The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

hot, chances are all you’ll need is a tiny bit of soap and a sponge. Avoid tough abrasives. These includ ...

A good rub-down with oil prevents rusting. Worst-Case Scenarios There are basically only two real ...

stored it in the oven for a month’s worth of heating cycles, without ever oiling the surface. It’s eas ...

NEEDS I’m a hoarder by nature. I get pleasure out of acquiring as vast an array of pots and pans as ...

you’ve got a skillet that can retain heat for maximum browning and will distribute that hea ...

Maybe even right here in this book. Well, here’s the sad news: that ain’t really true. Even ...

never become committed to a nonstick pan. A 2½- to 3-Quart Saucier The difference between a saucepan and a ...

A 6- to 8-Quart Enameled Cast-Iron Dutch Oven My enameled Dutch oven is the first pot I owned that ...

one. The good news here is that when it comes to stockpots, the absolute cheapest will do. ...

these pans online as well—they’re called half sheet pans. Nordic Ware makes a fine one for about $ ...

As with most things, however, not all woks are created equal. They come in a dizzying ...

Woks are made in three ways: Traditional hand-hammered woks (like the ones they used to sell ...

bottomed woks. They won’t work, period, on an electric range and are tough to use on a gas range ev ...

before using it the first time. Scrub the wok out with hot soapy water, dry it carefully, and ...

it’s also the best tool for deep-frying, steaming, and smoking food indoors. Here’s how to do ...

sugar, rice, spices, whatever) directly on the bottom and set your food on a rack or a steamer on top ...

to those within a certain quality level, the best knife for you is the one that you are most comfortable usin ...

drawback is a doozy: they chip easily and are unrepairable. A metal knife is flexible, which mea ...

quality, knives are largely a matter of personal taste. Do you need to spend $300 to get a decent knif ...

THAT EVERY KITCHEN NEEDS Collecting knives is fun, but if I had to pick, there are 6½ knives (I figure that ...