8 Essential Cookwares: Pots and Pans You’ll Need

Having the right tools is surely the basic rule for every kitchen. That doesn’t mean you have to gather all of chef’s stuffs, as well as whole set of everything. Someone might say, the great essentials should serve the best for your cooking styles and ease your life in your kitchen---that’s the ideal. However, experienced chefs know that there’re some pots and pans should certainly be in every kitchen. These tools below let you have easier cooking from boiling an egg, small appetites to like-a-chef dishes:

	1. Small Saucepan: The saucepan is really basic workhorse for every kitchen as it works for boiling some eggs, making grain or sauces. The 2- to 3-quart sizes are big enough to make soup, quinoa or pasta for 4 to 6 people. The good saucepan should have round edges, which make easy pouring and cleaning.
	2. Medium Saucepan: Well, we still insist the saucepan is really your workhorse tool, so having another bigger size one is really a right choice. Large 4-quart or slight larger is very useful cooking at home. This is a multi-functioned tool which is combining the feature of saucepan and stock pot together---making pasta sauce, chicken stock or soup for 6 persons.
	3. Covered Sauté Pan: A good sauté pan should have high straight sides and roomy surface bottom, which making good for sautéing without splashes out.
	4. Cast-Iron Skillet: We dare to bet, this heavy-gauge pan would be in every essential list! This last-you-a-lifetime pan lets you do various great recipes---from roasting steak, sautéing vegetable, Pad Thai to dinner baked meals. The 10 to 12 inch pans are the most useful size.
	5. Enameled Dutch Oven: The Dutch oven (or French oven) pots will definitely useful for braising, stewing, slow cooking or even bread baking. For normal size of family, 5 to 7 quart pots are practical.
	6. Nonstick Skillet: Even though you’re not nonstick lovers, we still recommend having a nonstick skillet. The 10-inch nonstick pan is handy and large enough for many recipes, especially for egg recipes like omelets and pancakes. Just remember to keep medium to medium high heat.
	7. Stock Pot: The tall, straight sides and narrow bottom pot provides plenty room for making chicken stock, gravy, or spaghetti beautifully. Look for the thick and round base to ensuring that the ingredients, like bean or chili, won’t burn inside. For normal uses, the 10-to 12-quart stainless steel pot is ideal.
	8. Casserole: Most of us will have casseroles in every Christmas or in some cold winter days. So, having a nice cast-iron or stone baking pot with vivid-colored finish is handy for both beautiful cooking and serving on the table.