The topic for this week’s article occurred to me back in September while organizing a client kitchen. And I thought the week before Thanksgiving would be a great time to take a good look at our pots and pans!
Pots and Pans. Wow. I have organized dozens of kitchens over the years, and organizing Pots and Pans comes up A LOT! Every kitchen has them, most people use them, some people are very attached to them. They are also big and cumbersome and sometimes awkward to store.
Here are some things to think about, in no particular order:
Invest in Good Pots and Pans.
If you cook, invest in a good set of pots of pans. Not requiring great or expensive! I mean, if you’re looking for a new set, do a little research and find out which brands and styles are worth the money and the time. We’ve had the same set of Revere Ware copper bottom pots and pans since we received them as a wedding gift in 1994. (And yes, I cook almost every day!)
How many Pots and Pans do you really need?
Here at home, we have 3 sauce pans with lids, 2 non-stick skillets with lids (my preferred), 1 cast-iron skillet (my husband’s favorite), 1 large stock pot and a lidded Dutch oven. I also have a roasting pan that I’ve used twice ever, but will be used again next week! These are enough, I’ve never need more.
Everything but the stock pot fits in one kitchen drawer, including lids.
I went to camp for a week with one pan. Expectations were low, but one pan was enough. My college-aged son who really does cook has a skillet and a sauce pan. He has found that is all he needs.
If space is at a premium in your kitchen (and it usually is), look critically at home many pots and pans you HAVE versus how many you NEED and USE.
Treat Your Pots and Pans Well.
It turns out, some folks own more than one set of pots and pans because they don’t wash everything after use. Let me advocate for “Cleaning as You Go”, and not letting things pile up!
Please, wash pots and pans as they’re used and don’t let them sit as they get harder to clean the longer they are left dirty! (This is something I regularly remind my son of, when he makes macaroni and cheese!)
In addition, regular maintenance keeps a cleaner kitchen and clean pans can be used again quickly, which means we can own fewer pans.
The jury is still out on using the dishwasher to clean your pots and pans. We wash them by hand, which cleans up the kitchen mess and gets the pans into usable form quicker, but takes longer.
When we re-did the kitchen 3 years ago, I dedicated a wide and deep drawer to pot and pan storage, instead of a cabinet. This has eliminated the accessibility and lid-stacking challenges, so if you can try this, go for it!
We use liner like these (see picture, from Amazon.com) when storing my skillets, they really seem to have helped save the surfaces.
Let Your Pots and Pans Work For You.
As mentioned, today’s topic occurred to me a few months ago. It motivated me to:
- find a replacement lid for one of our saucepans (thank you, Ebay, when your pans are 26 years old and apparently considered vintage!);
- google the brand of Dutch oven I was gifted, to make sure it was stove top and oven safe (it is); and
- gift a high quality but never used skillet from my drawer to my college -aged son to use at school.
Don’t expect the pans to make you a good or willing cook:
I have encountered many folks over the years who have bought snazzy new sets of pots and pans expecting that THESE new pans are going to be the ones that magically make them want to cook. That is a pretty impressive expectation for a box full of inanimate objects. The desire and skill to cook is not going to come from a box (sorry), so please stop buying more THINGS.
Spend a little time this week making sure your pots and pans are all together, pared down and ready to do their job! Happy cooking!