What To Do When You Can't Find That One Pot Lid You Need

Whether you're making soup, mashing potatoes, or boiling water, it's obvious that you're going to need a lot of pots, each one being a different size and depth. While it's no doubt useful to have all of these pots when you need them, the trouble lies within the fact that each pot has its own lid which, if you don't have a pot lid organizer handy, can very easily get lost in all that clutter. You can imagine how much of a pain it is to spend precious minutes digging through cabinets to find the one particular pot lid you need when making dinner.

Fortunately, even in the event you're unable to find that pot lid, there are plenty of substitutes that you can use. If you have some tin foil laying around, for example, laying a sheet of it over your pot will work just as fine as your average lid. You can also use parchment paper if you're in a pinch, so long as it's cut to closely fit the size of the pot as possible. The main focus of a pot lid is to ensure that no steam or moisture can escape the pot, thus slowly but effectively increasing the interior temperature of the pot and the food inside of it.

If you don't happen to have parchment or tinfoil paper, don't worry. In fact, even if you don't have a lid, you can also use baking trays or even other pans to work as a substitute. 

Imagine walking into a kitchen and seeing a pot of water boiling on the stove, covered with a giant baking sheet. Next to that is a pot full of steamed vegetables being covered by a cast-iron pan. At first glance, this looks like the tell-tale sign of a disorganized and messy kitchen, where random appliances and tools are used for all sorts of ridiculous applications. 

While it's true that it may be a strange setup, a baking sheet or pan can work perfectly fine as a lid substitute. A good pot lid is one that prevents any moisture or heat from escaping from the pot, so something that's large and heavy like a spare cookie sheet or an old frying pan will work. If you have one lying around, a pizza pan with its round shape makes a perfect covering for a pot (which, believe it or not, is also round) — much better than rectangular baking sheets. Again, while it may not be the most aesthetic set-up for your kitchen, using a heavy baking sheet or pan, something that won't blow off or melt against the heat, to cover your pots is a very effective shortcut if you can't find your regular pot lids.

But sometimes, not even a baking sheet or iron pan can be a great substitute. Some dishes actually require a pot lid to be prepared correctly. 

You're making some rice for dinner. You can't find your pot lid at the moment, so you decide to just cover it with tin foil or a baking sheet. It's only for a few minutes, you think, and you can find the pot lid later. What would be the harm in making the rice in a pot without a lid?

As it would seem, when preparing rice, you're going to need that pot lid – or at least something that can make that same tight seal you'd normally get with the pot lid in question. This is because the rice needs as much steam and moisture as possible to cook, as well as a consistent, unchanging temperature. Although a baking sheet or foil may prevent most of the steam from escaping, there's still a large amount of heat and moisture being lost as some steam escapes from underneath the sheet or foil. The tight seal of the pot lid ensures that the internal temperature remains constant and allows all of the heat and moisture to properly cook the rice.

If you find that your pot lid is still too loose and doesn't make as tight a seal as you wish, a good remedy to this problem combines both methods of covering the pot. Take a piece of foil, lay it over the mouth of the pot, and then place the lid on top of it to keep the steam from escaping.