My Favorite Skillet, because Good Cookware Matters

One of the important factors in cooking that lots of people don't even think about is cookware. I know I never did. At least until I got my hands on the good stuff!

Several years ago we had a friend staying with us while he was raising funds to be a missionary overseas. When he moved out he left us with a lot of his stuff, since he couldn't really take it with him anyway. Since he's an excellent cook, he had some really nice cookware that I've been using ever since. Probably my favorite piece, and the one that almost never gets put away for more than a day or two because it seems like I use it constantly, is my saute pan. If you've been following this blog, you've seen this pan in several of the recipes I've posted already, and I'm sure that you'll see it again many times. It's from the Wolfgang Puck Cafe Collection and best I can tell is no longer in production as I can't find it online anywhere. So I've put together a slide show of similar pans on Amazon, for those looking to upgrade their own cookware. 

As you can see, the price of decent cookware varies. In just the five items I've collected, they range from $40 all the way up above $250. I've tried to only include pans comparable to the one I use and love, but of course since I don't own any of these individual pieces, I can't vouch for their quality. Read through the reviews and decide for yourself.

Here are the features that I love about this particular piece:

photo credit: FreeImages.com/recyclthis

1. Stainless Steel

All of my previous pans were non-stick, teflon-coated nightmares. It sounds so good after all: non-stick. The thing is they aren't really. They're actually less-likely-stick. But if you cook with them often enough, you will eventually get something stuck on there. And then you might as well throw the pan out and start over because you're not going to get off the stuck-on food without destroying the non-stick coating. Of course, that's assuming the coating hasn't been destroyed already in the cooking/washing process. I've never had luck keeping these darn things from getting scraped up. Possibly because I was buying the cheap ones, but I'm told even the really expensive ones need to be handled with care.

My stainless steel pans are a different ballgame altogether. I can stir things with a fork. I can cut meat right in the pan. I can scour the darn thing with steel wool if something is really stuck in there. And I never have to worry about scratching the finish because this baby is made to take a beating and come out shiny and clean and ready for the next recipe I throw at it. I have learned to keep things from sticking by making sure there is at least a little oil in the pan before I start cooking. With some foods (the ground sausage from yesterday's recipe for instance) the oils are already in there and I don't have to add a thing. With others I just heat up a little olive oil in the pan before adding my food. Couldn't be simpler. 

photo credit: Flipping Sweet Potato Pancakes... via photopin (license)

2. Large, with Deep Sides

Since I do a lot of one-pan type dishes, I need a pan that holds a lot of food. I want to be able to stir that food easily without it falling out the sides. Mine is about 11.5" across and has about 3" vertical sides. I have yet to try a recipe that did not fit.

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3. Dishwasher and Oven Safe

Okay, the dishwasher thing is all about convenience. If you don't mind washing by hand this is totally optional. 

The oven safe thing is a little more crucial. I've come across several recipes that start on the stove top and end in the oven. Unless you want to have to switch pans midway through (and invert your recipe which can sometimes make a big difference), you need a pan that can do both. It's also nice to be able to brown the cheese on top of a recipe by just popping the whole pan in the broiler for a minute or two.

photo credit: scallops via photopin (license)

4. Handles, Plural

I have seen (and owned) lots of pans of roughly this shape and size that only have the one long handle on one side. When they're full of dense foods, that makes it somewhat hard to lift the pan without sloshing food out the opposite side. I love the little mini-handle across from the main one because it lets me move a full pan around without risk of spillage. It's sometimes the little things in life that make all the difference!

photo credit: Pan on hob via photopin (license)

5. Glass Lid

This one is not super crucial, but can be very handy. Lots of recipes have a step that reads "cover and simmer until reduced by half." So, if you have a solid pan lid, you can guess when it's ready and hope you didn't guess too long, or you can keep checking it every few minutes and get a face full of steam each time (super fun if you wear glasses like I do). With a glass lid, I know at a glance whether something has reduced enough. Much better.

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I can't stress enough how much good cookware really does make all the difference in your cooking experience. Of course, your needs and preferences may be very different from mine. And that's fine. What's important is to use pots and pans that work for you instead of against you. If you don't have the budget to go out and replace all your pots and pans (and who really does these days?) I would suggest you start by just replacing your most-used item. If you don't feel like the expense made a big difference, stick with what you've got. Otherwise, you can replace piece by piece until you have cookware that is a pleasure to use, rather than cookware that gets in the way.