The mixing bowls a kitchen actually uses.

Vollrath has supplied restaurant kitchens since 1874, and its Economy bowls are the ones stacked in commercial kitchens everywhere: 26 gauge stainless steel, a mirror finish, a beaded rim to grip and a flat bottom so the bowl sits still. This one holds 5 quarts and measures about 11.8 inches across and 4 inches deep. It is NSF listed and dishwasher safe.

America's Test Kitchen named the Vollrath Economy line its winning stainless bowls. The broad, shallow shape put food within easy reach and allowed wide turns of a spatula, and they were the lightest bowls tested, easy to lift, scrape and pour from.

Buy them singly, in the sizes you use; the 5 quart is the one to start with, and it sits over a large saucepan as a double boiler. Skip them if you want a bowl for the table. They look exactly like what they are.

Pyrex's Essentials set is three round tempered glass bowls of 1, 1.5 and 2.5 quarts. They are microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe, and glass does not hold on to stains or smells the way plastic does. Melting butter, proofing a small batch of dough where you can see it rise, holding a vinaigrette in the refrigerator: this is what glass is for.

America's Test Kitchen's glass winner is a larger Pyrex set with lids. This smaller set is the same idea without the lids, at a price that makes it an easy addition alongside stainless.

Skip glass as your only bowls. The largest here is 2.5 quarts, too small for salad for six or a double batch of cookie dough, and glass is heavier than steel and breaks on a tile floor.

Anchor Hocking has made glass in the United States since 1905. This set nests ten bowls: 1, 2, 4, 6, 10 and 16 ounces for measured spices, minced garlic and a cracked egg, then 1, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 quart bowls for mixing. For a cook who lines everything up before the pan goes on, it is the whole mise en place in one stack.

The small bowls double as serving dishes for olives, salt or sauces at the table, which is where they end up in many houses.

Skip it if cupboard space is tight; ten bowls take room even nested. And like all glass, the largest bowl is modest in size.

OXO's set is three nesting bowls of 1.5, 3 and 5 quarts. The inside is stainless steel, which will not hold odors or colors; the outside is a plastic shell that keeps hands off hot or icy steel, and the non-skid base keeps the bowl still while you whisk with one hand and pour with the other. They are dishwasher safe.

For a cook who has chased a spinning bowl across the counter, the base is the whole argument. America's Test Kitchen liked the stability too.

The same review names the problem: the plastic exterior means these cannot sit over simmering water as a double boiler. If you melt chocolate or make a sabayon, buy a plain steel bowl as well.

Emile Henry has made ceramics in Burgundy since 1850, and this bowl is high-fired Burgundy clay under a hard glaze that the maker says will not scratch or craze. It holds 3.7 quarts, is oven, broiler and microwave safe to 520 degrees Fahrenheit, and can go from the refrigerator straight into a hot oven. It is dishwasher safe and carries a ten year guarantee against manufacturing defects.

This is the bowl for the bread dough that rises in it overnight, the potato salad that goes to the table in it, and the pudding that is baked and served in it. Clay holds its temperature, so a dough in a warm bowl stays warm and a salad in a chilled one stays cold.

Skip it as a workhorse. America's Test Kitchen left ceramic out of its testing entirely because it is heavy and expensive, and that is fair. Own one, and let the stainless do the everyday work.