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Setting up a new kitchen is no easy feat by any means. This is especially true if you have never cooked before, because often, you will never get to know what you need in your kitchen till you are in the middle of trying out a new recipe. Most beginners often shy away from buying cookware because they are generally unaware of what is good and useful and what is simply good to look at and costly to buy. Good cookware often does not come cheap, but with the beginners’ cookware buying tips provided here, you know what will suit your needs best when it comes to cookware.

What To Buy: If you are a new cook, then you might want to look at readymade cookware buying sets that generally include most of the basic cookware that you will need. Generally a set comprising of a saucepan, frying pan and a couple of pots will suffice of you are planning on regular American food. However, if you like Chinese, then you should definitely buy a wok as well. If it is Italian that you like, then you might need more than one saucepan because these dishes will require you to make different sauces. So decide upon the kind of food that you are planning to cook before you buy your cookware. If you want to cook what your mom does, then think of what she has in her kitchen when buying your own cookware.

What Size To Buy: Often, enthusiastic beginners end up buying pots and pans in sets of four or five with each set comprising different sizes ranging from extra small to extra large. However, this will not only empty your pockets, it will also clutter up your kitchen with a number of useless cookware pieces. Others might buy cookware pieces that are generally too big for their cooking needs thinking that they might have to cater for guests. However, cooking for a small number of people in a pan that is too large will often end up taking the taste and pleasure out of your recipes. The key too determining size is to buy medium sized pots and pans where you can easily cook a meal for one or two and go up to at least six people. Mid size is the way to go for almost all cookware that you are buying in single pieces. Buy a set of three to four different sizes for one item that you plan to use the most, like the saucepan or the pot.

What Material To Buy: While pots and pans are available in almost all kinds of materials ranging from copper and aluminum to steel and cast iron, you will find that most have their own advantages and disadvantages. Most people buy steel cookware because it conducts heat evenly, is long lasting, strong, non reactive and economical.  If you are into quick and easy cooking, then a combination of steel and non stick pots and pans should do it for you. You can pass on copper and cast iron till you move to more advanced cooking.

The Wok, a bowl shaped cooking pan, is instrumental to traditional Chinese cooking. While a wok is not a necessity for everyone, you should definitely go out and buy one if you plan to make Chinese food regularly in your kitchen. The traditional Chinese wok looks like a large metal soup bowl with handles on both sides. If you’ve ever been on the inside of a Chinese kitchen, you might have seen cooks using woks as large as four-seater round tables. Nowadays, flat bottomed woks are also easily available in the market and you also have a large variety of materials and styles to choose from. Some tips that will help you in becoming an expert with the wok are:

Buying a Wok: There are a number of things that you need to consider before buying a wok. For one, the shape of the wok is important because a round bottomed wok might end up harming your cooking range if you use electric burners. On the other hand, a flat bottomed wok can work perfectly well on such a burner. Then comes the material of the wok. You will find woks made of stainless steel, carbon steel, iron and non stick ones. While traditional Chinese cooks swear by carbon woks, if you are a modern cook, you can do just as well with a non –stick one. You will save your self a lot of hassle by buying a heavy non stick wok that allows for equal heating all over. It would give you a similar performance as a carbon steel one but will be rust free and cook food faster.

Seasoning your wok: In case you follow after traditionalists and buy a non stick, iron or carbon steel wok, then you will first have to season it. Seasoning is important because it removes the residual oil left on woks by the manufacturer to prevent rusting. In order to season your wok, first wash it with a fat removing detergent properly and dry it. Then put it on a low flame and let it heat up. Soak a kitchen towel with a little amount of cooking oil and rub it on the inside of the wok. After the wok has been heated for at least ten minutes, rub the towel on the wok again. You will see your kitchen towel turning gray black. Keep repeating the process till your towel comes away clean. Wash it with water, dry it and your wok is ready for use whenever you want it. You will not need to season a non stick wok because it will not rust anyway.

Cooking With a Wok: Keep these tips in mind when cooking with your wok to get the best results—
• Put food in the wok only after it has heated up properly.
• Keep everything prepared because you will find that food cooks very fast in the wok.
• Use the wok for deep frying because it is much more efficient than regular sauce pans and deep fryers.
• When deep frying, put food to be fried into the wok only when the oil is hot enough (it should form little bubbles when you put food in it), otherwise your food will turn out to be full of oil. 
• Use wooden spoons—slotted spoons for deep frying and spatulas for other purposes even if do not use a non stick wok. It will save a lot of commotion while you keep stirring food around in your wok!