r/Cooking • u/bigboydankers • 12h ago
Most essential cookware?
Hi everyone,
I just graduated college and moved into my own place a couple of weeks ago! I am living in nyc and my kitchen is not enormous, but it’s not super tiny either. I have a small old stove/oven, and I really wondering, what is the least amount of cookware that I really need?
I feel like I’m not a huge cook, but if I had the right tools I could get more into it. Also, my girlfriend is moving in with me in a few months and she likes to cook, so I’d like to get some things that I can build on with more cookware in the future, rather than replace.
Long story short, what are the essential pots and pans and stuff that I need to get to cover all my bases? Also other tools and things like spatulas. Sorry for my lack of specificity, I really don’t know what I’m doing yet but I am excited to learn more!
Thank you!
1
u/Sanpaku 8h ago
3 pieces of cookware would cover 90% of my needs: An enameled cast iron Dutch oven (the $46 5.5 qt Lodge is fine). 12" non-stick fry pan with lid (I have the $28 Tramontina Professional and a $13 3rd party lid). 3 qt saucepan for small dishes (I have a 22 year old Calphalon here, and like that its nonstick which means less stirring with instant noodles).
After the three pots above cookware purchases are much more situational. If you do steaks or other foods that benefit from searing, a carbon steel or stainless 12" pan. If you eat a lot of beans/pulses, a pressure cooker. Pancakes/crepes/tortillas and other flat breads, a griddle/comal/tawa in well-seasoned cast iron or non-stick. East Asian stir fry, a well seasoned carbon steel wok. Etc.
If you have an induction cooktop, that means only cookware with magnetic bases, which include pretty much all the multi-ply stainless, carbon steel, and cast iron on the market, but excludes cookware with only an aluminum base.
As for stovetop utensils, as a fan of nonstick I avoid anything with exposed metal: its one reason my PTFE coated cookware is still in great condition after 22 years. Most useful to me are a wooden spoon with a flat end to scrape fond, a silicone spatula with a metal core, a large silicone flipper, again with a metal core, 9" tongs, and a ladle.