Fry Pan & Sauce Pan

When man discovered the fire, he learned that food is best eaten when it’s cooked. The heat from cooking produces different tastes from the ingredients that are used to further elevate the flavours in the food.

Warning; Storytime! Back in the day, clay and leaves were used to hold food while cooking. As man evolved, so does the cooking materials. Different materials were soon discovered to make containers to replace these leaves and clays, eventually inventing different types of cookware. Today we use modern cookware with technology to improve the way we cook.

Despite cooking on the daily, most of us are still confused with the difference between a frypan and a  sauté pan. Adding to the confusion is that at times, a skillet is also called a frypan or frying pan.  

Now, let’s get the skillet-frypan confusion out of the way first. A skillet is typically a pan with slanted sides. The slanted sides are meant to make frying easier and for quicker cooking techniques, especially when you’re moving the ingredients frequently in the pan. It is typically suitable for dishes like frittatas - that are usually served straight from the pan.

Here’s a skillet in comparison to a frypan:

The only reason why these two pans get confused too much is that they can almost be used interchangeably. Generally, they are constructed from similar kinds of metal and are always available in the same diameter. Obviously, each one is suitable for a specific task, but that doesn’t mean the other pan can’t do it.  

Now that is out of the way, let’s take a look at the difference between a frypan and a sauté pan. If you are a virgin pan buyer, we hate to break this to you, but you are probably going to hear (or have heard) people talking about frypan and sauté pans as if they are two of the same things. Hold your confusion and here us out.  

A sauté pan is that pan that has straight sides. We are pretty sure you have seen it and we are confident you are still with us up to this point. The other obvious feature about a saute pan is that it has a large surface, making it very ideal for tasks like searing meat or pan sauce reduction. In addition, they are usually available with a lid while frying pans don’t.