Kitchen toolkit: We show you how to choose pots and pans 

Do you feel like things are going to pot in your kitchen? There's a warming excitement to breaking in pristine cookware

The Le Creuset range, used with care, should last a lifetime and is guaranteed as such, pictured here in a shaded vintage-style mint, priced from €97.35 for a small skillet, lecrueset.ie

Flaking potentially toxic non-stick skin into the scrambled eggs? A bit rattly at the handle? Uneven at the base or dinged in the enamel?

Bought in a new set or replaced one by one, pots and pans are a personal purchase and expensive for proven performance and longevity. They are dedicated working vessels, heat conductors, and style statements, and there’s a warming excitement to breaking in pristine cookware.