Upgrading your current cookware can be done easier by knowing the differences between several pans and pots in the market. Pans alone can already be a straining task to classify, especially if your surface knowledge about this kitchen equipment is the bare minimum.
Every cookware material is essential. That is why investing the suitable pans for your specific cooking needs must be done. Saucepan and sauté pan is already a given hint for you to classify the cookware: the first one is for creating sauces, while the other is for sauteing your dishes.
What’s the Difference?
For any cooking method that involves liquid, using the saucepan is the best option. The saucepan’s structural qualities are why it is the best cookware to cook your sauces, stocks, jams, and stews. Deep-leveled, straight walls are surrounding the saucepan’s small base—nearly shaped into a tall cylinder.
Unlike a sauté pan, a saucepan has a taller and narrower figure. This cylindrical shape allows the saucepan’s base to retain heat faster and better. Simultaneously, the high sides are responsible for distributing the heat all over the pan’s surface.
Made with high-grade stainless steel, a saucepan can be used on different cooking devices, including a gas stove, induction cooker, electric stove. Some saucepan can be placed inside the oven and even a broiler. Saucepans are dishwasher-safe, too.
Sauté pan may not be standard cookware inside the kitchen. Some mistakenly think that standard frying pans are enough to sauté, stir-fry, and cook your food. In reality, sauté pan is the hybrid form of saucepan and frying pan.
This is because sautéed pan comes along with the lid, which creates food vapor. Like a saucepan, a sauté pan can retain liquid through the process of condensation. The steam that is trapped inside the cookware is collected and returned, thanks to the tight-fitting lid.
Besides sauteing onions and stir-frying vegetables, you can use the sauté pan to sear large meats, prepare saucy dishes, and oven-roast your protein. Several sauté pan (like ProWare) can be placed inside the oven up to 392°F/200°C. Like a saucepan, you can put your sauté pan inside the dishwasher and let the device do the cleaning for you.
Can You Sauté in a Saucepan?
Sauteing your food is a cooking food process that uses a drizzle of fat or oil on high heat. This method works perfectly on small, even-sized pieces of food. You can sauté your dish by tossing your pan or using a spoon to stir your food until it starts wilting.
Wilting is a term used on cooking vegetables wherein it loses its original structure. The food essence will release on the pan, producing moisture. Continued sauteing will caramelize your vegetables—making richer, deeper flavor tones.
Due to its nearly similar properties, you can use your saucepan to sauté your food. Wilting your onions and garlic doesn’t necessarily mean toasting your condiments dry. With the help of the saucepan’s surface, you can sauté your food without expelling too much liquid to your food.
