There is nothing quite like dumping a steaming pile of crawfish, shrimp, corn, and sausage onto a newspaper-covered table for friends and family. I have been hosting backyard seafood boils for over six years, and the single biggest factor between a smooth cook and a frustrating mess is the pot you choose. A 20-quart stock … Read more
There’s a specific sound a great stockpot makes when a beef stew has been simmering for three hours. The lid lifts, steam rises, and the aroma of slow-cooked tomatoes, garlic, and tender meat fills the kitchen. After testing 7 stainless steel stock pots over 6 weeks of stew-making, I can tell you that the pot … Read more
I spent the last three months testing large stock pots in my own kitchen, running everything from 8-quart bone broth batches to full water-bath canning sessions with 7 quart jars. What I learned surprised me. The cheapest pot on this list (under $40) handled a 20-quart canning run without warping, while one premium Viking model … Read more
Every Thanksgiving, my family gathers around a 22-pound turkey that needs a real roasting pan, not a flimsy disposable foil tray. After years of bending aluminum pans and watching drippings overflow, I learned one truth: the best roasting pans with lids transform holiday cooking. A quality covered roaster lets you brown a turkey uncovered, then … Read more
I pulled 8 pans off my shelf for a proper test after one too many scrubbing sessions. Roasting a 14-pound turkey for Thanksgiving should leave you tired from cooking, not from scrubbing. The best nonstick roasting pans for easy cleanup solve exactly that problem. After 30 days of roasting everything from chickens to sheet-pan vegetables, … Read more
Last Thanksgiving I squeezed a 22-pound turkey into a rimmed baking sheet and spent the next hour mopping buttery juices off the oven floor. I learned the hard way that a proper stainless steel roasting pan for large roasts is not optional cookware. If you cook for a crowd even once a year, the right … Read more
A roasting rack is a game changer when it comes to cooking a whole turkey. By lifting the bird off the bottom of the pan, a rack lets hot air circulate underneath and around the entire turkey, which gives you more even cooking, crispier skin, and drippings that drop free of the bird so you … Read more
Cooking breakfast for a family is a juggling act. You’ve got pancakes that need even heat, bacon that needs to crisp, and eggs that need a surface wide enough to cook six at once. That is exactly where the best flat griddle pans for breakfast cooking earn their keep on your stovetop. I spent weeks … Read more
I burned my first three crepes on my gas stove. The batter pooled in the center, the edges crisped to black, and I nearly gave up on French-style pancakes forever. After flipping roughly 300 crepes across 8 different pans over the past four months on my Bosch gas range, I finally cracked the code. The … Read more
I’ve cooked in tagines for dinner parties, slow Sunday meals, and friends dropping by unannounced. Nothing else on the table turns a regular chicken and preserved lemon stew into a show. After testing eight authentic Moroccan tagines over the past few months, I have a clear sense of which ones perform for entertaining, not just … Read more