# What's the difference between cookware and bakeware?



## x-termin8or (Dec 9, 2008)

Hey,
Sorry to ask such a "noob-ish" question hehe but i'm not actually 100% sure. What exactly is the difference between cookware and bakeware?

Thanks!


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## sattie (Dec 9, 2008)

Cookware you cook with... as in stove top.  I guess some of it could be used in the oven.  

Bakeware is more IMO, tools that are made specially for baking items.  Like baking pans, pie pans, muffin tins, etc.  They are all used in the oven.  

That there is my rather simple answer.... I'm not the brightest bulb in the bunch!


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## AllenOK (Dec 9, 2008)

Sattie has it right.  "Cookware" = stove top.  "Bakeware" = in the oven.

If you're just starting out, and need to something "on the cheap", go get a cast iron skillet.  Cheap, easy to care for, and go from stove to oven and back.

I bake some of my cakes in Cast Iron.  I've pan-seared steaks and chicken in a skillet, then popped the whole thing into the oven.  I've roasted chickens in cast iron, then deglazed the pan to make the gravy.


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## LPBeier (Dec 9, 2008)

AllenOK said:


> Sattie has it right.  "Cookware" = stove top.  "Bakeware" = in the oven.
> 
> If you're just starting out, and need to something "on the cheap", go get a cast iron skillet.  Cheap, easy to care for, and go from stove to oven and back.
> 
> I bake some of my cakes in Cast Iron.  I've pan-seared steaks and chicken in a skillet, then popped the whole thing into the oven.  I've roasted chickens in cast iron, then deglazed the pan to make the gravy.



Allen, I hope you wash the skillet really well after the steak and before you bake your cake!!!!!!  But seriously, I do love my cast iron.  I have a griddle, two skillets and a "bean pot" which I have on one occasion baked a yorkshire pudding in and it was delish and rose beautifully.


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## sattie (Dec 9, 2008)

AllenOK said:


> Sattie has it right. "Cookware" = stove top. "Bakeware" = in the oven.


 
Thanks for the confirmation!


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## x-termin8or (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks for clearing that up. I now get it - it all makes sense...

EDIT: I just asked someone else and she said cookware is for all cooking products in general... But this isn't true is it?


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## LPBeier (Dec 9, 2008)

I guess in a broad sense it is true, but technically cookware is stovetop and bakeware is oven.  I agree with Sattie and Allen on this one.


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## GB (Dec 9, 2008)

I also agree with everyone above. That being said, there is no hard and fast rule about this though so you could go into a store and find a baking sheet in the cookware section and the police would not come and arrest anyone for it.


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## x-termin8or (Dec 9, 2008)

I just looked in an online dictionairy and it actually says:

Cookware =   pots, pans, and other cooking utensils.

So i guess cookware is actually all kinds of cooking products in general?


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## Andy M. (Dec 9, 2008)

Just to confuse things a little more, let me offer this.  

It's all cookware if you do any kind of cooking with it.  Cookware is the overall category.  Bakeware is a specific kind of cookware.

In general useage, cookware is used to refer to stovetop equipment and bakeware to oven stuff.


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## x-termin8or (Dec 9, 2008)

lol actually that makes more sense (kinda). I think now i get it... i think because not everyone knows exactly what cookware is people have their own ideas as to what they believe it to be... Which in a way makes it even more confusing.


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## jennyema (Dec 9, 2008)

Andy M. said:


> Just to confuse things a little more, let me offer this.
> 
> It's all cookware if you do any kind of cooking with it. Cookware is the overall category. Bakeware is a specific kind of cookware.
> 
> In general useage, cookware is used to refer to stovetop equipment and bakeware to oven stuff.


 

I also believe this is technically correct.


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## cookinghomefood (Dec 16, 2008)

There is a distinction. Cookware is general purpose cooking utensils excluding baking. Baking requires high temperature so the product must be specially made to resist burning. Bakeware are specailly made utensils for use in the oven or on high temperature stoves. If you cook rice, you are using cookware; if you bake pan cakes, you are using bakeware.


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## GB (Dec 16, 2008)

cookinghomefood said:


> There is a distinction. Cookware is general purpose cooking utensils excluding baking. Baking requires high temperature so the product must be specially made to resist burning.


I do not think heat has anything to do with it. For instance, woks are used for extremely high heat cooking (much higher than you will get in an oven) yes a wok would not be considered bakeware.


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## x-termin8or (Jan 31, 2009)

One of my clients owns http://www.easycookware.co.ukhttp://www.easycookware.co.uk/ and i personally use their cookware as well and i can assure you it's very good stuff (and also has loads of good reviews).


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 8, 2009)

I consider my stainless steel cookware because the design is for the stovetop ~ it's got handles and lids ~ HOWEVER, I often will move something from the stovetop to the oven after searing or something similar.  With that said, I would say that the temperature isn't the gage for if something is cookware verses bakeware nor is using it exclusively on the stove or in the oven.


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