Gratin Dishes and Baking Dishes

Because food is often served in gratin dishes, the dishes need to be both efficient and attractive. Most gratin dishes are made of porcelain or stoneware that gives the finished dish a comforting, rustic look and also retains heat well. Some restaurants use tinned-copper gratin dishes when serving more elaborate classic gratins such as crayfish or lobster.

Gratin dishes traditionally have an oval shape, but in the United States, individual enameled cast-iron or porcelain gratin dishes are sometimes round with small wing handles on each side.