In this update we’re going to look at a variety of pots and pans which are used for cooking and just what makes each one different!

Words:
“Pancake Pan” — “Frying Pan” — “Saute Pan” — “Sauce Pan” — “Wok” — “Steamer Basket” — “Fryer” — “Stock Pot” — “Double Boiler” — “Pressure Cooker” — “Fondue Set” — “Cake Tin” — “Cookie Sheet” — “Colander” — “Kettle” — “Tea Pot” — “Coffee Maker” — “Espresso Maker” — “Casserole Pan”

Pancake Pan - This type of pan is very shallow and perfect for making flat items you are going to need to flip like a pancake. If you are the type of person who loves to eat really big pancakes or lots of big round omelettes this is the pan for you! For me I just make my pancakes a little smaller so that I can flip them using a normal pan.







Frying Pan - The most common type of pan, a little deep but not too deep, perfect for frying eggs, stir fries or whatever else you want it for. This is the type of pan I use for most of my frying needs and it works great.





Saute Pan - Saute comes from French and it means “to jump”. Sauteing is a form of cooking where the pan is kept very hot, a small amount of oil is added and the food is moved around rapidly, often turning over so that all sides are cooked evenly. This pan has higher walls so that while you are sauteing the food cannot escape from the pan, great for sauteing but hard for things like eggs, hamburgers or anything else you only flip once as the high walls make it harder to flip objects.





Wok - A wok is used mainly for Asian foods and is the main object used for cooking all across China. The wok is distinctly shaped is great for stir fries as it makes frying foods very simple. It’s only downside is also the shape as it makes it almost impossible to fry anything that needs to sit on the heat with an even distribution of heat across the whole surface.






Sauce Pan - A sauce pan is a pan that is used to make sauce, most names here are pretty indicative of what you do with it. This “pan” is actually more of a pot but it is still called a sauce pan. As it’s much deeper than most pans it can hold liquid very well and lets you stir the liquid with no chance of the liquid pouring out of the pan. Most people would just call this a “pot”.







Stock Pot - A stock pot is one type of pot which is used mainly for making stocks (flavoured water) which is used as the base for soups, as well it’s very useful for making the soups themselves.








Double Boiler - A double boiler is a very useful pot which many people ignore though they shouldn’t. The bottom pot will generally have water in it which is heated to a boil, the second pot sits on top of the first and uses the heat coming off the water to cook what is inside. This ensures that whatever is in the second pot doesn’t burn. Double Boilers are useful for many things but they are probably most well known for making melting chocolate much easier as well as heating up milk without the danger of burning it and changing the flavour and usefulness of it.



Pressure Cooker – A pressure cooker is a pot which cooks food under great pressure, it’s built much stronger than most pots and it has a little hole on the top to let hot air escape to ensure it does not explode. This method of cooking uses far less energy, water and time than regular cooking however you cannot check on the food to see if it’s done without interrupting the system as well they can be dangerous if you are not careful when opening them.





Steamer Basket - A steamer basket sits inside another pot, it behaves similar to a double boiler except instead of being used for liquids the holes in it allow the steam to pass through and if you put vegetables in the steamer basket you will cook them with the steam which is a great method to cook vegetables while still retaining lots of flavour and nutrients.







Fryer - A fryer is a machine which is full of hot oil, there is then a wire basket that is lowered into the oil, letting you fry things like French Fries, Fish or whatever else you think could use a bath in hot oil. Very unhealthy though also tasty.







Fondue Set - A fondue set is made up of a stand with a location for fire in the middle and a pot which sits above the fire where, usually, people put large amounts of cheese. As the cheese melts it becomes liquid and you can then take the long forks, stab a piece of bread, vegetable or fruit and dip it in the melted cheese, you then eat it and hope the cheese doesn’t burn your mouth too badly. I love Fondue, tough I love it even more if you replace the cheese with Chocolate and make a Chocolate Fondue night!





Cake Tin - Cake tins are exactly what they sound like, a metal object used to bake a cake. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on what you want to make the cake look like and what kind of cake it is.

Cookie Sheet - Cookies are an amazing treat, the best part about them though is when you bake them they make your whole house smell wonderful! A cookie sheet is sometimes also called cookie tray, both are fine, they are flat so that it’s easy to get the cookies off and into your mouth!

Colander - There are many different shapes and sizes, different materials they are made from and patterns the holes make but they are all colanders, often just called “Strainers”. They all server the same purpose though, to strain the water out of something. Perfect for washing vegetables or straining noodles!

Kettle - A kettle is used to heat water, there are two main types, the one pictured to the right is an electric kettle as it plugs into the wall and uses electricity to heat the water, the other type is just called a kettle and it sits on the stove and uses the stoves heat to heat the water.








Tea Pot - A tea pot is a pot which holds tea. Confusing? Hope not.










Coffee Maker - This is a machine that makes coffee, so we call it a coffee maker.











Espresso Maker - Now there are also espresso makers that look like the coffee maker above but this is the original espresso maker, it works… by magic. OK, not really, I’m not sure how it works but it makes espresso so that’s useful anyway!

Casserole Pan - A casserole is a dish usually consisting of some sort of meat and chopped up vegetables all combined with usually pasta or potatoes and topped with a cheesy covering. It is baked in the over until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Very tasty! Casserole dishes can be either glass (Below) or ceramic (right), they are very heavy and thick so they keep heat longer and the food is given time to cook thoroughly all the way through.

And this is what a casserole tends to look like.

Updated to add a Casserole Pan, thanks Lily! If you know any other types that you are unsure of or would like to see added to the list for other people’s knowledge, let me know in the comments below or send me an email!