![]() Fortunately for us, unless your microwave is a relic from the '80s, metal bowls are safe to put in the microwave. Whether it's for melting butter, steaming some greens, par-cooking pie fillings, or making five-minute ricotta, a bowl must be microwaveable. I microwave things in bowls all the time. Oh, and forget about putting them directly on the stovetop. Some non-skid bases aren't heatproof, but even when they are, the insulating properties of the coating make them inefficient at heat transfer. While non-skid bases in products like OXO's Good Grips mixing bowl set are nice in many scenarios, they prevent you from using the bowls as a double boiler. Occasionally, when I'm in a hurry, I'll even put the bowl directly over a low flame. Setting a bowl on top of a pot of simmering water is the best way to make Hollandaise, melt chocolate, cook a delicate custard, or pull off any number of other kitchen projects. Likewise, the best way to coat a large number of small pieces of food uniformly (say, when you're tossing potato chunks with olive oil, or bread crumbs with minced shallots) is to hold the bowl with two hands and toss foods toward you from the back lip-another challenge with heavy bowls. That means heavy bowls, like these ceramic ones, while very pretty, are taxing to use. The most efficient way to properly whisk ingredients in a bowl is to hold the bowl with one hand, rapidly shaking it back and forth, while whisking with the other hand. As a general rule, a mixing bowl's height and radius should be within an inch or two of each other. In either case, bowls with especially high sides, like the Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set from Cuisinart or these Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls from All-Clad, can make whisking and stirring difficult to do, and tossing large quantities of food downright impossible. Shallower, wider bowls are generally better for non-baking applications-they're easier to maneuver in for whisking vinaigrettes or whipping cream, or for creasing chicken cutlets. Deeper bowls make it easier to stir batters and hydrate doughs and are generally better for bakers. Plastic bowls, like this popular set from Trudeau, can absorb odors from vinaigrettes or become discolored from canned tomatoes or oil-based products. Where do these glass bits go? On the floor? In the food? I'd rather not find out. In some kitchens I've worked in, over half of the glass bowls had chips on their edges. ![]() For instance, the Pyrex Prepware 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set, which often comes highly recommended, has a fatal flaw: The corners chip very easily. I don't want a bowl that will warp, dent, crack, or chip.
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