Best Cookware

Q: For cooking what? The best cookware for frying up bacon (cast iron) may not be the best cookware for pressure cooking (aluminum) or for simmering tomato sauce (stainless or porcelain-clad iron).

A: I second this - but if you are talking about *general* cooking, you'll probably want a bunch of things - trying to get it all in one set is silly. For example I have: 2 8 quart stockpots - one enameled aluminum, one stainless. They are used for soup and stock making, large quantities of chili, risotto, etc... Mulled cider, pasta, steaming asparagus and large quantities of other veggies, (they both have pasta/steamer inserts). I need these two (plus the two other large pots) because I do a lot of large scale entertaining, as well as liking to cook ahead in quantity. These two pots are my most-used items except My cast iron skillet - the largest I could get that would fit on a burner. It fries (on the infrequent occasions I make them) eggplant, chicken, french fries, spring rolls, etc..., I saute veggies in it, cook meat, make tortillas, blacken seafood, etc... 1 12 quart and 1 16 quart stockpot - these are used a lot less frequently, but when I need them, I need them. The 12 is a revere copper bottom, and the 16 is cheap aluminum. These are for cooking 5 lbs of pasta, making black bean soup for 25, cooking two lobsters at once, making a lot of turkey stock after thanksgiving, and making lots of jam. If you don't cook in quantity much, I'd suggest perhaps 1 8 quart and 1 12 - you never know when you'll end up cooking a lot, even if just for leftovers. 1 2 quart calphalon saucepan - I like calphalon, with limits. This is a nice piece. I also have a 5 quart saute and a four quart sauce pan. I use them for miscellaneous stuff - sauteeing for a sofrito, cooking down pan juices, making cheese sauce, etc... They're nice, except that they tend to discolor over time. 2 large baking dishes - used frequently, both are pyrex, and both are terrific - I bake onions, seafood casserole,oven poach chicken, etc... in them. They're cheap and effective. 1 large roaster - enameled steel. A friend has a cast iron roaster - its nice, it makes a great turkey, but when there's a 15 turkey in there, she can't get it out of the oven without help! IMHO, steel is nice, and enamel is nicer. Don't get something like Calphalon unless you have money to throw away - its only a roasting pan. 1 small copper pot - I'd love more, but can't afford it. Great stuff, if you don't mind polishing. Mine is sort of a small dutch oven, and if you can only have 1 or 2 pieces, get something like this that you can serve, as well as cook in, as copper is so pretty its a shame not to show it off. 2 le creuset dutch ovens. 1 is 4 quart and the other is 6. I'd have ten of these if I could afford it - they bake everything, hold heat well, are incredible. I love them. 1 tiny butter warmer - also great for making a small sauce for a few veggies or meat, its calphalon non-stick, but we got it as a gift. 1 cheap non-stick omlet pan - as soon as I can, I'll replace it with Calphalon non-stick, which will last. Great for cooking light, omlets, crepes, tortillas, a quick saute... I'd love to have a largish non-stick saucepan - I hate the stuck on rice I get with risotto and other rice dishes. Oh, and a cheap stainless steel wok. I don't use it that often, but when I do, its invaluable, and for the kind of cooking I do in it - wok searing, stir frying, etc..., there's no point in wasting money on anything but a nice stainless wok you season yourself. I hope this helps give you a sense of some of the materials and kinds of things that people use in different kinds of cooking.

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