The Ultimate Sauce Pan Buying Guide

Sauce pans are the workhorses of commercial kitchens and restaurants. While all-purpose cookware doesn’t exist, sauce pots come close with their versatility. Despite the name, these pots are ideal for stewing, boiling, braising, and baking. However, choosing suitable sauce pots for your kitchen’s menu and workflow takes careful consideration.

Key Factors When Buying a Sauce Pan

The most important things to remember when selecting a sauce pot are capacity, material, size, and weight, as each factor affects how the cookware performs and weathers the rigors of daily operations.

Capacity

• Small pots (1-2.75 quarts) are ideal for individual servings or venues with limited space.
• Medium pots (3-4.5 quarts) serve various purposes (side dishes, sauces, blanching, etc.) without claiming too much storage space. Also, they are small enough to fit in most dishwashers.
• Large pots (5-7 quarts) are great for preparing entrees or soups, sauces, and stocks in bulk.
• Extra large pots (7+ quarts) perfectly suit high-volume operations like cafeterias.

Material

Most sauce pans are constructed from aluminum, stainless steel, and copper, with the occasional cast iron and nonstick cookware making it into the rotation. The ideal material for your commercial kitchen depends on the menu, budget, and workspace.

• Aluminum – Aluminum pots are lightweight, affordable, and rapidly conduct heat. However, they are less durable than other cookware and prone to discoloration and staining.
• Stainless Steel – Stainless steel pots are an excellent choice for many commercial kitchens. They are durable, rust resistant, won’t discolor, and work on induction burners. However, they are heavier than their aluminum counterparts and tend to have uneven heat conduction.
• Stainless Steel Alloy (Tri-ply or Clad Bottoms) – To counter the drawbacks of stainless steel, manufacturers created aluminum/stainless steel hybrids. Clad bottoms feature a layer of aluminum on the base of the pan to increase heat conductivity. Tri-ply pans use a layer of aluminum “sandwiched” between two layers of stainless steel to achieve a similar effect. Both types of pans tend to be on the heavy side.
• Copper – Copper is the best conductor of heat for pots and arguably one of the most attractive types. However, copper is the most expensive cookware category and tends to be more fragile than other varieties.
• Nonstick – Nonstick pans are constructed from various materials and coated with a Teflon or PTFE coating. They are the easiest to clean and lighter than stainless steel pots. But the nonstick coating is easily scratched, and the dark color of the coating can make it easy to overcook ingredients.

Unless operating on a specific theme, most restaurants and commercial kitchens will forego cast iron sauce pots due to their heaviness and slow conductivity. However, cast iron is the most durable cookware available.

Size and shape

Kitchen operators must consider the sauce pan’s diameter and sidewall when purchasing. Narrow pans help keep foods moist for extended periods and are great for soups, sauces or stocks. Wide pans have a lot of surface area and are ideal for braising meat.

Most pots have a versatile straight sidewall that facilitates using a standard lid. Tapered or flared sidewalls are designed for recipes that must be stirred frequently and kept at low temperatures for long periods.

Weight

In general, the heavier the pan, the more durable it is. Lightweight pans are great for cooks and dishwashers to maneuver easily but may need to be replaced more frequently. Aluminum is the lightest and least durable, copper is also light but fragile, while stainless steel and cast iron are the heaviest and most durable cookware.

Also read: Future-proof your Commercial Kitchen with Woodstone’s Plancha Griddle

Other Important Considerations

Handles

Some sauce pan handles are coated or use other design features to stay cool to the touch. For handles without this feature, you can seek out a handle cover.

• Riveted Handle – The strongest connection between pot and handle, this handle is a durable choice for commercial kitchens. However, they can be challenging to clean, and bacteria can build up in the crevices between rivets.
• Welded Handle – Welded handles work well for light to medium-duty pans. The solid construction leaves no space for bacteria but tends to be less durable for heavy pots in the long run.
• Helper Handle – A helper handle sits opposite the main handle to support heavier pans. The downside is that helper handles make a pan harder to store.
• Hollow Handle – Hollow handles are slow to conduct heat and stay cool to the touch for much longer than other handles. However, they will not fit most handle covers.

Lids

Although not technically required, purchasing corresponding lids for sauce pots decreases the time to boil and aids with simmering or steaming.

Specialty Pans

Other types of cookware fall into the sauce pan category but are set apart by specialty design and usage:

• Sauciers have tapered sides and a rounded bottom designed to keep food from sticking in corners and for continuous whisking.
• Stock Pots are enormous sauce pots that can hold up to 100 quarts.
• Braziers are broader and more shallow than sauce pots. They are designed for braising, frying, and searing.

Also read: Everything You Need to Know about Steam Tables Pans & Food Pans

Selecting the Most Versatile Pots for Your Kitchen

Unlike many other types of cookware, sauce pans need to pull triple or quadruple duty in your commercial kitchen. A good pan lightens the load on your staff and contributes to delicious meals. Selecting a versatile pot involves balancing the budget with the menu while factoring in weight, material, and design.

The RH SignatureWares Catalog allows you to browse the best and most budget-friendly options for sauce pans, cookware, bakeware, and kitchen tools. Contact Customer Service or your local RH rep for personalized assistance navigating your options.