Pots and Pans

Braising Pan (also brazier or rondeau)

A high-sided, flat-bottomed cooking pan, that is used to braise, stew, and brown meat.

Stock Pot

A large pot for preparing stocks. These often have a spigot at the bottom that allows the liquid to be poured out easily without losing any of the solid ingredients.

Brazier

A medium to large pot. more shallow than sauce pots , has straight sides and two handles for lifting. The is typically made of heavy-weight material with a thick bottom for good heat distribution. Used to braise meat and vegetables.

Sautoir

A pan with a wide bottom and straight sides often called a "saute pan" in the United States. Some typical tasks include pan-frying, stir-frying and shallow-poaching.

Fondue Pot

A pot with a heat source placed directly below the pot. Used for a food-preparation process known as fondue. When eating fondue, guests use forks to dip bits of food or bread into the warm semi-liquid sauce (such as a cheese mix or chocolate)

Roasting Pan

A shallow, rectangular pan with medium-high sides and two handles, cooks use it to roast and bake foods, such as meat and poultry.

Saute Pan

Also known as a "fry pan" this pan has curved sides and a long handle and is made of relatively thin metal for quick heating. It is used to saute and pan-fry.

Pots

Available in a range of sizes based on volume. Used on the stove top for making stocks or soups, or for boiling or simmering food.

Sheet Pan

Cooks use this very shallow pan, about 1-inch deep, for just about anything, from baking cookies to roasting vegetables.

Muffin Tin

Small, round cups or molds are used to make muffins, cupcakes, or other small baked goods.

Cake Pan

These baking pans have straight sides. They are available in a variety of sizes and shapes, including round, rectangular, square and specialty.

Wok

This a metal pan with a rounded bottom and curved sided. The curved sides make it easy to toss or stir food. Cooks use woks especially for frying and steaming in Asian cooking.

Cast-Iron Skillet

This is a heavy, thick pan made of cast iron. Use it to pan grill, pan-fry, and braise foods like meat or vegetables.

Fish Poacher

This is a long, narrow, metal pan with a perforated rack that cooks use to raise or lower the fish so it doesn't break apart.

Saucepan

This is a pan with medium height, straight sides and a single long handle. Use it for general cooking, in particular liquid or liquid-based mixtures, on ranges.

Crepe Pan

This is a shallow skillet with very short, slightly sloping sides. It is used to create crepes, a specialty pancake.

Spring form pan

This is a two-part, spring-loaded baking pan. The bottom piece and ring secure with a spring to hold the bottom in place. Once an item is baked, the pastry chef can release the spring to make it easy to remove the cake from the pan.

Hotel Pan

This pan is used to hold prepared food in a steam table, hot-holding cabinet, or refrigerator.

Double Boiler

This pot has a upper pot and a lower pot. The lower pot holds boiling or simmering water that gently cooks the food in the upper pot. Used for melting chocolate or heating milk, cream or butter.

Sauce Pot

Used to prepare sauces, soups and other liquids. It is more shallow than a stock pot, with straight sides and two loop handles for lifting.

Pans

Usually smaller and shallower than pots, these are used for general stove-top cooking, especially sauteing, frying or reducing liquids rapidly, for baking, and for holding food.