Cookware

A brief history of cookware

Cookware has been around for thousands of years, as revealed by excavations. The earliest known cookware was believed to have been used during the Stone Age civilizations. By 7000 BC in some parts of the world, people were carving and using large stone bowls for cooking. Then developments in pottery facilitated the creation and usage of fireproof cookware in different shapes and sizes. Subsequently bronze and Iron metalworking skills were perfected and employed successfully in the production of cookware. There was no looking back then. As years passed, cookware became better and more varied. By the 17th century, homes in the West were using kettles, baking pans, pots and skillets in their kitchens. These were commonly made of iron, brass and copper.

Cookware in today's kitchen

Since then, cookware has come a long way. Cooking skills have been refined and so has cookware. Modern kitchens boast of a wide collection of specialized cookware. Each pot, each pan is made to perform a specific function and to be used for a specific kind of cooking. If you need to saut?, you have the saut? pan. If you need to fry an egg, you have the fry pan. Soups are made in the Dutch oven, vegetable are put in the vegetable steamer for steaming, corn pops perfectly in a pop corn popper etc, your Au Gratin will cook to perfection in a baking dish. The list goes on.

Types of commonly used cookware

Though there is a mind-boggling variety of pots and pans available today, not all kitchens have all that the market offers. There are however a few cookware essentials that most kitchens are equipped with. These include:

• Braising pans and roasting pans Tare used for cooking chicken, pork or beef. These are shallow, large and wide pans, usually made of heavy gauge metal and come with a cover and two handles.

• Dutch Ovens are deep pots with heavy lids. These are ideal for slow heat cooking and are commonly used to make stews, soups and gravy rich dishes. Dutch Ovens recreate oven like settings on a stove top.

• Casserole pans are usually made from glazed ceramic and can be used both in the oven and on the stovetop.

• Frying Pans or Skillets are ideal for any kind of frying. These have a large flat heating surface and shallow sides.

• Griddles are used for grilling, making pan breads such as pancakes and crepes, and frying. These are flat circular metal plates metal with a hoop attached to the sides. You can also buy square and rectangular griddles.

• Saucepans are perfect for boiling or simmering. These come with one long sturdy handle for easy lifting and have a capacity of 1-8 liters.

• Saut? pans are a lot like fry pans. They are however used for saut?ing and not frying. Saut? pans have a large area surface and vertical sides to prevent food from slipping off during the cooking process.

• Stockpots are big pots that are used for cooking food in large quantities for a party or banquet. These allow stock to simmer slowly for a long time.

• Woks are wide, bowl shaped vessels that have either one or two handles near the rim. These are classically used for stir-frying, but they are good for deep frying too

There are many other specialized cookware options like pop corn poppers, cooling racks, crepe pans, cookie cutter, heat tamers, vegetable steamers that can be found in kitchens to facilitate and enhance cooking efforts.

What is Cookware commonly made of

Modern cookware is available in a range of materials, each with its own unique characteristics and advantages. It is a good idea to know the fundamentals of different cookware and then determine whether or not it would be a good fit in your kitchen. Broadly cookware comes in the following materials:

• Copper - Probably the best and most uniform conductor of heat, copper is perfect cookware material. It is ideal for fast cooking and saut?ing. Copper cookware generally comes with a coating of tin or stainless steel inside to make sure that copper doesn't react with the food. Copper cookware shortens cooking time considerably. It also comes as clad copper and copper base cookware.

• Aluminum - Aluminum is another vey good thermal conductor which is lightweight, rust resistant and corrosion proof to a large extent. Aluminum is commonly used for pie plates, cake or muffin pans, baking sheets, pasta pots steamers, skillets, saucepans, roasting pans, stockpots and saut? pans. Unless it has a layer of aluminum oxide, it can react with some food and cause a change in taste. It can also get damaged when used in the dishwasher. Variants of Aluminum cookware include, clad Aluminum, anodized Aluminum and cast Aluminum cookware

• Stainless Steel - Stainless Steel pans are ideal for simple, straightforward cooking requirements. Not the right choice if gourmet cooking is your style. The advantage of stainless steel is that it does not react with food and is easy to clean and maintain. It is also used in conjunction with other metals to make great cookware. You also have enamel coated and copper coated cookware which is as good as stainless steel cookware and good for basic cooking.

• Carbon steel - Carbon steel is a porous metal similar to iron but with much more carbon. Carbon steel has adequate heat capacity (meaning it heats and cools slowly) and, if seasoned it acts as a good non-stick pan. Carbon steel is the preferred choice for woks. The other carbon steel pans which can be found are paella pans and crepe pans.

• Cast iron - This is a material which can withstand very high temperatures and has high heat capacity. It is a great alternative to Teflon nonstick cookware. The best thing about these pans is that they are fairly inexpensive. This cookware is ideal for high heat searing of meats and fish, for cooking eggs, and also for pan frying, and baking. The major drawback is that it rusts easily and you need to season it before each usage. This drawback is overcome with enamel coated cast iron cookware which offers all the advantages of pure cast iron without the shortcomings.

• Teflon coated frying pan (Non-stick) - Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) is great for cooking with less oil as it minimizes the chances of food sticking to the pan's surface. It also reduces the risks of food burning while cooking. You can cook an egg with a drop of oil and then just wipe the pan clean. However you need to use it with care and not use metal spatulas and spoons or not wash it when the pan is hot.

• Heavy fired pottery - This unique cookware is made of specially fired pottery that can endure direct flame heat. Dutch or French ovens and Fondue pots are often made of heavy fired pottery.

• Terracotta - Terracotta has a porous surface which can hold water and other liquids during cooking. This cookware adds an earthy flavor to the food. They are ideal for roasting and slow cooking in the oven. Some Terracotta cookware is glazed and some is left untreated. This needs to be sometime soaked before it can be used.

• Glass - Glass makes excellent bake-ware. They best thing about glass cookware is that it can be taken straight from the oven to the table. Glass is easy to use, easy to clean and quite inexpensive. Its major drawback is that most glassware cannot be used on direct heat.

• Silicone - Silicone is increasingly gaining popularity as excellent bake-ware. It is able to withstand high temperatures and is light and extremely flexible.

What should influence cookware purchase?

Whatever your choice, make sure you keep in mind your cooking style and cook top requirements before you choose your cookware. You cannot make soup in a frying pan and you cannot fry an egg in a saucepan. A lot of cookware like copper, aluminum and stainless steel cannot be used on induction cook tops. Cookware made of glass and silicon can only go into the oven. Keep all these factors in mind while choosing your cookware. Buying relevant cookware is as important as buying good quality one.

The best place to buy your cookware

While the market is flooded with cookware options, probably the best place to find the best and the widest range is online. There are a number of excellent websites which offer high end top quality cookware which is both functional and attractive. Making it the perfect addition to any kitchen!

Why is good cookware important?

Good and relevant cookware is a prerequisite to good cooking. Pots and Pans are the essential tools without which culinary masterpieces cannot be created. Agreed, your cooking skills are important, but your cookware plays a major role in achieving success in this fine art. Great cookware sets improve your cooking, save time and energy and make the whole cooking experience a whole lot more easy, enjoyable and efficient.