Pots and pans, today's terminology?

[mumu]

I thought i would go shopping to pick up some pots and pans for my daughter.(this way she could use and take care of them herself,now that she is cooking more). But while i was looking around i thought i would pick some things i need up. Boy, I felt like i stepped into different world with these pans. I asked the girl i need a decent frying pan... few min.later she came back with what i call a saute pan (sloped sides) here she said. I guess i looked a little surprised,she said this isnt what u wanted i said no. Then told her again i need a frying pan with straight sides u know a frying pan. She once again returned with a saute pan (she called it) and said this is what u need.I said thats a saute pan? Looks more like a frying pan,she says no its a saute pan. I dont get it.... I have always called a frying pan a frying pan or skillet one of the same. They will either have straight sides or sloped sides,....but the sloped sides to me are called saute pans.(NOT STRAIGHT SIDES). But now a days what I call a saute pan ...slope sides are now frying pans and what I call a frying pan now called a saute pan! Any one else had this encounter?

 

[Joshatdot]

? Cookware and bakeware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frying pans, frypans, or skillets provide a large flat heating surface and shallow sides, and are best for pan frying. Frypans with a gentle, rolling slope are sometimes called omelette pans. Grill pans are frypans that are ribbed, to let fat drain away from the food being cooked. Frypans and grill pans are generally measured by diameter (20–30 cm).

Sauté pans, used for sauteing, have a large surface area and low sides to permit steam to escape and allow the cook to toss the food. The word "sauté" comes from the French verb "sauter", meaning to jump. Saute pans often have straight vertical sides, but may also have flared or rounded sides.

 

[Andy M.]

Yes, I ran into that some time ago when I was shopping for pans. Straight sides=sauté pan, sloping sides=frying pan. I know it's confusing because it's the opposite of what it once was. We all just have to adjust to it.

 

[GLC]

As the industry goes today, straight sided pans are overwhelmingly "saute." And of course, that's largely how they are used. Here's what I think happened.

"Saute" sounds sophisticated. It sounds healthier and more subtle than FRYING. And, as we know, frying is evil. So, whatever the pan design, it's a saute pan.

People don't deep fry in pans much anymore, as in the way such things as cast iron "chicken fryers" were intended to be used. What people are mostly doing is actually sauteing. Steaks and fish are most often grilled or broiled.

The straight sided pan is easier for most people to use without losing contents over the side while sauteing.

This is part of the maturing of American cooking that has taken place since the 1960's. Prior to that, you never heard anyone talk about saute pans. It was always "frying pan," and it was most often used to fry.

If you want an enlightening exercise. Put "saute pan" into Google image search. Then put "fry pan" in. See what the pans look like. The clerk was doing right. She was bringing pans labeled "fry pan."

 

[CharlieD]

I think today the slop sides are pans are much more common. I check out pots and pans in stores often, you never know when you going to fina a pan you might need. I practicaly do not see frying pans with straight sides. I have one at home of course, but honestly more and more i take a slope sided pans. Somehow they are easier to work with.

 

[GLC]

My big stainless saute pan (rather high, straight sides) is my daily workhorse. The whole bottom is equally hot and all usable, and I can brown and cover and take it straight to the oven to braise. I have one small curved pan that's used only for omelets.

 

[jennyema]

I thought i would go shopping to pick up some pots and pans for my daughter.(this way she could use and take care of them herself,now that she is cooking more). But while i was looking around i thought i would pick some things i need up. Boy, I felt like i stepped into different world with these pans. I asked the girl i need a decent frying pan... few min.later she came back with what i call a saute pan (sloped sides) here she said. I guess i looked a little surprised,she said this isnt what u wanted i said no. Then told her again i need a frying pan with straight sides u know a frying pan. She once again returned with a saute pan (she called it) and said this is what u need.I said thats a saute pan? Looks more like a frying pan,she says no its a saute pan. I dont get it.... I have always called a frying pan a frying pan or skillet one of the same. They will either have straight sides or sloped sides,....but the sloped sides to me are called saute pans.(NOT STRAIGHT SIDES). But now a days what I call a saute pan ...slope sides are now frying pans and what I call a frying pan now called a saute pan! Any one else had this encounter?

You have that backwards.

 

[mumu]

this was forwarded to me i guess a similar question was asked here.
05-22-2009, 10:50 PM #2
GB
Chief Eating Officer



Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: USA,Massachusetts
Posts: 25,184
In my opinion saute pans and frying pans are named incorrectly. I think the saute pan should be called a frying pan and the frying pan should be called a saute pan. The reason is that sauteing is a method of cooking where the food is constantly moving. You are often flipping the food by shaking the pan and pulling it back quickly. With the sloping sides this is very easy to do. With straight sides it is much more difficult. Frying means you have a pan with hot fat in it. Straight sides makes it easier to keep the fat where it should be instead of spilling out over your stove.

Both cooking methods can be done in either pan, but I think that sloped sides are much better for sauteing and straight sides are better for frying.
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[Andy M.]

this was forwarded to me i guess a similar question was asked here.
05-22-2009, 10:50 PM #2
GB
Chief Eating Officer



Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: USA,Massachusetts
Posts: 25,184
In my opinion saute pans and frying pans are named incorrectly. I think the saute pan should be called a frying pan and the frying pan should be called a saute pan. The reason is that sauteing is a method of cooking where the food is constantly moving. You are often flipping the food by shaking the pan and pulling it back quickly. With the sloping sides this is very easy to do. With straight sides it is much more difficult. Frying means you have a pan with hot fat in it. Straight sides makes it easier to keep the fat where it should be instead of spilling out over your stove.

Both cooking methods can be done in either pan, but I think that sloped sides are much better for sauteing and straight sides are better for frying.
__________________
Who are you? How did you get in here?
I'm a locksmith and I'm a locksmith.

I think we agree with that.

However, the industry names straight sided pans as sauté pans and slope sided pans as frying pans. We all have to adjust to that standard. The cookware industry isn't going to change.

 

[mumu]

i agree we have to adjust. AS we all know times are changing....(not for the best i say).

 

[msmofet]

I think we agree with that.

However, the industry names straight sided pans as sauté pans and slope sided pans as frying pans. We all have to adjust to that standard. The cookware industry isn't going to change.

But they already DID change. Thats the problem.

 

[Andy M.]

But they already DID change. Thats the problem.

Yes, and that's why they won't change again.

 

[jennyema]

Instead of buying by name, buy by function

 

[Uncle Bob]

They are all skillets to me....Straight sides, Sloped sides....I saute in them, I fry in them... it's a skillet~~ Big skillet, little skillet, real big skillet, cornbread skillets, chicken skillets, egg skillets, cast iron, SS, aluminum etc. Then there are pots (sometimes referred to as "buckets" or boilers) Big pots, little pots, cast iron pots, SS pots, Oyster pots, French Fry Pot, Sara Beth pot...Pot with broken handle, Stock pots, Gumbo pots, Jambalaya pot. Pea pot ~~ I could go on and on...but ya get the idea.

Instead of buying by name, buy by function

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Just as with every other discipline, cooking has jargon. jargon is peculiar words or names and phrases used to describe a thing, process, or action. In electronics, the jargon can be mind-bending as it includes jargon from physics, electronics, and mathematics, all rolled into one discipline. And there is so much of it.

In cooking, I find myself using similar jargon that is unfamiliar to my wife. For instance, the China-Cap, or Chinois is used to describe a cone-shaped strainer that sits in a frame, and usually comes with a wooden pestle that forces the food through the chinois. My DW got angry with me for using the term because she was unfamiliar with it and didn't know what I was asking her to get for me.

In electronics, when writing any kind of documentation, or report, it's usually for people not trained in the discipline, layperson if you will. We have to translate the jargon into something the layperson will be able to understand. The tools and techniques used in cooking have become so diverse and complex, not to mention how much is now available that wasn't 30 years back, that it behooves us to learn the jargon, and to be able to communicate to others without baffling them with unfamiliar terms.

Now that I've given my treatise on jargon and tech-report writing technique, I will say simply that I love UncleBob's post. That pretty much sums it up for me. Though I know a good bit of the cooking world jargon, I need to be able to communicate that knowledge to others who know virtually none of it.

I think I'll now go home and saute' some coconut shrimp in a cast-iron saute pan, which will have just a bit of cooking oil in it. I'll make a bit of rice in my covered dutch oven, and a light velute' in my saucier'. Maybe I'll steam some Haricot Verts and dress them with a compound butter bended with garlic and dill. All of this will be served with an ice-cold glass tumbler filled with milk.

Bwahahaha!

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Merlot]

They are all skillets to me....Straight sides, Sloped sides....I saute in them, I fry in them... it's a skillet~~ Big skillet, little skillet, real big skillet, cornbread skillets, chicken skillets, egg skillets, cast iron, SS, aluminum etc. Then there are pots (sometimes referred to as "buckets" or boilers) Big pots, little pots, cast iron pots, SS pots, Oyster pots, French Fry Pot, Sara Beth pot...Pot with broken handle, Stock pots, Gumbo pots, Jambalaya pot. Pea pot ~~ I could go on and on...but ya get the idea.

yeah what he said!

 

[Whiskadoodle]

"We all have to adjust to that standard." We all may need to do lots of things. I however, know what Pan I like to use for which purpose.

Plus 1 for what Uncle Bob says.

 

[Andy M.]

"We all have to adjust to that standard." We all may need to do lots of things. I however, know what Pan I like to use for which purpose.

Plus 1 for what Uncle Bob says.

I agree with you and UB. However, I said 'we all have to adjust...' because we want to make ourselves understood outside our own kitchens.

 

[Luca Lazzari]

In these times of semantic confusion the important thing is not to make any confusion with the ingredients!

In Italy we basically have padella, pentola, tegame and casseruola (and teglia, but teglia is unmistakably a baking pan).
There is indeed some confusion between padella and tegame, while pentola and casseruola are more clearly understood.
The following definitions are the more widely accepted (IMHO):
Padella is a round cooking tool, large and shallow, with a single long handle and sloping sides, generally used for frying (I use a big padella to prepare my risotto or to finish some pasta recipes, too).
Tegame is a round cooking tool, with one or two handles and not too tall straight or slightly sloping sides, used to braise (generally vegetables) or fry (generally eggs).
Pentola is a round cooking tool more tall than wide and with two handles (we cook our pasta in a pentola).
Casseruola is a cooking tool similar to the tegame, but taller.

Buon appetito!

 

[mumu]

pots and pans

if a recipe says use a skillet .......would this be a frying pan or saute pan? Is it based on what your making? bec. read a skillet same as a frying pan and with whats out there frying pans are sloped side and a saute pan is straight,how does skillet come into play on which to use? yes i know a lot of you will sigh about this,sorry but since mom is getting me a set of pots and pans ,i would like to know.