Cookware

Braising pans and roasting pans are large, wide and shallow, to provide space to cook a roast joint of chicken, lamb, beef, or pork. They typically have two loop or tab handles, and may have a cover. Roasters are usually made of heavy gauge metal so that they may be used safely on a cooktop following roasting in an oven. Unlike most other cooking vessels, roasters are usually oblong or oval.

There is no sharp boundary between braisers and roasters - the same pan, with or without a cover, can be used for both functions. In Europe, a clay roaster is still popular because it allows roasting without adding grease or liquids. This helps preserve flavor and nutrients. Having to soak the pot in water for 15 min. before use is a notable drawback.

Casserole pans resemble roasters and dutch ovens, and many recipes can be used interchangeably between them. Depending on their material, casseroles can be used in the oven or on the stovetop. Casseroles are commonly made of glazed ceramics or pyrex.

Dutch ovens are heavy, relatively deep pots with a heavy lid, designed to re-create oven conditions on the stovetop or campfire. They can be used for stews, braised meats, soups, and a large variety of other dishes that benefit from low heat, slow cooking. Dutch ovens are typically made from Cast Iron, and are measured by volume.

Frying Pans, frypans, skillets, provide a large flat heating surface and shallow sides, and are best for pan frying. Frypans with a gentle, rolling slope are sometimes called omelette pans. Grill pans are frypans that are ribbed, to let fat drain away from the food being cooked. Frypans and grill pans are generally measured by diameter (20–30 cm).

Griddles are flat plates of metal used for frying, grilling, and making pan breads such as pancakes, injera, tortillas, chapatis, and crepes. Traditional iron griddles are circular, with a semicircular hoop fixed to opposite edges of the plate and rising above it to form a central handle.

Rectangular griddles that cover two stove burners are now also common, as are griddles that have a ribbed area that can be used like a Grill Pan. Some have multiple square metal grooves enabling the contents to have a defined pattern, similar to a waffle maker. Like frypans, round griddles are generally measured by diameter.

In Scotland, griddles are referred to as girdles. In some Spanish speaking countries, a similar pan is referred to as a comal. Crepe pans are similar to griddles, but are usually smaller, and made of a thinner metal.

Both griddles and frypans can be found in electric versions. These may be permanently attached to a heat source, similar to a Hot Plate.

Saucepans, or just "pots" are vessels with vertical sides about the same height as their diameter, used for simmering or boiling. Saucepans generally have one long handle. Larger pots of the same shape generally have two handles close to the sides of the pot so they can be lifted with both hands, and are called sauce-pots or soup pots.

Saucepans and saucepots are measured by volume (usually 1–8 L). While saucepots often resemble Dutch ovens in shape, they do not have the same heat capacity characteristics. Very small saucepans used for heating milk are referred to as Milk Pans, such saucepans usually have a lip for pouring the heated milk.

Ironically, the saucepan is not the ideal vessel to use for making sauces. It is more efficient to use saucepans with sloping sides, called Windsor pans, or saucepans with rounded sides, called sauciers. These provide quicker evaporation than Straight Sided pans, and make it easier to stir a sauce while reducing.

Sauté pans, used for sauteing, have a large surface area and low sides to permit steam to escape and allow the cook to toss the food. The word "sauté" comes from the French verb "sauter", meaning to jump. Saute pans often have straight vertical sides, but may also have flared or rounded sides.

Stockpots are large pots with sides at least as tall as their diameter. This allows stock to simmer for extended periods of time without reducing too much. Stockpots are typically measured in volume (6-36 L). Stock Pots come in a large variety of sizes to meet any need From Cooking for a family to preparing food for a banquet. A specific type of stockpot exists for lobsters, and an all-metal stockpot usually called a caldero is used in Hispanic cultures to make rice.

Woks are wide, roughly bowl-shaped vessels with one or two handles at or near the rim. This shape allows a small pool of cooking oil in the center of the wok to be heated to a High Heat using relatively little fuel, while the outer areas of the wok are used to keep food warm after it has been fried in the oil. In the Western world, woks are typically used only for stir-frying, but they can actually be used for anything from steaming to deep frying.