Pots, casseroles, frying pans, cauldrons, woks, spaghetti pot...
No, You Won't Have to Buy All That
I know you’re thinking: am I going to have to buy all this? The answer is no… and yes.
Just as we become addicted to buying knives, pots and pans also attract our attention.
But let’s understand this better.
All the names above identify utensils that we use for cooking.
Basically, they are all pans that have different shapes, have slightly different purposes or are better suited to cooking certain types of food.
We can roughly define pans as those with handles, casseroles as pans with handles and higher edges, frying pans as pans with handles and lower, rounded edges, woks as pans with handles and rounded bottoms, which are widely used in Asian cuisine, cauldrons as larger casseroles and spaghetti pots as cauldrons with one or more pasta drainers.
That’s just to mention a few models. There are others that we’ll talk about another time.
Materials
Various types of materials are used to make these utensils:
Aluminum, copper, stainless steel, clay, ceramic, iron, etc.
Weight is important here, up to a point, of course.
Pans that are too light are cheap to make and are in short supply. They can’t reach high temperatures or maintain their temperature for long.
As I said, you should have a few basic pieces, but I’m sure you’ll end up acquiring others, just as you do with knives.
Let’s get down to basics.
Pots and casseroles
I use stainless steel, triple-bottomed pots and pans on a daily basis.
These pans can reach high temperatures and keep them there for a long time.
Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Induction Cookware Set
I use a set of pans like the one above at home. With this set you can make practically anything you need.
Frying pans
The same principle applies here: if it’s light, it’s not good. Frying pans, even more than saucepans, need high temperatures to fulfill their mission: frying and sautéing food.
The ideal is a stainless steel frying pan for meat and poultry and one with a non-stick bottom for seafood and egg preparations.
See the models below:
Heritage Steel x Eater 12 Inch Frying Pan
Utopia Kitchen Nonstick Frying Pan Set
A pressure cooker really helps to speed up preparation times.
There are many myths about the danger these cookers pose, but the truth is that by following the necessary precautions you won’t have any problems. Basically, don’t open the pan while there is still pressure inside, don’t cook without liquid and respect the volume recommended by the manufacturer. I recommend that you read the manual that comes with the product.
I use two different pans, a normal triple-bottomed one and an electric one.
The former I use basically for cooking tubers such as potatoes and yams, beans and meat and poultry.
The electric cooker, on the other hand, is very versatile due to its temperature controls and cooking times. It also comes with a non-stick coating. You can cook anything from rice to cakes, as well as other traditional pressure cooker recipes.
T-fal Pressure Cooker Aluminum Pressure Canner
Instant Pot Pro (8 QT) 10-in-1 Pressure Cooker
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