Best Cooking Pans

"The frying-pan has awful sins to answer for. What untold horrors of dyspepsia have arisen from its smoky depths, like the ghosts from witches' caldrons!" ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe in "House and Home Papers" (1865).

Cooking is an art form and few on earth will deny that. So, since a painter never compromises on the best quality paint brushes or easel-canvases and a writer doesn't opt for writing with twigs on sand, you shouldn't be cringing when it comes to purchasing the suitable cookware, if cooking's your talent. A thumb rule in the culinary world states that, like a kitchen is incomplete without a razor-sharp all-purpose knife, it is also ill-equipped sans pots and pans suitable for varied cooking methods. So, here I shall give you a guide of the best cooking pans, that make for must-have kitchen appliances that you should definitely invest in, so that your culinary skills do not suffer just because you didn't have the prescribed loaf pan and had to make do with a square pan.

Best Cooking Pans to Buy: Types
Here are some of the best cooking pans and pots suitable for the variant concoction methods of different delicacies.

Skillet: Commonly known as frying pans, skillets are primarily used to fry items of all sorts. These are generally metallic pans with a flattened base and slightly flared brims. The practically sized skillets are the 8", 10" and 12 inch ones. Since, these frypans need to be not only efficient in heat conduction but more importantly in uniform heat consumption, especially when it comes to deep-frying, the best skillets are those with either basal copper coatings, cast iron, anodized aluminum or of stainless steel. A cast iron skillet can also double as an indoor grill. But it does require special maintenance and often ruins the hue of light-colored food. While using a skillet, make sure to lower the flame when frying heavy, large items, so as to avoid superficial searing only, while the insides remain raw. Also, it is of optimum importance that a skillet should have a thick bottom so as to prevent the food from getting scorched and also to keep dents and holes at bay. Since, frying involves tossing and other such movements, the handle of a good frypan should not only be strong but made of a material that doesn't become hot. For this purpose, thermosetting resin or phenolic grips as well as silicone handles which can withstand heat up to 400° F, are good choices. Frying pans with ribs are especially handy as they automatically allow the excess oil to drain out of the food items. Use these along with a suitably best deep-frying oil and reap some of the best culinary results.

Sauté Pan: Springing from the French verb sauter or to jump, these pans were made for sautéing or light frying items. They closely resemble a fry pan with low walls, vertically straight, not flared in order to avoid toppling over of the food, and a flat bottom but bigger in diameter. They facilitate the frying of onions, spices, other vegetables and meat with minimum use of oil, lard or any other cooking lubricant. You can also make condiments in this pan. Choose a three-quart sauté pan with a firm handgrip, replete with non-erosive rivets and a good heat-conducting bottom. Sauté pans make for the best omelet pan ever when coupled with olive oil, the best cooking oil for light frying.

Wok: This is essentially a basin shaped cross between a skillet and a sauté pan, with 2 looped handles on two sides. It is used for steaming, stewing and smoking purposes. You however, need to be careful while purchasing a wok as some of them conduct heat unevenly, only in patches like some Chinese stainless steel woks tend to do.

Stockpots: Ideal for making large quantities of food in case of parties and feasts, stock pots are perfect deep and straight walled vessels for boiling, stewing and blanching. Make pastas, stews, broths, soups and sauces in substantial amounts in these pots which has brims equal to diameter of the base. However, it is pragmatic to buy a stockpot with sturdy handles attached to the pot with heavy screws, with a spigot to drain liquids with ease and which is not made from a very heavy metal as that will make it difficult to lift it when full. Pick a stock pot which has a flat lid and not a vaulted one. This will enable you to cover it partly to let out steam when necessary. A convex lid will keep slipping off and not provide you with this facility. While the Hispanics use a metallic stockpot to boil rice, referred to as 'caldero', particular stockpots for the purpose of making lobsters specifically are also commercially available.

Saucepan: These are ideal for making soups. These are smaller versions of stockpots and used mainly for boiling and simmering liquids like milk. Replete with a nip like jugs, to facilitate easy decanting the liquid afterwards, saucepans must have strong, secure handles so that they can hold the weight of the vessel when lifted for pouring. Buy one made in copper, given copper's immediate adaptation to temperature fluctuations, in a two-quart size. It will make for one of the best cooking pans to buy then, as copper heats up and cools down as per the requirement of the dish, as soon as you adjust the flame.

Dutch Oven: Buy yourself a 4 - 6 quart Dutch oven and make slow cooking both on the stove as well as the microwave easy. You can make stews, soups, and braises in these glazed enamel or borosilicate glass containers.

Best Cooking Pan Sets to Buy

There are multiple brands that offer pan sets at prices that are suitable to the size of your coffer. High-end names like 'Chantal Copper Fusion' and 'Le Creuset' offer 9 and 8 piece sets for around USD 600 and USD 400 respectively, 'Trade Belgique' sets with 14 pieces are only worth approximately USD 250. Heat sensitive copper vessels can be bought from brands like 'Revere Copper Advantage' who are giving 9 piece cookware sets at a modest price of about USD 130. You can also try 'Farberware' and 'Anolon' if your budget's not too high. But if you want to settle for nothing but the best, then 'All-Clad' and 'Calphalon' should be your lookouts.

The best cooking pans are those which fit the bill of your requirements and only your cooking patterns and food habits can determine which ones are best suited for your purpose. So, look around before you finalize on a particular utensil or set for that matter. Every variety has its own set of pros and cons. For instance, cast iron cookware add iron to your food but also requires elaborate care, so as to fill all the pores that crop up with cooking in them. Copper vessels need to be polished regularly to maintain their sheeny look. So, choose wisely, not hurriedly and see your dishes improving taste and texture wise.