A History of Cookware & Bakeware
Cookware and bakeware are types of food preparation containers commonly found in the kitchen.
Cookware comprises cooking vessels, such as saucepans and Frying Pans, intended for use on a stove or range cooktop.
Bakeware comprises cooking vessels intended for use inside an oven.
Some utensils are both cookware and bakeware.
The history of cooking vessels before the development of pottery is minimal due to the limited archaeological evidence although it is possible to make some strong assumptions based on methods used by latter peoples.
Among the first of the techniques believed to be used by stone age civilizations were improvements to basic roasting over an open flame.
So, in addition to exposing food to direct heat from either an open fire or hot embers they also covered the food with clay or large leaves before roasting to preserve moisture in the food. Examples of similar techniques are still in use in many modern cuisines.
Of greater difficulty was finding a method to boil water. For people without access to natural heated water sources, such as hot springs, heated stones could be placed in a water-filled vessel, for example the stomach of an animal killed by the hunters, to raise the temperature .
In many coastal locations the shells of turtles or large molluscs provided a source for waterproof cooking vessels.
Bamboo tubes sealed at the end with clay provided a usable container in Asia, while the inhabitants of the Tehuacan Valley began carving large stone bowls that were permanently set into a hearth as early as 7000 BC.
Native Americans, both in the East and in the West, used large leaves to form a basket in which to boil water, As long as the flames did not reach above the level of water in the basket, the leaves would not burn through.
Native American cooking baskets used by the Zuni people were developed from a mesh casing, woven to stabilize gourd water vessels.
Roasting baskets covered with clay would be filled with wood coals and the food to be roasted. When the thus hardened clay separated from the basket, it would then become a usable clay Roasting Pan in itself.
This indicates a steady progression in the use of other materials in early cooking.
This development of pottery allowed for the creation of fireproof cooking vessels in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Coating the earthenware with some type of plant gum, and later ceramic glazes, converted the porous container into a waterproof vessel.
Ceramics, including stoneware and glass, are relatively poor conductors of heat and so ceramic pots must cook over relatively low heats and over long periods of time. You will know that most modern ceramic pots will crack if used on the direct heat of the stovetop, and are only intended for the oven.
Even after metal pots came into widespread use, earthenware pots are still used in huge numbers globally, due to their low production cost.
The development of bronze and iron metalworking skills allowed for metallic cookware made to be manufactured, although adoption of the new cookware was slow due to the much higher cost, and in truth, the basic concept and design of metallic cookware has changed little over many centuries.
By the 17th century, it was common for a Western kitchen to contain a number of skillets, Baking Pans, a kettle and several pots, along with a variety of Pot Hooks and trivets. In the American colonies, these items would commonly be produced by a local blacksmith from iron while brass or copper vessels were common in Europe and Asia.
Improvements in metallurgy during the last 200 years has allowed for pots and pans from metals such as steel, Stainless Steel and aluminium to be economically mass produced, however copper and Cast Iron is still used but these now tend to be the more expensive, top of the range items.