What Makes a Pan a Saute Pan?

Saute pans have a wide, flat bottom, a long handle, straight, shallow sides, and a lid. You may find that some sauté pans have an additional, shorter handle on the side opposite the long handle to help move the pan in and out of the oven. This shorter handle is often helpful when moving foods back and forth over the burner during cooking.

The flat bottom adds stability to the pan during all the movement of cooking, and allows enough room for foods to all sit directly on the bottom without touching each other. This is necessary to maintain even browning over every piece of food.

The straight sides of the saute pan are low, but since they are straight, they keep food in the pan during the jumping process and are useful in keeping liquids from spilling over the sides when making sauces. The tight fitting lid and low sides keep air circulating around the food as it cooks, which keeps foods crisp and not soggy. The lid will not be used every time you sauté but will come in handy the next time a recipe calls for braising.

But the bottom of the pan may be the most important feature, since the flat surface is the source of even heat and smooth turning. Thick sides and a thick bottom may be a little heavy, but will allow for even heating and cooking.