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.

Bread Machines

Home bread machines 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 manual work required...

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® is a glass material that cooking dishes of the same name are made of. Some electric stovetops are also made from it.

Heat Diffuser

A heat diffuser is a flat, round metal object designed to fit on top of a stove burner. It reduces the intensity of the heat that reaches the bottom of a pan, and provides more even heat distribution.

Kitchen 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.

Pie Racks

A pie rack is a vertical tiered rack designed to hold pies in their pie plates straight out of the oven. It allows several pies at a time to cool without burning or damaging a work surface.

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 the Italian pastries known as pizzelle. You can get stove top ones, or electric ones.

Proof Box

A proof box is a sealed space that provides an environment in which you can control the humidity and temperature in which yeast-risen baked goods can rise more effectively.

Pyrex

Pyrex® is a trademarked brand name of heat resistant glass stovetop and baking ware.

Ramekins

Ramekins are small, heatproof dishes for baking that look like a miniature soufflé dishes. They are individual-portion sized; you both cook and serve in them.

Waffle Iron

A waffle iron is a kitchen tool used to cook waffles. 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 impressed in the batter is honeycomb.