Skillet vs. Sauté Pan: Do You Really Need Both?

This blog goes into detail about what skillets and saute’ pans are and how to tell the difference. It discusses when you should buy and use one or the other and whether it is necessary for a cook to have both. Ideal for cooking sites and cookware vendors.

You have probably been told that a skillet and a saute pan are different things, but is this true? Both of them are round frying pans, but there is a distinct if subtle difference between the two. Most "fry pans" are actually skillets, but more modern designs may be more versatile (see below). Both of them serve a good purpose in your kitchen, but when you have limited space you might ask yourself whether you really need to have both.

So, what is the actual difference? It boils (or perhaps fries) down to shape: A saute pan has a flat bottom and straight sides, while a skillet pan has flared sides. This gives a saute pan a more cooking surface. The disadvantage is that saute pans tend to be heavier. This makes the skillet better for sauteing a food. It's also much better for flipping things, such as pancakes, tossing things and shaking.

Sauteing in a straight-sided pan takes a lot of string and turning. Skillets will also sear more efficiently, given the same cooking area, but generally won't help reduce the number of batches. As a note, cast iron skillets break the rule of being lighter than saute pans and often have a shape somewhere between the two. They are specialist cookware that not everyone needs.

Basically, if you have both, you should:

Use a skillet for:

• flat foods like omelets and pancakes need to be flipped.
• searing and browning dry protein, especially steaks
• tossing food
• sauteing

Use a saute pan for:

• shallow frying
• braising in liquid sauces
• cooking more than one thing at the same time
• cooking large amounts of vegetables and similar without having to do multiple batches.

They are equally good for:

• reducing sauces
• cooking at very high temperatures.

So, do you really need both? The answer may depend on what you cook and your needs. The general argument is that if you do more sauteing, you should get a skillet, and if you do more shallow-frying and braising, you should get a saute pan. Many chefs still recommend that you get both but, of course, that may not be an option for all kitchens, depending on the storage space you have. You may feel that what you need is more sizes of the pan, rather than more shapes. If you can only get one, which should you get?

The answer used to be that if you only have the space budget for one kind of pan, you should go for the skillet. One of the downsides to a saute pan is that it is very hard to get underneath flat foods, so it is very hard to make pancakes or fry eggs in one. While a skillet does not work as well for frying and heavy liquid dishes, it still will work.

The more recent answer is the hybrid pan. These may be called round fry pans, chef's pans, or everyday pans, and they are designed to be somewhere between the two and do the tasks of both. These newer designs are perfect for smaller kitchens, for cooks who may not do either sauteing or shallow frying that often (and thus may not want or need specialist pans) and for busy moms who want fewer pans to dean.

When you are shopping, you need to look for high-quality pans. Triple-layer construction is good, although they are inferior to copper skillets in longevity, and the best skillets may have five-layer construction. Make sure that the handle is riveted, rather than welded. Welded handles last a lot less time and may fail at the most inopportune moment, potentially causing a scalding hazard as well as a ruined dinner. Although riveted handles will eventually fail, they generally show more signs of wear before doing so and thus will give you a warning before they dump food.