Gratins, Baking & Roasting Pans

Our favorite is the gratin dish, a type of cooking vessel designed to enhance crusting on the surface of food. However, while we are mad for our Truffle Potato Gratin, an ooey gooey on the inside all crusty business on top, we use the good-looking Staub cast iron gratin dishes for cooking rounds of brie on the OFYR Grill, serving oven-to-table roasted vegetables, and making individual servings of gratin skillet cookie dough desserts. Gratin dishes are noteworthy for their superior heat retention that keeps food warm at the table. They almost always have double handles for easy carrying. If easy-to-clean black cast iron doesn’t fit your style, we think vintage copper gratins are also fabulous. The French, afterall, have produced the world’s finest copper cookware for centuries and vintage French forged tin-lined copper gratin dishes are elegant and refined and still sport the surface area and depth needed to succeed in preparing the best Julia Child French-inspired breadcrumb under the broiler evenly toasted gratinees.

Most homes need one roasting pan for the perennial favorite family  Thanksgiving Turkey, Christmas Ham, or Easter leg of lamb recipe. A roasting pan is a high-walled vessel designed to capture falling juices from meat while at the same time locking in heat at higher oven temperatures. A vintage copper roasting pan is a wonderful heat conductor and provides an opportunity to enjoy a Downton Abby feasting experience while making a responsible eco-friendly upcycling choice. A heavy Staub roasting pan will also get the job done for smaller roasting jobs such as chickens, ducks, and vegetables. The even cooking of a Staub heavy enameled cast iron roasting pan will insure heavy-duty browning and faster cooking than other roasting pan options.

Baking pans, otherwise known as cookie sheets and baking trays, are versatile kitchen cookware necessities. The best type to purchase is the commercial-grade aluminum pans used by hotels and restaurants. These pans are durable, easy to clean, and built to last. They come in quarter and half sheet sizes and are designed to withstand ovens up to 575 degrees F. and heavy-duty dishwashers. These are anything but average baking pans and relatively inexpensive to boot. Seriously, why would you buy anything else–this is a low-cost way to invest in restaurant-quality cookware.