I'm ordering stainless steel trays from China and am trying whether it's worth saving money by going with 201 grade stainless vs 304 grade. The trays will be used in a dehydrator up to 60-100°C and will be exposed to water and vegetable leaves. The trays will be heavily used, up to 16 hours a day. However, I haven't been able to get a good understanding to how the inferior corrosion-resistant properties of 201 would actually impact the quality long term in the relatively mild conditions the trays will be subject to.
Another factor is that the trays are coming from China which definitely impugns the quality of the material. Aside from getting a lab to test material (not feasible as this will be a relatively small order, <$5k) there isn't really any recourse I can see to understand the provenance of the material better. I'm conflicted whether it's wiser to get the higher quality steel to further ensure it has satisfactory anti-corrosive properties or to go with the lower quality based on the assumption that it's all shit anyway.
Any advice on either of these questions is very appreciated!
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