On Sun, 30 Jun 1996, Bill Miller wrote:
 
> Is 316 stainless steel food grade?
>
> 316 stainless is very well suited to food applications.  The reason you won't
> see it very often in honey equipment is that 316 stainless is more expensive
> than 304 stainless (which also works well in most food applications).   The
> food application where I would specify 316 stainless would be one with a lot
> of salt (example: pickling solutions).
>
> FYI:  316 stainless is now the material of choice for reactor coolant system
> piping in nuclear power plants.  304 stainless gave trouble.
>
 Hi All,  Being a machinist and working on nuclear power plants for many
years for the Navy. I do know the reasons for using 316 L over 303 or
304.It has to do with chloride stress corrosion and hardness.For use in
extracters , I would think that salt would not be a problem.I think it
would be hard to to check out what stainless sheet they are using without
going to the point of calling the factory for the info.
 I don't think you will find much 316 L in sheets , but I could be wrong
there because industry changes all the time.
 Best Regards
  Roy