Sauté pans for versatile stovetop cooking
A sauté pan has a broad cooking surface and relatively high sides, giving you room to brown and sauté ingredients while helping to contain sauces and liquids. This makes it a useful choice for dishes that begin with frying or browning and continue with simmering.
Sauté pan or frying pan?
The main difference is the shape. A sauté pan typically has straighter, higher sides, while a frying pan usually has lower, sloping sides. The open shape of a frying pan is convenient for tasks such as frying and turning food, whereas the higher sides of a sauté pan provide more capacity for ingredients and liquids.
If you often cook one-pan dishes, sauces or meals where ingredients are first browned and then simmered, a sauté pan can be particularly practical. For cooking methods that benefit from a deeper, rounded shape and plenty of room for tossing ingredients, a wok pan is another option.
Choosing a sauté pan for your cooking
Consider the kinds of meals you prepare and how much cooking surface and capacity you need. A sauté pan should give ingredients enough contact with the base for effective browning while leaving sufficient room for the quantities you normally cook. Before choosing cookware, also check the individual product specifications for dimensions and compatibility with your type of hob.
A sauté pan can complement other pots and pans by covering the middle ground between shallow frying and cooking dishes with more liquid.
Frequently asked questions
Is a sauté pan suitable for my type of hob?
Hob compatibility depends on the individual sauté pan. Check the product specifications before purchase to make sure the pan is suitable for your hob type.
What size sauté pan should I choose?
Choose according to the quantities you normally cook and the cooking surface you need. The pan should provide enough base area for ingredients to brown effectively while still offering sufficient capacity for sauces, liquids and one-pan dishes; check the stated dimensions for each product.