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.