How to Select an Advanced Set of Kitchen Equipment

If you enjoy cooking and get in the kitchen fairly often, it may be time to choose a set of quality cookware that give you the best results and last a lifetime.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Chef's Knives
• Chef's Knives
• Baking Dishes
• Baking Pans
• Boning Knives
• Bread Knives
• Broiler Pans
• Casserole Dishes
• Cheese Graters
• Chef's Knives
• Chef's Knives
• Cookie Sheets
• Cooking Pots
• Large Pots
• Loaf Pans
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Mixing Bowls
• Paring Knives
• Rolling Pins
• Saucepans
• Serving Spoons
• Slotted Spoons
• Vegetable Steamers
• Wire Whisks
• Saucepans
• Cookie sheets
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups
• sauté pans

1. Check your bank account. The best pots and pans are not cheap. Expect to pay more than $50 for a small saucepan and at least several hundred dollars for a starter set.

2. Start with a set that includes at least two 8- or 9-inch sauté pans, a 4- or 5-quart pot and a 7-quart or larger stockpot.

3. Augment your set with a roasting pan and one or two 1-quart saucepans.

4. Select cookware with thick-walled construction and riveted all-metal handles.

5. Ensure that your cookware comes with some sort of lifetime warranty. Be wary of those that don't.

6. Buy at least one good 6- or 8-inch chef's knife; consider adding a paring knife, a boning knife and a serrated knife for bread to the mix. These can typically found in a complete knife set.

7. Add a whisk, a slotted spoon and serving spoons to your basic set of kitchen utensils (spatula, tongs, wooden spoons, vegetable peeler).

8. Make your life easier by purchasing a set of mixing bowls, a cheese grater, a vegetable steamer and a ceramic casserole dish.

9. For baking, add a cookie sheet, a jelly roll pan, a loaf pan, an 8- or 9-inch high-sided baking pan, measuring cups and spoons, and a rolling pin.

10. Extend your set as you need to. If you start to bake bread, for example, you might consider a baking stone. If you start cooking Chinese food, invest in a wok, a bamboo steamer and a cleaver.

Tips & Warnings

• Advanced cookware generally performs better than cheaper cookware because the quality of its materials and construction is better. It heats more evenly and is easier to control, which leads to the best results in recipes.
• With proper care, top-quality cookware will last for generations, not just one lifetime.
• Nonstick surfaces such as Teflon and Silverstone work well but are best only in sauté pans. In some pans, especially roasting pans, advanced sets are better off without the nonstick surface to better make pan gravies and sauces.

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on 11/22/2005 A colander (preferably stainless steel) and a can/bottle opener are also indispensable.

on 11/22/2005 Cooling racks are indispensable if you like to bake cakes, cookies or bread. Get them when you get baking pans.