It depends on how you are asking the question. If you have done any cooking at all, you already know that the kind of cookware you are using has a huge impact on your style. This is not to say that what cookware you use is irrelevant. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your cookware can partially determine the purposes to which you put it. Copper cookware, for example, is great for making more delicate foods because of the control it affords you over heat conductivity. The other way you could ask the question is if you are making a certain dish, say a sauce, when should you use copper cookware? The answer is you should have been using it from the beginning, especially when it comes to sauces.

You need copper cookware if you like French foods, especially. The French love copper for their cookware; in fact, one of the most popular cookware-making companies in the world is a French company, Mauviel. Cookware that is copper is also best for certain Italian foods, particularly sauces. You need copper cookware when you are ready to expand your skills as a cook to include more challenging foods. It is fine and good to know how to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cooking those fine foods that make you think you are at a world-class hotel is another matter.

Choosing your cookware is not as easy as I am making it sound, of course. If you are a beginner or an amateur cook, stick to the things you know. Buy a good recipe book and try some of the easy ones. It is important to master one skill level before going on to the next – no one ever made it to the top of Everest by hiking it without ever hiking up any other mountains! Keep to your skill level in cooking before trying more difficult dishes. Get some copper cookware only when you need it.

Knowing what type of cook you are can help you choose the kind of cookware you want to buy. The purpose that you use your cookware for can determine the cookware you should buy. Every professional chef has their distinctive style that they use to create delicious food for their patrons. Discovering your style is the best way to help you buy the cookware that fits your particular taste.

There are four types of cooks. Let’s explore these types and look at what cookware is best for each of them.

Type #1: The Cook Who Hates Cooking

This kind of cook doesn’t look forward to cooking, doesn’t enjoy cooking, and wants to get out of the kitchen as soon as possible. This guy wants a down-and-dirty, get-food-quick recipe whereby he just throws some food on the stove, waits, scoops it onto plates and puts the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Voila! Easy, simple, and he can move on to watching the game. Cookware especially designed to make this cook happy includes:

– Non-Stick

– Stainless Steel

– Glass/Stoneware/Ceramic

Type #2: The Cooking Fanatic

We all know what this type is like. You step into their kitchen and it’s a permanent shrine to the Food Network. Exotic cutlery and dishes; strange-looking tongs and ladles; something that vaguely reminds you of a spatula but doesn’t look like any spatula you have ever seen; etc. That’s this cook. He loves cooking, and I mean loves it. Cooking is his passion; cooking is his raison d’etre. For him, to cook is to live. This guy would like:

– Everything, of course!

– Non Stick for those busy workdays

– Stainless Steel for ease of washing up

– Copper and/or Aluminum-clad Stainless steel for the finer dishes in life

– Anodized Aluminum for the ability to take whatever this type dishes out (sorry for the pun)

Type #3: The Refined Cuisinier

Cuisinier is a French word meaning a male cook or chef. I chose it because I think the French approach cooking the best: as an art form, not just as a profession or a chore that has to be done everyday. That well befits this type, because he approaches cooking as an artist, not a chef. He paints with sauces, carves with breads, and dances with wines and salts with vegetables. He sings Italian opera as he works and speaks French to his customers as he serves them. He lives his cooking, and this is the kind of cookware he likes:

– Copper (perfect for those sensual, just-right recipes)

– Copper and/or Aluminum-clad stainless steel

– Cast Iron (the staple of kitchens who know what they are doing)

– Glass / Ceramic / Stoneware

Type #4: The Health-Conscious Chef

This person is acutely aware of the health aspects of food and cooking, whether by free choice or by necessity. Working by a combination of gut feeling and careful homework, this person doesn’t always trust what the manufacturer says about their cooking products. This person likes to verify things for themselves and they always make sure to check they are using quality materials. They might or might not enjoy cooking as a hobby or a profession; to them, cooking is simply cooking. They take a very practical view: it’s simply what has to be done to feed themselves. Their prime concern is making sure no toxic coatings, surfaces or dangerous metals get into their food.

– Plain Cast Iron – A favorite of any cook. Plain cast iron pots and pans don’t spoil food for the health-conscious chef if they know how to use it.

– Enameled Cast Iron – Just make sure the enamel is applied well and will not chip.

– Glass / Ceramic / Stoneware – Glass is really the best for this cook, although ceramic and stoneware have their advantages, too.

– Some Stainless Steel – Sometimes, you just can’t cook well without it.

Know yourself. You’ll live a happier life.

To get the most out of your cookware, you’ll need to know a few things and have a few other things with you “on deck”, so to speak. Some of them might not be things you ordinarily think of, but you might need them nevertheless.

1) Make sure the handle of whatever cookware you use isn’t made of metal! Always be sure that the handle is made of either plastic, wood, or some other non-conductive material. If you use a metal handle, always wear oven mitts when cooking. Otherwise, you will severely burn your hand.

2) If you’re cooking with a gas stove, keep a fire extinguisher near the stove at all times when it is turned on.

3) Look into picking up a pair of aluminized kevlar gloves. I know that sounds extreme, but blacksmiths use them all the time. If you’re not too sure about using an oven (or if you’re a little clumsy), it’s the best hand protection you can find.

4) If aluminized kevlar gloves are too much, then go for the old standby: oven mitts and hot pads. There’s still nothing better than a good hot pad for picking up that small pot on the stove that’s piping and sizzling but too small for your big oven-sized gloves.

5) While we’re on the topic of hand protection, let’s talk about disposable gloves. Use these for smelly items, like raw meat before you throw it in the pan. Also, they’re great for handling pepper, garlic and onions. Vinyl has an advantage over latex in that you’re less likely to be allergic to them. (And they are fantastic at handling taffy – if you get nonstick ones, of course).

6) Grease fires: NEVER pour water on a grease fire! That will spread the grease around and make it worse. Use a large lid or pan to cover the fire and deprive it of oxygen, starving it. If that doesn’t work and the fire is still spreading, call the fire department immediate. DO NOT WAIT.

7) Be sure that the handles of your pots and pans are always turned towards the center of the stove. This way you’ll avoid accidentally jostling one. Avoid wearing long, loose sleeves; you won’t catch a handle in them. Place utensils like a spatula in the same place so you’re not constantly reaching across the stove to get at them.