What is the difference between a saucepan and a skillet

Saucepans almost always come with a lid. Frying pans, as the name suggests, are made for shallow frying food. Saucepans are made for making sauces and cooking things in liquid. They are better suited to this as the higher sides and narrower base, along with the lid, serves to give better control of evaporation. Boiling vegetables in a frying pan, with a large surface area to evaporate off and no lid to keep the liquid in, will mean you will either burn your vegetables or constantly be topping off the pan with hot water.

If you are going to be cooking small amounts of vegetables regularly I would suggest you invest in a smaller saucepan, or a set of three different sizes to give you some options.

A frypan or skillet typically has sloping sides and is fairly shallow, so you can easily pour off fat or slide off something you are frying onto a plate. I have saucepans that have the same overall diameter and are only slightly deeper, but the sides are vertical. Much more suitable for stirring a liquid in without splashing it over a side, and less surface area in relation to volume than the frypans.

More bottom diameter in contact with the heat supply too. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. At first glance, both pans can look very similar to each other.

However, taking a closer look will show you that there are differences between the two. Additionally, despite their visual similarities, they are both used for cooking different things. When you take a look at a saucepan or a frying pan individually, it can be pretty hard to tell one from the other.

This is made even more challenging when you do not know the properties of each pan. Additionally, each pan is available in different sizes, materials, colors, and more. A saucepan is considered a deep cooking vessel with raised sides. Saucepans are noted for being deeper in relation to the overall width of the pan. They are usually available in sizes, ranging from small ones that are 15 cm in circumference with a 10 cm height to larger pans that are deeper, have a height of 30 cm, and can hold as much as 3 to 4 liters of liquid.

The height of a saucepan is one of its unique selling points. Additionally, a saucepan does not always look traditionally like a frying pan. Some can be stockier and even resemble a stockpot. As the size gets bigger, the height of the pan does increase significantly. As a general rule, saucepans always come with a lid but they can also be found for sale without lids.

Saucepans do have handles but they are usually not as long as the ones that are on frying pans. A frying pan is much shallower than a saucepan. One of the biggest defining qualities of frying pans is that they have slanted sides. Frying pans are known for being smaller than a saucepan and even the largest size will look small compared to a saucepan.

The only notable difference is that skillets tend to be slightly deeper, with high sides that make them suitable for braising. Skillets also usually come with matching lids, which is a feature that most frying pans lack. On the other end of the spectrum, there's the omelette pan, which is designed for one specific purpose.

These pans are made with gently sloping sides. The slope is gradual enough to allow you to flip the omelette without destroying it. Most frying pans will have edges that are slightly higher, so that the ingredients won't fly out when you stir them. In most cases, yes. A saucepan can be used for most of the same cooking applications as a frying pan.

However, it's important to use your common sense. A saucepan wouldn't be suitable for the aforementioned pancakes and French toast, for example. You might have a hard time using it for bacon or sausages as well, although it would probably work in a pinch.

As a rule of thumb, try to use the saucepan for dishes that contain more liquid, and save the frying pan for ingredients that need to come into direct contact with the cooking surface. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Saucepan vs Frying Pan. What is the difference between a frying pan and an omelette pan? Can I use a saucepan instead of a frying pan?

Saucepan vs Frying Pan: Design Saucepan Saucepans are usually deeper cooking vessels that are designed to hold more liquid than frying pans. Frying Pan By contrast, frying pans are shallower, with sides that are set at a slight angle. Saucepan vs Frying Pan: Materials Saucepan Saucepans are typically made of aluminum, stainless steel, or a combination. Frying Pan A frying pan can use any of the above materials in its composition. Frying Pan The frying pan also lives up to its name by turning out excellent eggs and bacon.

Related Questions Is a skillet and a frying pan the same thing? Author Recent Posts. Sean Bennett. Sean has been working as a grill chef for several big-name restaurants. His passion for healthy food has led him to study nutrition and the latest medical research on all things food.