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While most people tend to think that cooking can be done with a minimum of wares, the activity can become much easier, not to mention enjoyable, with specifically-designed cook ware.
Cooking vessels are typically referred to as "pots" and "pans," but there is great variation in their actual shapes. The various types of cooking ware include braising pans, saucepans, griddles, stockpots and woks.
Cooking ware is manufactured from many different materials. Metal cooking ware is made from a narrow range of metals because pots and pans need to conduct heat well, but also need to be chemically inert so that they do not alter the flavor of the food.
Among metals, copper pans provide the best conductivity, and therefore the most even heating. They tend, however, to be heavy, expensive, and require occasional retinning. They are best for such high-heat, fast-cooking techniques as sautéeing. Cast iron cookware in comparison, is slow to heat, but once at temperature provides even heating. It can also withstand very high temperatures.
Stainless steel's virtues are that it is resistance to corrosion, it does not react with either alkaline or acidic foods, and it is not easily scratched or dented. Its drawback is that it is a relatively poor heat conductor.
Non-stick cookware is nothing but pans coated with a substance such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating, which serves to minimize the possibility of food sticking to the pan surface.
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