most essential 5 Types of Cookware Needed for Your Daily Cooking

5 Different Essential Types of Cookware Needed for Your Daily Cooking

We occasionally link to goods offered by vendors to help the reader find relevant products. Some of these may be affiliate based, meaning we earn small commissions (at no additional cost to you) if items are purchased. Here is more about what we do.

To perform different cooking tasks in the kitchen successfully, the use of different types of cookware sets is necessary.

There are different types of pans and pots that you require and these come in different sizes and materials for you to choose from.

Although most of these pans and pots are necessary, it is worth noting that some of them can be substituted and you do not necessarily need to have all of them in your kitchen to perform different tasks.

Choosing the right cookware is important and this should be determined by several factors including material, size, budget, cuisine and your cooking habits.

Even though in this post we will focus on Different types of cookware based on material.

So…

Let’s jump right in;

1. Stainless steel cookware

stainless steel pan

This is considered to be the best type of cookware in the market today.

It comes with many advantages one of them being that it does not require a lot of attention to maintain and is stress-free when it comes to cleaning.

Stainless steel cookware does not corrode, stain or rust and you will definitely fall in love with this material.

It is also the healthiest cookware in the market as the material does not react with your food.

The downside with this material, however, is that it is not a good conductor of heat but once it does catch heat, its retention levels are amazing.

Pros And Cons

Pros:

  • Nonreactive which means you can cook any ingredient in it without any worries
  • Durable And long lasting
  • Dishwasher safe
  • Needs little to no maintenance
  • Easy to clean
  • Corrosion and Rust Resistant
  • Recyclable and Eco-friendly

More Details: Stainless steel cookware advantages

Cons

  • High quality models are quite expensive.
  • It has a learning curve for usage, just like cast iron
  • Poor heat conductor, so always looks look for models bonded with copper and aluminum core (base)
  • No Zero-fat Cooking, oil or butter is a must, because food may stick to surface

Check The Best Stainless Steel cookware Models here.

2. Hard-anodized cookware

 This is one of the best types of cookware for anyone looking for a durable material.

Pans and pots made from this electromagnetically hardened material offer an excellent cooking experience while at the same time giving you something that you can use for many years.

This is the best type of cookware especially if you want to brown your foods.

Pros And Cons

Pros:

  • Non stick surface, so it eliminate the use of oil
  • Very economical.
  • Great Conductor of Heat
  • Easy to clean and maintain
  • Resistant to scratch and dents

Cons

  • Although this cookware is made of aluminum which count as a light material but the coating makes it a bit heavy
  • Not dishwasher safe, since chemicals can damage the coating
  • Expensive compared to other regular cookware
Related: 

3. Aluminum cookware

 This is the commonest type of cookware for many users and is a great conductor of heat.

There are different types of aluminum cookware including the hard-anodized and cast iron.

While regular aluminum is dishwasher friendly, the two variations that are cast and hard-anodized are not safe and therefore should be cleaned differently.

Pros And Cons

Pros:

  • Lightweight and very affordable
  • Very good at distributing heat
  • Excellent heat conduction
  • Resists rust and corrosion

Cons

  • Highly reactive to alkaline or acidic foods
  • Very soft and tends to warp in high heat
  • Easy to scratch
  • It doesn’t retain heat particularly well
 

4. Non-stick cookware

This is ideal cookware and especially when it comes to cleaning.

These types of pans and pots come with various nonstick coats and although they are easily scratched they are ideal for cooking and especially when you do not want to use a lot of oil in the process.

Quality non-stick cookware should be long-lasting.

Pros And Cons

Pros:

  • Eliminate the need of oil, butter or any fat
  • Makes cooking sticky ingredient easy and smooth
  • Easy to clean and use
  • Lightweight cookware

Cons

  • The coating can easily scratch or chip
  • It may stain
  • Pan warps under thermal shock
  • Coating contains PFOA

Also, Read: Is Cooking With Non-stick Pans Healthy Or Not?

5. Cast iron cookware

cast iron skillet

Pots and pans made from cast iron material are great and especially due to their even heat distribution and durability.

The cookware does not pose any health risks and especially because iron is necessary for the formation of red blood cells.

Related: How is Cast iron Cookware Made

Pros And Cons

Pros:

  • distributes heat evenly and retains heat well
  • If properly cared for will last a lifetime
  • It can be used over any cooking source
  • Inexpensive
  • Naturally non-stick if properly seasoned

Cons

  • It’s extremely heavy
  • Not easy to maintain, and need to be seasoned occasionally. ( if not it can get rusted)
  • After each use it a must to oil it and store it
  • Takes a long time to heat it up

Suggested Reading:

Conclusion 

While these are the most common and respected types of cookware, it is good to look at other things such as design as this will help determine your cooking style and safety.

For example, fry pans are ideal for scrambling, searing and sautéing while sauce pots will be ideal for cooking sauce and stews among other things.

This is in addition to the information on the different types of cookware that will help you answer the question, “what is the best type of cookware?” The best cookware will be determined by the material and your style of cooking.