Advice about food and cooking for divorced men and women: pots and pans

Pots and pans
It is better to have three or four really good quality pans than seven or eight cheap ones. Beware of buying large sets that come with lots of different items that you may rarely, or never, use. Cheap pans will have thin walls and bases that will warp and burn and handles that will quickly work loose. Even if you are living on your own since getting divorced you will need a selection of saucepans.

Stainless steel has to be the frontrunner in the saucepan stakes. It is definitely the most durable material for a saucepan and will stand up to quite a lot of abuse. Stainless steel pans (with or without non stick linings) are the only ones that can be put into a dishwasher without causing lasting damage.

Size isn't everything
You can get by with just two or three saucepans as long as they are not too small. They mostly come in standard sizes starting but it is always better to have a pan that is on the large side rather than one that is too small so that you have plenty of room for stirring or otherwise moving ingredients around. An overcrowded pan can be dangerous and food may not cook evenly if you cram too much in.

Non-stick
A small/medium sized saucepan for making porridge or scrambled eggs is useful although it is pretty pointless using a non-stick pan for simply boiling potatoes or pasta or other vegetables and great care must be taken not to scratch them so no metal utensils can be used.

A medium sized and a large non stick frying pan are handy as is a sauté pan with a lid, but again buy the best quality you can afford and treat them with respect. Never whack a frying or a sauté pan on with the heat turned up to maximum beneath it.

Most non-stick is really just a type of plastic sprayed onto the surface of the pan and if it is overheated it will melt and lose its non-stick qualities. If the coating is breached by scratching then the rest of it will very quickly start to come away from the base of the pan.

Anodised aluminium
Anodised aluminium pans come with non stick interiors and are popular and durable but cannot be put into the dishwasher. There are some good quality ranges available.  Anodised aluminium is an excellent conductor of heat and is much harder than stainless steel.

If you want to combine weight lifting with cooking then invest in some cast iron pans. Cast iron has the advantage of excellent heat retention so that once it is brought to the necessary temperature it can be kept on a very low heat or put into a very slow oven to allow food to cook slowly thereby retaining all its moisture and goodness and cutting down on expensive energy. They are suitable for use on all cookers although care needs to be taken with ceramic hobs if you are to avoid scratching the surface. One small and one larger cast iron casserole (with lids) should be adequate for most households 

Griddle pans
Invaluable in the kitchen are those ridged cast grill (also known as griddle) pans used for cooking meat, fish and vegetables. The best are plain cast iron and very inexpensive but they do come in other materials with various finishes and in a variety of shapes and sizes.