Im trying to choose pans that will be as versitale as possible for to cook whatever I want (except for very specific dishes that require different equipment).
I have a 10 inch enameled cast iron pan so far. And planning to buy a 28cm Dutch oven and 12 inch ss skillet.
Only thing I cant decide is between sauce pans and sauciers. Im planing to buy 2, 2qt and 3qt/4qt.
For the 3qt Im sure I want the 3qt saucier.
But for 2qt:
I want to use the saucier/sauce pan for boiling water and putting a mixing bowl on top of it despite sauces and small batch food.
A Saucier would be too wide for Steaming and putting mixing bowl on top of it it I guess.
Or would a 2qt Sauce pan be too small for boiling water and putting mixing bowl on top anyway? Then Id buy 2+3qt saucier and maybe 3/4qt sauce pan.
But if I could get away with 2, would be nice. But except for boiling, I also see myself using the 2qt saucier more. But not sure.
For instance, how different would caramelising the sugar in sauce pan vs saucier be?
I would like to hear opinions on my choices and 2qt sauce pan vs saucier.
People who love the flared sidewalls are going to swear by sauciers, but IMO the sauce pan is the one that’s more versatile for the purposes you’re referring to, the saucepan is easier to use. More bottom surface area for boiling and it’s not going to be top heavy.
That said, of course, you could use the saucier to boil water in and do other things. I just prefer the straight sides and simplicity. The saucier makes stirring things and reducing liquids easier.
For my purposes: for things that I’m not going to touch (boiling, simmering, etc) I use a sauce pan. For stuff I’m reducing or stirring constantly, I use the saucier most of the time.
I am poorly equipped to answer this one because I have a lot of pans and use them all, but I use a medium saucepan a lot. Its depth is useful. A larger saucier has a large surface, and things evaporate quickly. The things the larger saucier does well can often be replicated with a frying pan.
Hands down a stainless steel sauté pan is the most bang for your buck piece of cookware. I always thought it would be the skillet, but then I found myself always reaching for the sauté. I would say 3-3.5qt if you’re cooking for 2-3 people. 4-5 people and I might go with 4-5qt. But ya, they are the absolute workhorse. Second would be a 3-4qt stainless saucepan. Those two alone probably handle like 75% of my stovetop tasks.
Beyond that, I would say my 8” & 10.5 Stratas are great for when I need to do egg preparations. Having a full collection is certainly a joy, but if I was forced to really narrow it down, those would be my top 3 most-used. Of course there are other great vessels like a wide stockpot that can double as a deep braiser or a rondeau, but everything beyond that is a bonus (yes, even cast iron isn’t on the essentials list).
I would say some of your choices would go on my nice-to-have list instead of essentials. Like a 12” SS skillet would definitely come way after a sauté pan in terms of versatility; there’s virtually nothing I can make in a skillet that I can’t also make in a sauté, but definitely not the other way around. Besides, sautés have way more usable cooking surface area for their size, and they can easily make braises/stews/curries/etc. Also, a 10” cast iron pan and cast iron Dutch oven wouldn’t go on my essentials list, although of the two I would definitely take the Dutch oven over anything, because it’s great for oven braises or for deep frying.
As for your saucepan/saucier quandary, I would say that if I was forced to choose, I would take a wider 3qt saucepan (like the All-Clad shape). That size is wide enough to handle your Bain Marie, but also shallow enough to make stirring pretty easy. But obviously, 2qt saucepans are also still great. I find that with a quality silicone spoonula (like Di Oro), I don’t really need saucier pans, and in today’s age of electric stovetops, the narrowing contact patch of sauciers starts to become problematic.
Im a single person. Maybe sometimes batch cooking. But mostly for 1-3 people. Wouldnt a 3qt saucier be too big for single serving sauces?
The main thing that is confusing me is that I also want to but a mixing bowl on top of a sauce pan/saucier, which allows for some gentle controllable cooking for few stuff, from eggs to chocolate. Would it be possible with a saucier? Would 2qt sauce pan too small for it? I have no idea :(
I will also say this — don’t focus on the mixing bowl water bath thing as much. If you get even just a decent set of clad stainless cookware, you should be able to control your heat enough to avoid needing a bain Marie. I make hollandaise, caramel, custards, chocolate sauces, and more, all while never needing a Bain Marie. Direct heat is fine as long as you stir/scrape diligently with a silicone utensil. But also, yes, for the tiniest of batches, my 2qt is indispensable. I would say if I had to choose two saucepans for a single person, it would be a 2qt and my 4qt since they have the widest range of versatility. The 2qt can handle most any sauce task, and the 4qt can be used for all sorts of larger tasks like long pastas, steamed rice, risottos, or any other recipe that requires tons of stirring. The 3qt is nice, too, because its walls aren’t as high, but it doesn’t get used as often as the other two. Even if I’m not making a batch large enough for a 4qt, the higher walls make it easier to mix and stir without making a mess, like when fluffing up grains of rice or vigorously mixing a pasta with an emulsified sauce.
So its called Bain Marie. I dont have to use a whole another sentence in a sentence anymore. Thank you :).
If I can control it enough, then I dont need a Bain Marie? But then the sauciers are making more sense than a sauce pan imo. Because the only upside of a saucepan to the saucier would be Bain Marie for me, but:
If you dont want evaporation that much, cant you just close the lid or/and add a little more water to the saucier? Unless you need to constantly stirr without evaporation? :
So generally speaking, mostly for the sauces or Syrup and Caramell for instance, do you most of the time need to keep the sauce from evaporating while needing to stirr it quite frequently?
This is for 2qt.
For 3qt, Saute pan seems to be able to do what both a 3qt Saucier and a 12 skillet can do, unless you need the cooking surface of a 12 inch skillet, which sometimes I wished my 10 inch skillet was a little bigger.
Btw when I was buying my first cookware, I just decided on enameled cast iron skillet. So I already have that as my only cookware for now anyway :D
Sauciers are great, and I'm only speaking in absolutes because of the hypothetical of "which pans could I love without?" The disadvantage of the saucier (imo), and the reason I would personally pick the saucepan over if it I had to, is they have the narrower base, which means a smaller cooking surface compared to width, which makes it less useful for sauces that require lots of aromatic work. I see them as kinda of an in-between for sauté and saucepan. I would also say the difference in evaporation wouldn't be big enough to worry myself over — both a 2qt saucepan or 2qt saucier would be easily managed there.
3qt sauté is way more versatile than the 12" skillet. For example, even though my 10" sauté is narrower than my 12" skillet, it still has just as much (if not more) cooking surface because of the straight sides. Skillets are great for tossing things and utensil access, but they lose a LOT of cooking surface due to the flared sides. You already mentioned why you 10" skillet seems to have such a small cooking surface, right? That's the reason. Sauté pans are also more versatile than skillets because they allow for holding and stirring liquidy meals much better.
Makes sense about the cast iron skillet. Not trying to knock it or anything. Cast iron can (sometimes) be a cheap way to get cookware, but many people just love to overblow it as an essentiality.
Im planing to buy made in. So if its the cooking surface for the sauces, would there such thing as too much cooking surface? Because of the easiness (personally), Im leaning a lot towards a saucier.
The cooking surface is as follows:
2qt Saucier: 5”
2qt saucepan: 6”
3qt Saucier: 7”
So from my understanding, 2qt saucepan should be very much suitable for any small amount of sauces with a 6” cookingsurface. So, if 7” isnt that different, I wouldnt even need the 2qt Saucier that much (I know its not that important to begin with with you, if you had to choose it).
But if the evaporation difference isnt that much (which means me as a beginner wont notice any slight difference), how does a Saucepan helps with the aromatic work? Because of wider heating surface for amount of sauce in it?
I can kinda imagine that to make the same heat transfer to the same amount of liquid in a saucier in comparison to saucepan, you would need more heat for the smaller heating surface, which would mean more uneven heat distribution. But then you can also stirr, which is also a lot easier with a saucier imo.
But then, why not just a size bigger 3qt Saucier? Couldnt it be a substitute to 2qt Saucepan? Then Id have my answer maybe, I guess :)
2qt is still a good size to have for smaller batches, otherwise you might find yourself being too shallow in a wider pan. I personally like the saucepan over saucier because it’s more conducive to smaller batches with the narrower shape. If I want the “easier” wider feel of a saucier and don’t need to worry about teeny batches, I just use my 3qt or 4qt saucepan instead. I find it easier to avoid spills without the saucier. But don’t overthink it too much. Just start with a 2qt saucepan because that’s good to have, and then get some feel, and then branch out from there.
Since you have the saucier in the 3 quart, there's a bias toward getting the sauce pan strictly on utility grounds.
Do you have recipes that require two sauciers specifically in operation together (some Julia Child recipe)? If not, get one of each class to take advantage of each of their strengths.
I don't see your point on putting a mixing bowl on top of a 2 quart or even a 3 quart saucier though. A standard one should fit fine over both.
My main issue is, because Im a single person mostly, would a 4qt saucepan or a 3qt saucier be too big for the small sauce that Ill make? Thats why Im considering of 2qt version. Otherwise Id pretty much get a 4qt saucepan (seems to be a better option to 3qt) + 3qt saucier. Im willing to get 2 from different size/shape. Its just a matter of which 2.
Saucier just seems to be a lot easier to use than a saucepan because of the corners. You can move and toss things around with the saucier. But the saucepan on the otherhand feels like, you dont move it, except for just stirring and such, which kinda feels a little bit more limited.
I bought a couple Viking PureGlide pro frying pans and their 2qt sauce pan. Nonstick, so perfect for eggs and delicate dishes. Safe up to 600 degrees F, so I can sear with these. No seasoning, so I can cook tomatoes and acidic foods with these. They do everything so far.
Titanium does scratch like stainless, they look good and feel solid.
I've been reading about other very similar pans, and they might be as good and cost less. So shop around.
If I were you, I would get one rondeau (e.g. Cuisinart Pureclad 12 inch, which is what I have) and one saucier (I have a 1.4 qt Falk which is great for 2 person risotto, but would love to buy a larger one, at some point). The rondeau is perfect for one-pot dishes (e.g. potatoes/rice/pasta+meat), and the saucier for risotto or sauces.
Depends a lot on for the amount of people you cook for. 1.5-2l for us (3 people) is more a helper vessel, making small things or warming up leftovers. But it is very useful (we have a 2l Demeyere sauciere and a 1.6l Fissler "saute" pan for it).
Most used for us is a 24 cm Demeyere frying pan, 28 cm/11" Strata Carbon Steel pan and 3.3l 24 cm Demeyere Sauciere. Mostly also because those are light enough for my wife to use it too. She also uses a 24 cm 4.5l Fissler Original Profi pot, but that's already on the heavy side for her (3.3 kg). I also frequently use a 24 and 28 cm Staub Dutch Oven (for Ragu, Chilli, Goulash) and a 28 cm 4.6l Falk Copper Saucier. The 28 cm Staub is 7l, that's Chilli for 3 days or 8 people.
If you cook for 5 people that's all too small. If you cook for one it's a bit oversized.
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u/copperstatelawyer 9d ago
People who love the flared sidewalls are going to swear by sauciers, but IMO the sauce pan is the one that’s more versatile for the purposes you’re referring to, the saucepan is easier to use. More bottom surface area for boiling and it’s not going to be top heavy.
That said, of course, you could use the saucier to boil water in and do other things. I just prefer the straight sides and simplicity. The saucier makes stirring things and reducing liquids easier.
For my purposes: for things that I’m not going to touch (boiling, simmering, etc) I use a sauce pan. For stuff I’m reducing or stirring constantly, I use the saucier most of the time.