Kitchen essentials: 9 pans and when you need them

Measure what already works

Use a pan that fits a meal you already cook as your reference. Compare the flat cooking surface for pancakes or food cooked in one layer; compare capacity and your usual fill level for soups and pasta water. For roasting, include handles when checking oven clearance.

With the pan cool and empty, record its rim, flat base, inside depth, capacity, handle span and fitted lid. Leave measurements you do not have blank. Save it in My kitchen, or estimate its volume from inside measurements.

Pick specialist pans for meals you make

Add a wok or griddle when its shape solves a job your current pans do not handle comfortably. If your existing skillet already works for those meals, count that job as covered in the gap finder. A separate roasting pan is useful only when your existing oven-safe vessel leaves a gap in food space, rack fit or handling.

For steaming, count the whole setup: a pot, an insert that holds food above the water, and a fitted lid. An insert alone does not fill that job. Your ordinary skillet can still cook eggs; add a nonstick egg pan only if you want a separate cooking surface. If you need two pans at once, note the extra pan in My kitchen: the finder counts job types, not simultaneous burners.

Check the cooking jobs you still need.