Cookware

Cookware. Elsemargriet / Pixabay.com / 2018 / CC0 1.0

Cookware is anything you cook in, whether in the oven, on top of the stove, over a campfire or in a microwave. At a minimum, such items need to be heat resistant. For stove-top use, they need to be flame-resistant as well. For microwave use, they need to be microwave safe.

Various materials can be used to make cookware out of. Each type of material has different uses, different strengths and different weaknesses.

Materials used include aluminum, cast iron, copper, non-stick, or porcelain on carbon steel, porcelain-coated, stainless steel, tempered glass and pottery.

Different shapes are designed for different tasks.

Wood handles stay cool, but don’t fare well in the oven or dishwasher.

The best handles are those riveted on.

You can buy cookware in sets, or open-stock. Most people advise to start off with a set, to get the most bang for your buck, and then add on to it through open stock.

Sources

Blumenthal, Dale. Is That Newfangled Cookware Safe? US Food and Drug Administration. FDA Consumer Magazine. October 1990.

Types of cookware

Baking Stones

Baking stones are used as a baking aid in modern gas and electric ovens. They are porous, and so absorb condensation from what is baking on top of them, causing a crisper crust. They need to be thoroughly heated in advance of using. You put what you are...

Blowtorches

A kitchen blowtorch can brown one area of food, without heating the rest of the food, or the physical vessel the food is in or on. The classic home use is for caramelizing the top on crème brûlée.

Bread Machines

Bread machines (in the home-use sense) are small, electronic counter-top appliances in which the raw ingredients for a loaf of bread are mixed and baked and which, after a relatively short period of time, turn out a loaf of bread with no additional...

Caja China

A Caja China is a very large, covered, outdoor oven. It is heated by hot coals placed on top the cover. Despite its name, its origins are actually Cuban.

Cooling Racks

A cooling rack is a slightly-raised rack that you put hot baked goods on straight out of the oven, either still in the pan or removed from the pan. The rack allows air to circulate underneath, which helps prevent condensation which could cause baked goods...

CorningWare

CorningWare © Denzil Green CorningWare is a glass material that cooking dishes are made of. Electric stovetops are also made from it. Most CorningWare cooking vessels can be used on both the stovetop and in the oven. Just check the bottom; ...

Heat Diffuser

A Heat Diffuser is a flat, round metal object designed to fit on top of a stove burner. It reduces the heat that reaches the bottom of the pan, and provides more even heat distribution. It takes the place of a double-boiler. You put it on top...

Non-Electrical Rotisseries

Non-Electrical Rotisseries were mechanical devices used before the advent of electricity to turn meat while cooking over a fire. Hastener A Hastener was a half-shell device open at the front. At the top of the device inside, you'd hang a piece of...

Pie Plates

Pie Tin © Denzil Green A Pie Plate is a dish used for making pies in. Generally, all are ovensafe, though they may be used for pies that are no-bake as well. Pie plates are also equally referred to as pie pans, pie tins, pie dishes, etc. Some ...

Pie Racks

A Pie Rack is a rack design to hold pies in their pie tins straight out of the oven. It allows the pies to cool without burning or damaging a work surface. You leave the pies in their tins they were baked in; you don't attempt to turn them out before...

Pizza Stones

Pizza stones are for use in home ovens to help pizza crust develop a crispiness and puffiness that approximates that of pizzas from pizzerias.

Pizzelle Iron

A Pizzelle Iron is a kitchen tool used to make Pizzelle. Regular sized ones usually make Pizzelle about 5 inches (12 1/2 cm) wide; small ones make Pizzelle about 3 inches (7 1/2 cm) wide. The has two parts that open and close. These hold a mould...

Pyrex

Pyrex® is a trademarked brand name of glass stovetop and baking ware. The disadvantage of glass cookware is that it does not conduct heat as well as metal does. The advantages of it are that it looks more "sanitary", is more resistant to caustic ...

Ramekins

A Ramekin is a small, heatproof dish for baking that looks like a miniature soufflé dish. They are individual-portion sized; you both cook and serve in them. Because Ramekins are so small, heat easily gets to the middle of what you are cooking in ...

Waffle Iron

A waffle iron is a kitchen tool used to cook waffles with. It is a two-sided device that folds so that one side goes over the other, to form and mould the waffles. The standard pattern is of the mould impressed in the batter is honeycomb. The...