Pots and Pans

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 599, 27 February 1929, Page 7

Pots and Pans

VARIOUS SORTS DISCUSSED

Shapes and Sizes

POTS and pans play quite a Zealand women, many of cooking. Different sorts of ut purposes and it is essential tha tion. In selecting pots, pans and kettles for the kitchen, the housewife must be guided first by the number in her family, for this determines the size of the utensils. Their mode of living will determine the number of kinds. For people who have little time to spend on cooking, the utensils selected will be those designed for the shorter processes. When there is no limit as to price or time, there are countless articles to be had. In any case, the housewife should consider quality, shape, construction, lips, handles, covers, and last, but certainly not least, the ease of cleaning her kitchen utensils. No one material is suitable for all cooking processes, despite the fact that a kitchen furnished throughout in white enamel, or shining aluminium, or beautiful copper is more pictureesque. HEAT AND SHAPE For quick cooking, utensils made of materials that are rapid conductors of heat are selected, such as aluminium or tin; for the slower processes, ! enamel or iron. Porcelain, earthenware and glass are another story. It is just as important to select the right size as the proper material. If too small a pan is used, the fuel that extends beyond the edge of the pan is wasted; while if the pan is too large, the food is likely to scorch in the centre unless stirred constantly. Shape is important, too. Evaporation takes place more rapidly in a pan that flares at the top than in one with straight sides, because there is surface exposed to the air. Therefore, soup should be made in a straightsided kettle and food to be boiled rapidly in one with flaring sides. In addition to these are the pans designed for special foods, as asparagus or corn boilers, fish and ham kettles. METHODS OF COOKING Before considering the various materials of which utensils are fashioned, it will be wise to enumerate the different methods of cooking food. The most primitive comes first —broiling—where the cooking is done directly over the flame. Roasting, baking and braising require pans that are able to stand, great heat, for the food is cooked by the heated metal surfaces. Next come boiling, steaming and stewing, where less heat is required, for the heat is applied by means of boiling water. Frying and souting call for the most intense heat of all, since they consist in the use of boiling fat. The materials most used for kitchen ware are iron and steel, enamel, tin. and aluminium. Iron has been largely replaced by other materials, but iron kettles, pots, pans, skillets, griddles, waffle irons and ham boilers are still in use, despite their heaviness. For the oven, there are Dutch ovens, roasting pans and muffin pans. In steel, quite modern kitchens display such articles as frying pan, frying kettle, skillet, griddle, roasting pan and bread pans. Frying kettles are particularly appropriate in this material, for they will endure great heat. Griddles and waffle irons improve with age, for they become smoother with use. Probably the most popular of all materials is enamel. One reason is that they are of good appearance and easy to clean. Many housekeepers prefer it because they feel that pots and pans ruined by careless servants can be replaced with little cost if they are of enamel. Real economy lies, however, in better materials and greater care in their use. There are three grades of enamel, and various colours. All the good grades of white enamel have at least two coats, and frequently three, while the best is made with four coats of the enamel on a sheet iron or steel base. The agate is the most durable of the different kinds available. Enamelware is a safe choice for j such utensils as tea kettles and coffee pots, water pots, frying pans, double boilers, asparagus or fish boilers and ham boilers. And for the oven, cake, bread, muffin, pie, pudding and meat pans. TINNED AND ALUMINIUM WARE Tinned ware is still popular in spite of the advent of newer materials. It has many advantages. As it conducts the heat rapidly, there is little danger of scorching food. It is inexpensive. Tinned ware has a base of sheet iron or steel, and is coated with tin. A single coating makes the cheaper ware. “Blocked” tin or “retinned” ware is dipped several times. The most attractive of all materials and the most durable is. aluminium. It endures the heat and wears better than enamel, iron or tin. It is a splendid conductor, twice as good as tin. and three times as good as iron. It takes more heat at first to heat aluminium, but once it is heated it retains the heat, and in the ordinary cooking processes, after the first heating, the gas or electricity may be i diminished at least one-half. This

large part in the lives of New

' whom have to do their own cnsils are needed for dlfforent Lt no mistake be made in selec—

means a saving of fuel, and the food is not so likely to scorch in this type of utensil because the heat is evenly distributed. An aluminium coffee pot will keep that beverage hot longer than any other kind.

Aluminium can endure the highest )oking temperature, and is therefore ;eful for kettles and frying pans.