Glass vs metal lids: oven heat and seeing in

A glass lid lets you check a simmer, a pot of rice or a steamer basket without letting the steam out; Le Creuset sells its tempered glass lids so you can check a dish without disturbing its cooking or its temperature. A stainless or cast iron lid has to come off for a look.

The glass lids makers give figures for stop at 350 to 450°F. All-Clad rates its HA1 Expert pans to 500°F and their glass lids to 350°F. Le Creuset rates its glass lids to 425°F with a stainless steel knob and 390°F with a phenolic one. Cuisinart's Chef's Classic glass lids go to 450°F.

Le Creuset rates its cast iron lids to 500°F with a stainless steel knob and 390°F with a phenolic one; Staub rates most of its cast iron pots to 500°F with the lid on. Makers of stainless lids, such as All-Clad for D3, Made In and Demeyere, give one oven limit for the cookware and none for the lid on its own, so our tables leave the lid's limit blank rather than guess.

Le Creuset's care guide says never to put a glass lid straight onto a cooktop, to let a hot one cool before you wash it, and to stop using one that is chipped or cracked, because a hard knock or a sudden change of temperature can make it shatter. Its glass lids can go in the dishwasher.

Glass suits cooks who mostly simmer, steam and boil on the stove and like to watch. Choose metal if a pot goes into the oven covered hotter than its glass lid allows (350°F for All-Clad's HA1 Expert lids), for bread, a braise or a covered roast. Whatever comes in the box, use the lid's limit, not the pan's, as your limit for covered oven cooking.

Buying a lid on its own? Match it to your pan's rim, measured across the top, not to the size the pan is sold as. Our product pages give the rim wherever the maker publishes it.