one The good news here is that when it comes to stockpots, the absolute cheapest will You’ll never be doing anything in here aside from boiling or simmering vast amounts of liquid, so all you need is something that will hold water and stay level You shouldn’t have to spend more than $40 or so on one Something to Roast In Decent roasting pans are expensive; there’s no two ways about it Just like with skillets, the best roasting pans are made with layered metals—stainless steel sandwiched with an aluminum core When choosing a roasting pan, I look for one that I can use directly on a burner on the stovetop as well as in the oven, something with comfortable handles, and something that is thick enough that it won’t warp under the heat of the oven or the weight of a turkey My Calphalon pan is large and sturdy, and it has a nice U-shaped rack for holding large roasts It’s about $140, and I use it about twice a year, when I cook big roasts on holidays Want to know the honest truth? I could easily live without it What I couldn’t live without is a heavy-duty aluminum rimmed baking sheet with a wire cooling rack set on it It’s lighter and cheaper, stores right in the oven, and has the added advantage that it’s shallow, making it much easier for hot air to circulate around the food that’s cooking It’s what I use for roasting the other 363 days of the year Mine has seen countless roast chickens, and it is warped and bent beyond belief, but it still does its job just as well as it ever did I bought it for about $10 at a cooking supply store, along with a rack that cost another $5 or $6 (You can get these pans online as well—they’re called half sheet pans Nordic Ware makes a fine one for about $15.) HOW TO BUY AND CARE FOR A WOK A good wok is one of the most versatile pans in the kitchen There are those who argue that on a Western stove, with its flat, relatively low-output burners, a regular nonstick skillet is a superior vessel for stir-frying; they may have even showed you some fancy charts proving that a skillet gets to a higher temperature and maintains its heat better This is utter and complete nonsense All the charts in the world won’t tell you as much as your mouth, and the fact is, stirfries taste better when made in a wok, because a good stir-fry is not simply about the temperature the metal reaches It’s about correct tossing and aerosolization of fats and juices as they leap up beyond the edges of the wok and are touched by the flame of the burner It’s about the ability to rapidly heat and cool a piece of food as you flip it over and over through the different heat zones created by the pan as (much as flipping a burger frequently will improve its cooking—see here) It’s about wok hei, the slightly smoky, charred, metallic flavor that only comes from a seasoned cast-iron or carbon steel pan heated to ripping-hot temperatures I digress Obviously, woks are the best choice for stirfrying, but they’re also the ideal vessel for deep-frying, steaming, and indoor smoking My wok is by far the most commonly used pan in my kitchen ... simply about the temperature the metal reaches It’s about correct tossing and aerosolization of fats and juices as they leap up beyond the edges of the wok and are touched by the flame of the burner... are touched by the flame of the burner It’s about the ability to rapidly heat and cool a piece of food as you flip it over and over through the different heat zones created by the pan as (much as flipping a burger... temperature and maintains its heat better This is utter and complete nonsense All the charts in the world won’t tell you as much as your mouth, and the fact is, stirfries taste better when made in a wok,