An ordinary saucepan has its uses, but once you experience the ease of a restaurant-grade pan you might wonder how you ever did without one.
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Buy the Made-In Stainless Clad Saute Pan:
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Sauté pans are a necessity. Sauciers are not a necessity, but can be handy.
Saute pans can do everything a skillet can do, pretty much just as well, and more. It's what I reach for if I'm deep frying something large and thin, like a cutlet. As for sauciers, I'd rather have a wok. Given I have limited space, I'd rather work with the slight corners of a saucepan than have a separate saucier that would take up more space.
I think you miss a bigger point of wider pans: they are great for recipes where reducing or evaporating are required.
Once I bought a Le Creuset braiser I got rid of my saute pan. Just preference I guess. Also, a saucier is cool for things like sauces and gravies but they have less contact with the burner than a sauce pan so they do not heat up as quickly. I made boiled eggs in my saucier last week as an experiment and while it worked great the water did take noticeably longer to come to a boil than it does in a similarly sized sauce pan.
I am in the process of replacing my non-stick and came to the realization, I bought a Saute Pan like 12 years ago. I can't tell you the last time I used it. Maybe because it was a cheaper version, but I just tended to revert to a 12"inch Cast Iron Skillet if I needed more capacity, or a dutch oven. So the Saute Pan will not be replaced any time soon. I did pick up a saucier though, and am looking forward to learning with that!
I think it’s time to do a review on all the non stick pots and pans that have come out in the last couple of years. I’ve been pleased with my Analon pots but some need to be replaced after 15+ years.
If I had more storage space and more money I would have every type of pot and pan and Dutch oven and knife and mixing bowl possible. However I don't have space or disposable income. So I have to make do with what I have.
I got a saute pan a few years ago use it for a lot or things, rissto, faster cooking for sauces time is cut in half most of the time, basied short ribs, i like to think of it as a baby rondo with a handle
To me the saute pan is the perfect weeknight meal pan. It does most everything "pretty good".
One of my first 'good' cookware purchases was an All Clad 1.5 qt saucier; that was over 20 yrs ago and it's still one of my most used pans. I bought a much larger one, also All Clad, that I ended up selling because it was just too big. I'm now eyeballing that gorgeous one in your video because it's just a bit bigger, which would be helpful…..
Sauciers are great meal-for-one pans for single people. I use them for curries, single servings of chicken or fish that take pan sauces, and especially for "flipping" pasta in sauce.
Desert island piece would be a wok, and that saucier is just a tiny wok
It would drive me crazy to have a sauté pan and fry pan from different brands. Having a hard time deciding between made in and all clad. This didn’t make my secession any easier lol
we love the saute pan,
QUESTION (maybe silly one)…what are the implications of using pan lids that have a steam-vent/hole. Am I losing heat and moisture that could affect my final dish? When should I consider this variable?
The thought process here is reversed: the saute pan, far more versatile and useful, should be the standard, while the skillet considered a "special" pan for searing.
Congratulations, Hannah! So happy for you!
A sauté pan isn't some specialised equipment; it should be the main workhorse. A few years ago I purchased a high quality All-Clad multi-layer frying pan. I rarely use it these days, because I'm annoyed at dealing with the liquid droplet bursts and accidental spillage. Instead, I almost always use a sauté pan, or a steeper curved frying pan for some stir-fry.
Can’t wait to try that sauté pan from made in! Just bought mine this Black Friday 😄
I bought whole set of stainless steel pots and pans for 250 and 14 years later i am still using it and they shine like brand new
4 QT saucier? What are you making gravy for a squad of infantry? BTW, I don't know why, but when my regular sauce pan was dirty, I used my saucier to make rice and it came out amazing. Its what I use now.
I want to replace my Calphalon Non-Stick Jumbo Skillet (12", 5 qt) with a stainless pan. I'm stuck between Tramontina Saute Pan (6 qt) or Made In Saucier (5 qt). This is the pan I use every night (cook for 2 with leftovers) to simmer tomato sauce and finish the pasta, salmon fillets, shrimp, browning tofu, wilting greens. (I have cast iron for my husband's meat). Which should I get? (the Made In is about $60 more expensive). Also my husband doesn't pay careful attention to how something should be cleaned–is it a mistake to get a saute pan, which is more difficult to clean?
If i could only have a sautee pan or a skillet, I would pick the sautee pan. Why? Sometimes you just need a cover. Leave it off and you have basically a skillet.
The real question is not, 'is a saucier essential', but 'dp you still need a sauce pan to go with your saucier'.
A saucier is better is every way over a sauce pan. Its just that saucier is often smaller in capacity and more expensive.
I find all these distinctions between pans a bit superfluous. The saucier can easily be thought of as a taller skillet/frypan or even a flat-bottomed wok (albeit stainless instead of the more common carbon steel for woks and quite a bit smaller). The saucepan, to me at least, is a small stock pot and I rarely make sauces in mine. I own a yukihari, a Japanese saucepan, and use it to mainly boil things, make noodle soups, and deep fry.
Stop thinking of each pan as a very specific thing and use them to fit your needs, especially as a home cook.
I love my all-clad saucier! I use it all the time!
For deeper frying, I like my saucier. I have trouble managing the heat with my Dutch Oven, and the saucier is smaller. This means more heat gets to the oil.
I love my saute pan, I use it more then any other skillet. (Admittedly it has the largest base of all my skillets) it's so useful
I’m a fan of one of your competitors…,that seem to have come to the party a little ahead of you. I’ve purchase the Henkel Nakiri, on their recommendation, which I love. It seems to have the things that you recommend (6.5” blade, 1 7/8” height of blade). It has a equal bevel, so easy to sharpen. Did you test any western takes on Japanese style knives? I also purchased a smaller prep knife (they called “kitchentan”…, or something similar. It’s a 5.5” long, 1.5” high knife, also with a equal bevel, fairly straight edge and sheep’s foot point. Great handle and balance. Don’t know who manufactured it, but it is flagged “Milk Street”. Has turned into one of my favorite prep knives…, if I don’t need the Nakiri. I seldom use my Henkel western chef, utility or paring knives now I have these eastern inspired knives. Shame on me for not checking out the actual Japanese knives that inspired the knives purchased, BUT I am happy and would strongly recommend both knives. (My wife still uses the western knives…, but it is just a matter of time. Once she uses one a few times, we’ll both be reaching for the eastern inspired knives!)😊
OK… I classify this as a gadget rabbit hole. It's a hobbyist thing. It's cool, fun, interesting, but not necessary. Take it from me, I have far too many culinary knives. I only need 2 or 3. I'm a hobbyist.
After watching I realized that I didn't need either a saucier or a saute pan. A sloped sided skillet is the perfect stand-in for a saucier & I already have 3 stainless clad. Also realized I already had saute pan only it's called a braiser–a shallow dutch oven also in clad stainless. It might be an inch deeper but, IMHO, that's a good thing. I'm finding it a bit tiresome with their inappropriate comparisons. If the no-corners-with sloping sides is what's important, then the comparison should have the same not corners & straight sides. I'm also not naive enough to believe their disclaimers.
Never really understood why reviews for cookware sets call the saute pans and sauciers filler pieces. I use mine just as much as my skillets and sauce pans. All are used often enough to justify taking up space in the kitchen.
The question is whether or not you need something else than saute pans. Definitely the most used tool in my kitchen. I COOULD go for a skillet, but that needs to be a very special application.
That is if you have a high quality saute pan, Demeyere Atlantis would be the best one you can get bascically.
Sauté pans & sauciers are both very appealing. I enjoy using them. The higher walls on sautés & the rounded edges on sauciers are a big help.
I do the opposite.. whatever i would cook in a skillet i cook in a saute pan. Less mess. Easier to control food… Saucier is the better bang buck.. just get a Made In or an All Clad. And save $150+. Does ATK have best buys for these pan types?
Why is a skillet better at browning than a sauce pan?
Thank you for changing the title of the video to correctly reflect the content. 👍
As always, thanks for the review. I can't think of anything that I cook that a saute pan or a saucier would help. I have a 4 qt. Tramontina Braiser that helps with a little more volume than my skillet or sauce pan.. But I appreciate your honesty in this review. You are not pushing them on people.
My most used pots and pans are:
6qt stainless rondeau
Cast iorn skillet
6qt Enameled dutch oven
3qt Sauce pan
The reason I use the rondeau so much is because I love to make curries and red sauce in it, but that could be totally covered by my dutch oven (and that's what I used before getting the rondeau), now soups are keeping the dutch oven on the list
The entire point of a sauté pan is that the straight sides give a much wider flat on the bottom to fit more food, and the higher sides help contain food when you are using it to…wait for it…sauté. The word sauté means, in French, "jumped", and as a cooking technique, it means to cook the food quickly while moving it around ("jumping" it) to ensure even cooking and quick evaporation of any released liquid. You can see how having higher sides would help contain food while stirring it vigorously. This also means that a covered sauté pan makes an ideal braising device for many preparations, since the straighter sides help to confine the liquid to where the food is, where a skillet would have a lot of room around the edges where the liquid would not be in contact with the food. You should have at least one sauté pan and one skillet/frypan, if you can afford it, as they each excel at a slightly different range of tasks, but if you can only afford one, you should choose depending on what you are most likely to cook in your kitchen, not on the opinions of Internet strangers.
It's news to me that a sauté pan is a "special" pan. A saucier, I can see that being thought of as special to the benighted, but still, you should have at least one in your arsenal of cookware, as they really are superior for making sauces, compared with a regular sauce pan. My All-Clad stainless 2 qt sauté pan is probably the most-used pan in my kitchen. It's perfect for so many things when you live alone and cook for one, and also fits my steamer and bain marie inserts. The only downside to the All-Clad saucier is that it has a unique lid size that isn't shared with any other pans in the line. I didn't hear in the video why the saucier is the way it is, and that's because the larger radius of the bottom is designed to be used with a whisk, which cannot get into the corner of a regular sauce pan. The wider surface area of the saucier also helps to promote evaporation to improve reduction times, whereas a sauce pan's smaller surface area reduces evaporation and is therefore better at maintaining sauces once they are already made.
I've had a Le Creuset saucier pan for years and I use it all the time. The tall sides make it easy to use a steamer basket. Pasta sauce, mac & cheese, oatmeal, apple sauce, saute' onions….so many choices. It's not too heavy and the helper handle is nice to have.
A saucier pan is great for risotto!
When talking about pans it would help to know if they can be used on induction stoves. I have a beautiful set of Paderno pans I’ve had for 30+ years which sadly will not work on induction. Can’t imagine the cost of replacement!
Great video! ATK taught me to cook, so sauté pans are a new world to me!
Might have to get me one of those Sauciers!
a twenty dollar japanese aluminum sauce pan is a saucier.
I love my le Creuset saucier pan. I use it almost every day. To me it’s an essential.
I remain astonished that people consider the Allclad handles "comfortable". I had an Allclad skillet and could not use it because the handle was so uncomfortable that it was dangerous to use because I couldn't grip it properly. The edges are so sharp that it's impossible to have a firm grip without discomfort. I switched to Made In, which not only have comfortable handles without any sharp edges, they're far cheaper.
People have been cooking for Millenia. ANd it that time there has been quality cooking long before there was Tri-Ply cookware or even aluminum cookware. long before no stick surfaces and in Hand made "pots". You do not need to have specially constructed pots that are a little different that are designed for a specific task – and You can do just as well in a regular Saucepan. Now – if you are working in a High VOlume restaurant where seconds make a difference – it might be nice to have targeted pots but most people in the home are not working in that manner. Save your money and send your kids to College – go to a Flea market and buy a used Saucepot which will be just fine