Tools of the Trade: Pots and Pans

Taking Stock of your Pots

The vast assortment of pots and pans available at any given cooking store is dizzying and picking a pan can be a personal matter. To figure out what's best for you, ask yourself a few pertinent questions: What do I like to cook? How many people do I usually feed? How much am I willing to spend? Answers to the first two questions will tell you what shape and size pots and pans you require and the last will help you figure out what materials and brands will work. Following is a list of pots and pans that you will use over and over again.

Stock Pot/ Pasta Pot (8 qt.): This large deep pot is perfect for boiling noodles, preparing soups and simmering stocks. Make sure to find one with a fitted lid for versatility. Use it as a Dutch oven or braising pan as well.

Sauce Pan (4 qt.): A mid-sized pot is great for a variety of kitchen tasks including cooking vegetables, heating side dishes and creating sauces. Make sure your pot has a fitted lid.

12-inch high sided saut pan (4 qt.): Large saut pans are perfect when cooking for crowds. In addition, they're great for braising and pan frying when standard sized saut pans would be too small. Look for one with an oven proof handle, so that you can transfer it from stovetop to oven.

9-inch saut or frying pan: Easily the most popular pan in a cook's kitchen, the 9-inch saut pan is perfect for browning meats, sauting vegetables, pan frying, scrambling eggs, rendering bacon and more. Once again, whenever possible, purchase one with an oven proof handle for even more uses.

Roasting Pan: Purchase one that's approximately 16-inches by 13-inches and you'll be able to accommodate most holiday hams and still fit inside a standard oven. Throw in a rack and it's great for roasting chicken, turkey, beef and other oven friendly cuts. Place a heavy-bottomed roasting pan on the stove top and it's excellent for browning and braising ribs, pork shoulder, brisket and chicken legs.

Omelet Pan: Omelet pans are small 6-8-inch saut pans with evenly sloping sides. They heat evenly for scrambling and frying eggs or for sauting small quantities of vegetables. They are easy to manage because of their small size, but make sure not to overcrowd them with too much food.

Griddle: The best flat griddles fit over two burners. They have a wide surface and hardly any vertical around their sides, making it easy to manipulate the food on the stovetop with a spatula. They make grilled sandwiches, quesadillas and pancakes a breeze. Dinnertime favorites like cutlets and thin fish fillets also brown wonderfully on this surface.

Selecting the Right Pan

Materials including cast iron, aluminum, copper and stainless steel are popular for different reasons. Cast iron is fantastic for searing and maintaining high temperatures. However, it can be difficult to clean and maintain. Stainless steel provides a durable stick-resisting surface. Aluminum and copper excel at conducting heat evenly. Many of the best pans are composed of a combination of these three materials.