There are some really high quality sets of pots and pans on the market at the moment. Top brands like Cuisinart and Circulon have some lovely pieces for you to buy, and sets from companies like Rachael Ray offer a quirky alternative.

When you want to choose a cookware set though you need to think about what type you want before you go searching. You can pretty much categories it all into 3 types, the first is the traditional stainless steel sets which can take a lot of punishment. Then you have non-stick sets which are usually hard anodized aluminum with a non-stick coating that heat up fast and are easy to clean but not as durable, then finally you have cast iron sets which are heavy and durable with great non-stick properties, but only if you seal them properly with oil.

Below we take a closer look at each category and which brand offers the best set for it:

Stainless steel: If you are after a stainless steel cookware set then the brand with the best reputation in this category surely has to be Cuisinart. If you go for the Multiclad Pro set then you do have to pay a little bit more, but it incorporates a layer of aluminum between the stainless steel to give a much better transfer of heat, so it is well worth the cost. If you don’t care about that and you just want a basic set then they have you covered on that too, you can get a 12 piece set for just over a hundred dollars instead.

Non Stick: I find this the hardest category to choose a brand for, just because there are a huge range of options in this category and they are all very similar in terms of both price and quality. As all the sets are so similar then it is actually good when somebody dares to be different, which is why I picked Rachael Ray as they dared to buck the trend and not make sets which were pure grey or black, and instead their dark grey set has bright orange accents to help make it stand out. They are hard anodized like the rest in this category so they are the same quality, but they have proper handles on the lids rather than knobs like some competitors, which to me is a huge bonus.

As these are hard anodized aluminum then the whole pan is made from aluminum which gives excellent heat transfer, then the inside is lined with a non stick coating to stop the porous metal from tainting the food, and also to make them easier to clean. You have to be careful what kind of utensils you use with a set like this though, a hard material like metal will chip the coating so you need to stick to either plastic or wood instead.

Cast Iron: This is another category I struggled with, at first I immediately thought of Le Creuset who make premium quality cast iron cookware, but then they also cost a lot too. Whereas a company like Lodge make perfectly good cookware for a fraction of the price. To start you off then you can get a really good 5 piece set for around 70 dollars which is lovely quality, and looks nice, but you do need to seal it properly before you use it.

Olive oil has for a while been hailed as one of the more fit oils for consumption. There are some limitations to using olive oil for cooking and the following cooking tips will not only clarify its uses but also some of the myths that surround this kind of oil.

While this is true there’s another side to this than what it appears. Many cooking tips explain how using olive oil for cooking may burn it and make it not as beneficial as it is supposed to be. While these cooking tips have sound ground when it comes down to the indisputable fact that it does burn quicker than other sorts of oil, the advantages of the oil isn’t actually wasted. The health benefits are still intact when olive oil is slightly burned; the elements that burn are actually the alcohol and ethers which make up the fragile taste and perfume that comes with the olive oil.

Other cooking tips concerning cooking with olive oil endorse using less expensive olive oil for cooking since the taste and perfume are utterly wasted when it is overheated and then adding the dear oil after all of the cooking is finished.

This is fiction in the truest sense of the word. Many cooking tips say the health benefits one gets from cooking with olive oil will benefit folk enormously. These cooking tips also show that no cooking oil can essentially scale back the nutritive price of any type of food. The truth of the matter is the heat is the guilty party when it comes down to lessening the calorific value of foods. Many cooking tips state not to overcook vegetables to retain their nutritional value. Some turkey cooking tips also state not to cook this fowl too much because it dries the meat up therefore reducing the nutritional value found in the turkey.

Some cooking tips for cooking this oil explains the advantages of using the cheaper kinds of olive oil is in not wasting one’s cash and not in the calorific value. There are cooking tips that state the difference between extra virgin and virgin olive oil is in the acidity level of the oil and has little to do whatsoever with the health benefits that come with it. While additional virgin olive oil might have more anti-oxidating compounds than the others, the difference isn’t narrated and may only be questionable.