The saucepan is a useful cooking utensil with a round shape with high, vertical sides with a long handle attached on one side. The saucepan has various sizes and handles variations that can hold liquid for a pint up to six quarts. You can utilize your saucepan effectively—since you can use this to prepare your meals like boiling water, making small batches of soups and sauces, and braising foods.
You can identify if your saucepan can be safely placed inside the oven by checking its handle. Insulators or materials with poor heat distribution are commonly flammable. Handles made with wood, silicone, and polymer cannot be placed inside the oven; since they can melt, scorch, and burn due to intense temperature.
How Do You Know if Your Saucepan is Oven Safe?
What makes a saucepan differ from a casserole is its handle. The long, prodding handle is essential for stirring your liquids without using spatulas and spoons. Handles can be made on the same material used in creating the saucepan. They can also be screwed or riveted with other materials like silicone, wood, and polymer.
Several materials (like insulators) are not oven-safe. Although insulators can prevent heat from dispersing to the entire saucepan, the said materials are highly flammable. This means that direct contact with fire can instantly destroy your handles. With its low smoking point, this material can release toxic fumes that can irritate your digestive and respiratory tract when inhaled and ingested.
There are several methods to identify if your cookware can be placed inside the oven. Listed below are indicators that you can follow by yourself.
- Checking if your cookware is oven-safe. Several manufacturers place indicators at the bottom part of the cookware to quickly identify if it can be safely placed inside the oven. If there’s none, you can confirm it further by checking the instruction’s manual, the packaging used for your cookware, and the manufacturer’s website.
- Several materials are not oven-proof. Wood, plastic, rubber, silicone, ceramic, and polymer are some materials that cannot be placed inside the oven. The said materials have a low smoking point. They can start releasing toxic fumes once it is placed at temperatures above 150°C/302°F. If your handles and coating are made with this material—you cannot use it inside your oven.
Oven-proof cookware can make your cooking and baking process easier. Reduce the time of swapping your utensils since you can swiftly place your cookware from the stove straight inside your oven. This is why ensuring if your pan is oven-proof is a must to prevent baking incidents like smokes and fires.
What Kind of Saucepans Can Go in the Oven?
With all things considered, there are saucepans that you can place inside the oven without the fear of damaging your baking equipment. Identifying if your cookware is oven-safe will prevent any complications such as smoke, flames, and physical burns. The quickest way to identify if your cookware can be placed inside the oven is by checking the “Oven-Safe” symbol commonly indicated at the bottom of the pan.
Another method to identify if your saucepan can be placed inside the oven is by checking the actual product. Inspect the packaging and instruction manual for cues if your saucepan is oven-safe. You can check reviews from reliable websites or check the manufacturer’s actual site to confirm further.
You can also eliminate if your saucepan can be placed inside the oven by checking the materials used. Listed underneath are available materials that you can use to sort if your cookware is oven-safe quickly.
- Cookware is made with stainless steel and cast iron. If your cookware is purely made with heat-resisting metals like stainless steel and cast iron, then you can use it freely inside the oven. Suppose your metals are covered with a nonstick coating (enamel, ceramic). In that case, you must check a certain temperature limit to prevent cracking or shedding your cookware’s coat.
- Ceramics can be placed inside the oven. Just make sure that you are using plain ceramics. If your saucepan is decorated or glazed, make sure that the materials used in this can be placed inside the oven.
- The oven-safe glass is used in saucepan lids. Several saucepans are made with thermal glass that is commonly oven-safe. Before placing your lid, make sure that it doesn’t undergo temperature shocks (like the freezer-oven method) to prevent shattering the actual glass. Metals that are placed in extreme temperature changes can also warp and bend while inside the oven.
- Food-grade silicone is used on some handles. Silicone is known for its heat-resistant properties. High-quality silicone that is used on saucepan handles can be placed inside the oven without worries. You can use silicone greatly for baking since it is indestructible.
What Pans Can You Not Put in the Oven?
Saucepans are dependable cooking equipment for small to medium-scale cooking. Using a saucepan that can be safely placed inside the oven will reduce transferring and cleaning additional cookware. Knowing if your pan can be placed inside the oven is the first step to prevent ruining your cooking (and baking) day.
The first thing you can consider is checking the bottom part of your pan. Manufacturers place standard symbols and letters to identify if your product can be placed inside the oven. Checking for “Oven Safe” text or an oven icon can certify if your saucepan is oven-proof.
Another technique you can consider is inspecting the material. Check if the materials used in knobs, handles, lids, and surfaces can endure extreme temperatures inside the oven. Listed below are some pointers to consider if your pan is oven-safe.
- Inspect if the knobs are made with heat-resistant metals like stainless steel and cast iron. Other materials have a high possibility of melting and burning inside your oven.
- Check if the handles are made with wood, plastic, and rubber. These materials are great insulators, but they can catch flame instantly. Insulators can prevent heat from distributing fast, but not with direct flame.
- Lids that are made with non-tempered glass can break inside the oven. Tempered glass is oven-safe but with certain temperature limits.
- Nonstick saucepans coated with PTFE or Teflon cannot be placed inside an oven. Teflon can produce an insane amount of toxic fumes that can be harmful to humans, pets, and birds.
