You found a great recipe. You have the right ingredients. Now you need the right cookware to make it all come together. This guide will help you understand the differences between common cookware, and tell you what to look for when stocking your kitchen with cookware essentials.
Pots and Pans
Experts generally recommend enameled cast iron, or heavy stainless steel with aluminum bottoms for cookware.
- Stainless Steel with aluminum bottoms – Excellent heat conductors that prevent leach into the food
- Enameled cast iron with aluminum bottoms
- Copper – Excellent heat conductor, may be expensive, high-maintenance, and impractical
Most pots and pans come in nonstick varieties. Nonstick pans are revered for their easy cleanup, but some may not get hot enough to sear foods, which is important when you need browned bits in the pan to make sauces and gravies. (Perhaps you could buy one skillet that is not nonstick for those uses.)
- Saucepans: A round pan with a handle and straight or flared sides. They are usually 4 quarts or smaller, with lids. They are used for everything from cooking vegetables to making soups, sauces, and cooked cereal.
- Saucepots: Larger than saucepans, saucepots are generally 5 quarts or larger, and are used primarily for cooking soups and stews. Saucepots are also known as Dutch ovens.
- Skillets: Skillets are round, shallow pans with straight or sloping sides and long handles. Most cooks find the 8-, 10- and 12-inch pans to be the most useful. Skillets are also known as frying pans.
Cookware for the Oven
Cookware for the oven includes those heat-resistant pans and baking dishes that are used in the oven for desserts, main courses, vegetables, roasting and casseroles. These include:
- Baking Pans: Used for baking desserts such as cakes and brownies. They are made of metal or glass. The most popular sizes are 8- or 9-inch square and 13x9x2 inches.
- Baking Sheets or Cookie Sheets: Flat, metal sheets with one side. (Flat sheets with sides are called jellyroll pans and are especially for baking cakes for jellyrolls.) Baking sheets are primarily used for baked goods such as cookies and biscuits. Shiny sheets are usually preferred. Dark baking sheets are primarily used when a dark, crisp exterior is preferred; insulated baking sheets are a better choice for softer exteriors.
- Casserole: A deep, round or oval, ovenproof baking dish made from glass, ceramic or other heat-resistant material. Casseroles usually have two handles and tight-fitting lids.
- Baking Dishes: Shallow, glass or ceramic, heat-resistant dishes used for baking dishes, side dishes, and desserts. They often come with lids for easy reheating and storage.
- Muffin Pans: Used for baking muffins or cupcakes. Each pan has 6 or 12 cups ranging in size from miniature to jumbo.
- Pie Pans: Metal, glass or stoneware round pans especially designed for baking pies with flared sides to accommodate a pie crust. Deeper ones are called deep-dish pie pans.
Cookware for the Microwave
Microwave cookware is unique compared to regular stovetop and oven cookware. Most microwave cookware will have a message such as "microwave-safe" or "suitable for microwave." Microwave-safe cookware can be:
- Glass: It should be heat-resistant and able to withstand the heat generated from the microwave.
- Plastic: Most plastic cookware works great in the microwave oven. Look for labels indicating that it is microwavable and dishwasher-safe.
- Ceramic: It should be unglazed because glazed ceramic pieces tend to absorb microwave energy too quickly, and are prone to overheating and breaking