durability, and to permit their use in induction cooking (this requires a magnetic grade of stainless steel, such as 432). Because stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat, it is often used as a thin surface cladding over a core of copper or aluminium, which conduct heat more readily. Cutlery is normally stainless steel, for low corrosion, ease of cleaning, negligible toxicity, as well as not flavoring the food by electrolytic activity. Stainless steel is used for jewelry and watches, with 316L being the type commonly used