Crepe pans, egg poachers, paella pans, tagines - while these types of cookware allow you to cook specialised dishes, they are more suited to those who know their way around the kitchen. Every budding chef should choose to invest in a cookware set that includes the basics; at least one frying pan, a stock pot, casserole dish and a number of different sized sauce pans. Purchase these items and the possibilities in the kitchen are endless.
Need just one piece of cookware when taking a big hike to meet your destiny or simply running away from home? Like the members of The Fellowship of the Ring, you’d probably take a larger fry pan. If there had to be a big three of cookware, then they would be the frying pan, saucepan and stockpotgood, old-fashioned pots and pans. All of this is just to create some sort of hierarchy of utility when it comes to cookware.
A larger sauce pan is what’s known as a stock pot (or stew pot in some culinary circles). Stockpots are similar to saucepans in that they are used to boil or heat recipes rich in sauce or liquid, however they are generally over 6L and feature 2 handles for ease-of-use. Pasta pots are essentially a slightly smaller version of a stockpot. They are perfect for cooking large quantities of pasta due to their higher sides than a standard sauce pan.
This is just a very broad overview of the most basic kitchen gear. As can be imagined, there are a variety of specialised pans out there: chef’s pans, crepe pans, egg poachers, grill pans and saute pans, to name some of the more well-known ones. The same can be said for saucepans. Among the special-duty pots are double boilers, mussel pots and wokswhich occupy a space somewhere between pot and pan. Knowing the uses of these items will go a long way towards bringing out your inner chef.
