Learning to Cook: Cookware 101

Now that you have at least a few quality knives, what are you going to do with all those fresh chopped foodstuffs? The next logical step is to put them, along with other tasty morsels, in some sort of pot or pan for cooking. A good set of pots and pans, like a good knife, is a solid investment in your future meals and should not be compromised with inferior product.

There are many fancy types of pots and pans. Cookware can be purchased in the following varieties: aluminum, anodized aluminum, cast iron, ceramic cast iron, copper, copper core/lined, stainless steel, and nonstick. Each type of material offers certain benefits over the other, though stainless is without a doubt the most versatile.

Many people buy sets of cookware to get started. While this takes the guesswork out of selecting what you want, and often seems like a good deal, sets often include useless items. I fell prey to the cookware set and hope you will learn from my mistake. To get started, you should acquire the following items – listed in order of importance (sizes are approximate and will vary depending on how many you generally cook for – my recommendations come from the viewpoint of a single student, who likes a lot of leftovers).

10/12” stainless skillet – for sautéing vegetables, searing steak,

8” non-stick skillet – used for select applications, most commonly eggs

8-12 quart stainless stockpot – boiling pasta, making soup, beans, chili, etc…

2 quart stainless saucepan – hot dogs, heating soup, cooking vegetables, and sauce

5-6 quart cast iron dutch oven – roasting, soups, stews, pasta, etc… (I use in place of a stockpot as they are often wider and not as tall as stockpots)

10” cast iron skillet – pancakes, cornbread, blueberry cobbler, corn bread, bacon, steak, fajitas, etc…

12” wok – stirfry

And you can expect to receive lids with all of the above (except the nonstick skillet)

My personal recommendations are as follows:

I would get Calphalon or AllClad stainless steel skillet, saucepan, stockpot, wok (though you can get more traditional woks from restaurant supply stores, and as this is not top priority, you can wait to se what your needs are. If I had Viking kitchen appliances (which I would, if I had the space and money), I’d like to try the Viking cookware – but selfishly so everything would match. Calphalon and AllClad also make nonstick skillets, and I would purchase this piece from one of these manufacturers as well.

For the Dutch Oven, I LOVE my Le Creuset pot. It is enamel porcelain coated cast iron. Le Creusets come with a lifetime warranty that protects you against just about everything.  They come in a variety of great colors and the cast iron stays hot and ensures uniformity of heat throughout the whole pot. Creusets are expensive, and I would recommend looking for an outlet store that sells cosmetically blemished models on the cheap. Chances are it’s going to get scratched up from use anyway, might as well save a few dollars.I use this pot more than any other – Red Beans, Jambalaya, Soups, Stews, you name it and I try to make it in my Dutch Oven.

The cast iron skillet can be purchased from just about any store. It’s basically just a huge chunk of metal. I have a Lodge brand cast iron skillet and it works fine. It is also American made, so I feel it helps our domestic economy to purchase one of these. Cast iron must be seasoned before use. To season your cast iron cookware, rinse item in water, dry, and apply a coat of vegetable oil. Place in an oven for several hours at 350-400 degrees. Cast iron may require reasoning from time to time (when food sticks badly or metal appears gray). NEVER use soap when cleaning cast iron. You will learn the fat deposits from cooking meat in the pan allows you to make very fluffy pancakes and other baked goods. Takes a little getting used to, but it is worth it when done properly.

As your culinary expertise expands, so will your cookware needs. But to begin with, the items described above should more than suffice in getting you started on your culinary journey.

Related posts:

1. Learning to Cook: Cutlery 101 Cooking is one of, if not THE most important skills...
2. Learning to Cook: Cutting Board 101 Placing a cutting board in a category all by itself...
3. Louisiana Jambalaya I believe this is a recipe from Emeril originally called,...

Tags: Cooking

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 2:07 am and is filed under Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.