Choose pots and pans to improve your cooking

Update:08 Jul

I've learned a lot from many great cooks, including that quality pots and pans made with the right ingredients can really improve your cooking. Instead of stocking your racks with pots and pans of all shapes and sizes, having a few handpicked pieces will give you the flexibility to cook anything you want and get the performance you need to cook better.

I surveyed some of our authors to find out which pans are the most valuable to them and why. Then I came up with six pieces, starting with two essentials: an anodized aluminum stock pot for soups, soups, stews, some sauces, blanching, boiling and steaming. There's also a stainless/aluminum high-sided wok with a lid for frying, deglazing sauces, stewing small items like vegetables, making stir-fries and french fries, cooking pilaf and risotto, and more.

In a well-stocked kitchen, you'll find plenty of top-notch pots and pans. They may look different, but they all have the basic qualifications you should be looking for: look for heavy-duty materials. Thinner materials spread and retain heat unevenly, and their bottoms are more prone to dent and warp. This means the food will burn. An absolutely flat bottom is especially important if your stovetop element is electric. To determine if a pan is heavy enough, lift it up, look at the thickness of the walls and base, and tap it with your knuckles.