Kitchen Cookware: Which Shape Is Right For You?
Is it time to replace some of those old pots and pans stuffed into your kitchen cupboards? Having problems finding the right pan for the job? Uneven heat distribution causing food to burn and stick? Maybe you need some new kitchen cookware.
Before you decide on kitchen cookware you should consider which shapes you are looking for or need the most. You can buy kitchen cookware in sets or from open stock. The cooking you do will determine which shapes are the best for your culinary needs.
A frying pan is usually a must in the kitchen. Look for a frying pan that has sides that slope and is one to two-and-a-half inches deep. Frying pans often have long handles and make sure they are oven-proof if you want to be able to take it from stovetop to oven. An omelet pan or skillet may be a good addition to the frying pan category. Are you a fan of the pancake or crepe? If so, you may want a pan that covers this type of cooking. These pans have very low sides so that you can remove the flat food fixed in them easily.
Will you want a deep fryer? This kind of kitchen cookware utensil is a sauce pan that has a removable basket. You put fat or oil in the pan and the food goes in the basket and voila, you have French fries or onion rings, cooked to perfection.
Sauté pans are good kitchen cookware pieces to have. These pans feature flat bottoms and the sides are deep and straight which allows the food to be in direct contact with the heat.
When you are looking at kitchen cookware you will want to have more than one size of sauce pan. You can use a sauce pan to heat up food or make yummy sauces. Sauce pans usually have straight or slightly sloping sides that are four to seven inches high. These pans have long handles and come in sizes from a pint to four quarts. When a sauce pan is bigger than this it is known as a sauce pot. Sauce pots are valuable pieces of kitchen cookware and are also called Dutch ovens or stewing pans.
Many people do not consider their kitchen cookware collections complete without a good stock pot. A stock pot is used to make soup, pasta or large amounts of sauce.
You may want to add a double boiler to your list of kitchen cookware possibilities. A double boiler is needed for melting chocolate and making delicate sauces and frostings.
You might want to make a list of the kitchen cookware you would like to have and then decide whether a set will best meet your needs or if open stock selections would be better.