Editing Cookware and bakeware (section)

==History==
[[File:3238 - Athens - Casserole and brazier - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] casserole and brazier, 6th/4th century BC, exhibited in the Ancient Agora Museum in [[Athens]], housed in the [[Stoa of Attalus]].]]
[[File:Grapen.jpg|thumb|Two cooking pots (Grapen) from medieval Hamburg {{circa|1200}}–1400 AD]]
[[File:Viking-style cooking pot.jpg|thumb|Replica of a [[Viking]] cooking-pot hanging over a fire]]
[[File:Dom Uphagena - 205.JPG|thumb|Kitchen in the [[Uphagen's House]] in [[Long Market]], [[Gdańsk]], Poland]]
The history of cooking vessels before the development of pottery is minimal due to the limited archaeological evidence. The earliest [[pottery]] vessels, dating from {{val|19600|400|ul=BP|fmt=commas}}, were discovered in [[Xianren Cave|Xianrendong Cave]], [[Jiangxi]], China. The pottery may have been used as cookware, manufactured by [[hunter-gatherer]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Wu | first1 = X. | last2 = Zhang | first2 = C. | last3 = Goldberg | first3 = P. | last4 = Cohen | first4 = D. | last5 = Pan | first5 = Y. | last6 = Arpin | first6 = T. | last7 = Bar-Yosef | first7 = O. | doi = 10.1126/science.1218643 | title = Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China | journal = Science | volume = 336 | issue = 6089 | pages = 1696–1700 | year = 2012 | pmid =  22745428| bibcode = 2012Sci...336.1696W | s2cid = 37666548 }}</ref><ref name=npr1>{{cite news|last=Zielinski|title=Stone Age Stew? Soup Making May Be Older Than We'd Thought|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/06/171104410/stone-age-stew-soup-making-may-be-older-than-wed-thought|access-date=8 February 2013|newspaper=NPR|date=6 February 2013}}</ref> It is also possible to extrapolate likely developments based on methods used by latter peoples. Among the first of the techniques believed to be used by [[Stone Age]] civilizations were improvements to basic [[roasting]]. In addition to exposing food to direct heat from either an open fire or hot embers, it is possible to cover the food with clay or large leaves before roasting to preserve moisture in the cooked result. Examples of similar techniques are still in use in many modern cuisines.{{sfn|Tannahill|1988|p=13}}

Of greater difficulty was finding a method to boil water. For people without access to natural heated water sources, such as hot springs, heated stones ("[[pot boiler]]s") could be placed in a water-filled vessel to raise its temperature (for example, a leaf-lined pit or the [[stomach]] from animals killed by hunters).{{sfn|Tannahill|1988|pp=14–16}} In many locations the shells of [[turtle]]s or large [[mollusk]]s provided a source for waterproof cooking vessels. [[Bamboo]] tubes sealed at the end with clay provided a usable container in Asia, while the inhabitants of the [[Tehuacan Valley]] began carving large stone bowls that were permanently set into a hearth as early as 7,000 BC.

According to Frank Hamilton Cushing, Native American cooking [[basket]]s used by the [[Zuni (tribe)|Zuni]] (Zuñi) developed from mesh casings woven to stabilize gourd water vessels. He reported witnessing cooking basket use by [[Havasupai]] in 1881. Roasting baskets covered with clay would be filled with [[Charcoal|wood coals]] and the product to be roasted. When the thus-fired clay separated from the basket, it would become a usable clay roasting pan in itself. This indicates a steady progression from use of woven gourd casings to waterproof cooking baskets to pottery. Other than in many other cultures, Native Americans used and still use the heat source inside the cookware. Cooking baskets are filled with hot stones and roasting pans with wood coals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=207135|title=Online Reader - A Study of Pueblo Pottery as Illustrative of Zuñi Culture Growth. by Cushing|author=Frank Hamilton Cushing|year=2005|website=www.gutenberg.org|access-date=19 April 2017}}</ref> Native Americans would form a basket from large leaves to boil water, according to historical novelist [[Louis L'Amour]]. As long as the flames did not reach above the level of water in the basket, the leaves would not burn through.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

The development of pottery allowed for the creation of fireproof cooking vessels in a variety of shapes and sizes. Coating the earthenware with some type of plant gum, and later glazes, converted the porous container into a waterproof vessel. The earthenware cookware could then be suspended over a fire through use of a tripod or other apparatus, or even be placed directly into a low fire or coal bed as in the case of the [[pipkin]]. Ceramics conduct heat poorly, however, so ceramic pots must cook over relatively low heats and over long periods of time. However, most ceramic pots will crack if used on the [[stovetop]], and are only intended for the oven.

The development of [[bronze]] and [[iron]] metalworking skills allowed for cookware made from metal to be manufactured, although adoption of the new cookware was slow due to the much higher cost. After the development of metal cookware there was little new development in cookware, with the standard [[Medieval]] kitchen utilizing a cauldron and a shallow earthenware pan for most cooking tasks, with a [[Spit (cooking aide)|spit]] employed for roasting.{{sfn|Tannahill|1988|pp=16, 96}}{{sfn|Beard|1975|pp=174-175}}

By the 17th century, it was common for a Western kitchen to contain a number of skillets, baking pans, a kettle and several pots, along with a variety of pot hooks and trivets. Brass or copper vessels were common in Asia and Europe, whilst iron pots were common in the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]]. Improvements in metallurgy during the 19th and 20th centuries allowed for pots and pans from metals such as steel, stainless steel and aluminium to be economically produced.{{sfn|Beard|1975|pp=174-175}}