How the Types of Pans Differ by Shape

Every pan is defined by three features: wall height, wall angle, and the size of its flat cooking floor. Low, sloped walls release steam and let you toss food, so they favor browning and speed. Straight, tall walls trap moisture and hold liquid, so they favor simmering and braising. Wider floors give each piece of food contact with the heat.

Wall shape is a big part of the answer to what is a skillet, and it is why a skillet and a sauté pan of the same diameter cook so differently. The skillet's flare means less usable floor but faster evaporation, which is what you want for crisp potatoes. The sauté pan's straight sides give you more flat surface and room for a cup of wine or stock, which is what you want for chicken in a pan sauce.

Diameter is always measured across the top rim, not the cooking floor. A 12 in skillet with flared walls may have only 9 or 10 inches of flat surface. When a recipe calls for searing in a single layer, the floor is the number that matters.

The Everyday Stovetop Pans

The frying pan, sauté pan, and wok handle nearly all stovetop cooking between them. They share a long handle and a fast response to the burner. Together they cover the three core moves of home cooking: browning, simmering in sauce, and tossing over high heat.

Frying Pan and Skillet

A frying pan, also called a skillet, is a shallow, round pan with low, flared walls and one long handle. The two names describe the same shape in most American kitchens. The flared wall is the point: steam rolls off instead of collecting, so a pork chop sears instead of stewing. For most home cooks, it is the pan that rarely leaves the stovetop.

Size changes the job. An 8 in pan is made for two eggs or a single grilled cheese. A 10 in pan handles dinner for two, and a 12 in pan gives four chicken breasts room to brown without crowding. Most cooks end up owning two frying pans and skillets, one nonstick for eggs and one stainless or cast iron for searing. That egg pan lasts longest off high heat and away from metal tools, and our guide on how to maintain non-stick cookware covers the rest.

Sauté Pan

A sauté pan has a wide, flat floor and straight walls about 2 1/2 to 3 inches tall, usually with a lid and a short helper handle opposite the long one. Those straight walls hold liquid, so you can brown chicken thighs, pour in stock, cover, and let them braise without a drop sloshing onto the stove. It is the pan for one-pan dinners.

Sauté pans are sold by volume rather than diameter. A 3 qt pan suits two to four people, while a 5 to 6 qt pan holds a family batch of chicken cacciatore. The helper handle matters more than it looks, because a full pan of sauce is heavy, and lifting it with two hands is safer. The full range of sauté pans runs from stainless steel to ceramic nonstick.

Wok and Stir-Fry Pan

A wok is a deep, bowl-shaped pan whose sloping sides concentrate heat at the bottom and leave cooler walls for food that is already cooked. A carbon steel wok needs a seasoning layer before its first stir-fry, and our guide on how to season a wok walks through it step by step. You sear a handful of beef in the hot center, push it up the side, and add the next batch, so nothing steams. Home woks usually have a flattened base so they sit steady on a flat burner.

Carbon steel is the classic wok material because it heats quickly and builds a slick seasoning with use. A stir-fry pan is a shallower, flatter take on the shape that is easier to manage on a small burner. The round bowl is also efficient for deep-frying, because it reaches frying depth with less oil than a straight-sided pot.

Pans With Ridges and Flat Surfaces

A grill pan and a griddle trade walls for surface. One adds ridges that mark food and lift it out of its own fat, and the other removes nearly every barrier between your spatula and what you are cooking. Both shine on the dishes that usually happen outdoors or at a diner counter.

Grill Pan

A grill pan is a skillet with raised parallel ridges across its floor. The ridges sear dark stripes into steak, burgers, and zucchini, while fat drains into the channels below. It brings a little of the backyard grill indoors on the nights when it is raining or too cold to stand outside.

Patience is the whole technique. Preheat the pan longer than feels necessary, lay the food across the ridges, and do not move it for several minutes. A heavy press turns a grill pan into a panini maker, flattening the sandwich so the bread crisps in stripes while the cheese melts.

Griddle and Tawa

A griddle is a flat cooking surface with no walls or only a very low lip. Without sides to work around, a long spatula slips under every pancake in a single motion. A double-burner griddle spanning two burners can feed a whole family breakfast at once. Many are reversible, with a grill side on the back.

The tawa is the round, rimless griddle of Indian and South Asian kitchens, built for dosa, roti, and paratha. Batter spreads paper-thin across the open surface, and flatbreads blister evenly because nothing blocks your hand. The same pan makes excellent crepes and quesadillas.

Pans That Move From Stovetop to Oven

The braiser, roasting pan, paella pan, and sheet pan do their best work with oven heat, either from start to finish or after a quick sear on the burner. They are broader and heavier than everyday pans. Most have two loop handles instead of one long one, since a long handle will not fit in the oven.

Braiser

A braiser is a wide, shallow pan with short straight walls, two loop handles, and a snug lid. Its broad floor browns a full batch of short ribs or chicken in a single layer. Then the lid traps the steam as the meat cooks low and slow in a small amount of liquid. It is the pan for braised dishes that need surface area more than depth.

Braisers move easily from stovetop to a 325 F / 163 C oven and then to the table. Shakshuka, coq au vin, and a skillet of braised leeks all look at home served straight from one.

Roasting Pan

A roasting pan is a large, rectangular pan with walls about 2 to 3 inches tall, upright handles, and usually a rack. The rack lifts a turkey or rib roast above its drippings so hot air browns the underside, and the pan catches those drippings for gravy. Stainless steel is the most common choice because it is durable and will not react with wine or acidic pan sauces.

Measure your oven before buying. A 16 in roasting pan holds a holiday turkey, but it needs a few inches of clearance on each side for air to circulate. A smaller 13 to 14 in pan handles whole chickens, pork loins, and pans of roasted vegetables the rest of the year. Once the pan is sorted, our turkey cooking time calculator gives you the thaw, roast, and rest times for your bird's exact weight.

Paella Pan

A paella pan is very wide and shallow, with gently sloped walls and two loop handles. The shape spreads saffron rice into a thin layer so every grain cooks evenly. The bottom toasts into socarrat, the crisp, caramelized crust that cooks fight over at the table. Carbon steel is the traditional material because it heats quickly and evenly across a wide surface.

On a home stove, a 15 in paella pan is wider than any single burner. Rotate it every few minutes so each part of the rice spends time over the flame, or finish it in the oven or on an outdoor grill.

Sheet Pan

A sheet pan is a flat, rimmed rectangle, and it may be the hardest-working pan in the oven. Spread vegetables or chicken in a single layer with space between pieces and they roast and crisp at the edges instead of steaming. The same tray bakes cookies and fruit bars, toasts nuts, and turns a weeknight into a one-pan dinner.

Other Types of Pans You Will See

Plenty of pans are variations on the shapes above or belong to the baking aisle. These are worth recognizing by name:

• Crepe pan: A very shallow pan with a low, flared lip for spreading batter thin and flipping it fast.
• Omelet pan: A small frying pan, usually 8 in, with gently curved walls that help an omelet fold and roll out.
• Saucepan: Despite the name, a saucepan is one of the types of pots, a small pot with tall walls and a long handle, made for sauces, grains, and boiling.
• Chef's pan or saucier: A pan with rounded walls that curve into the base, a cross between a sauté pan and a saucepan, made for stirring and reducing.
• Cast iron skillet: A frying pan made of solid cast iron, so heavy that it holds heat through a hard sear and goes from stovetop to oven to campfire.
• Bakeware: Cake pans, loaf pans, muffin tins, and pie dishes are pans too, built for batter and dough rather than the burner.

Which Pan Material Fits the Way You Cook?

Material decides how fast a pan heats, how long it holds that heat, and how much care it asks of you. Shape tells you what a pan is for, while material tells you how it will feel at the stove. Here is the short version of each:

• Stainless steel: Durable and nonreactive, so tomato sauces and wine stay bright. Tri-ply clad construction bonds steel around an aluminum core so heat spreads up the walls, and it builds the browned fond that makes pan sauces.
• Nonstick: Eggs, pancakes, and fish release with minimal fat. Treat it gently, with medium heat and wooden or silicone tools.
• Ceramic nonstick: An easy-release surface that requires less oil or butter for cooking. Tramontina ceramic cookware is made without intentionally added PTFE, PFOA, PFAS, lead, and cadmium.
• Carbon steel: Lighter and quicker to heat than cast iron, with the same naturally slick seasoning once it is broken in. The classic choice for woks and paella pans.
• Cast iron: Heavy and slow to heat, but nothing holds heat better for a hard sear. Bare cast iron needs regular seasoning.
• Enameled cast iron: The heat of cast iron with a glossy enamel coating that needs no seasoning and handles acidic braises.

For the deeper science behind each one, including how heat moves through metal, the material-by-material cookware guide walks through every option side by side.

Which Types of Pans Do You Need?

Three pans cover nearly everything most home cooks make. Start with a 10 to 12 in stainless steel or cast iron skillet for searing, an 8 to 10 in nonstick or ceramic skillet for eggs, and a 3 to 5 qt sauté pan with a lid for anything saucy. Together they brown, simmer, and release delicate food, which is most of what happens on a stovetop.

From there, add pans around the way you cook. A wok earns its place if stir-fries show up every week. A grill pan makes sense for steak lovers without a grill, a griddle for families who make pancakes on Saturdays, and a roasting pan for anyone who hosts a holiday meal. Before you add a specialist, ask whether you would reach for it at least twice a month.

Stainless steel rewards a little technique, and once you learn the preheat and the water-drop test, it becomes the pan you reach for most. These tips for cooking with stainless steel cover exactly how to keep food from sticking.

Find Your Pan in the Tramontina Lineup

Tramontina brings more than a century of manufacturing to its cookware, and the pan lineup covers every shape above in the materials that suit each one best. These are strong starting points, each built around the job its shape does well:

• Tri-Ply Clad 12 in fry pan: Stainless steel bonded to an aluminum core, with a helper handle for lifting a full pan. The tri-ply clad stainless steel skillet is the searing pan that builds fond for pan sauces.
• Professional ceramic fry pan: An aluminum pan with a ceramic nonstick interior, made without intentionally added PTFE, PFOA, PFAS, lead, and cadmium. This ceramic nonstick frying pan comes in sizes from 8 to 14 in for eggs and delicate fish.
• Fiora multipurpose pan: A 4.25 qt ceramic nonstick pan, made without intentionally added PTFE, PFOA, PFAS, lead, and cadmium, with pour spouts and a self-basting lid. The deep ceramic nonstick sauté pan handles one-pan dinners from sear to simmer.
• Ember carbon steel wok: A 12.5 in wok that heats fast and seasons with use. The carbon steel wok is the traditional tool for real stir-fry heat.
• Bestow 4 qt braiser: Enameled cast iron with a domed lid and two loop handles. The enameled cast iron braiser goes from stovetop to oven to table.
• Bestow 10 in enameled cast iron skillet: Cast iron heat with a glossy enamel finish and a lid, so it needs no seasoning. The enameled cast iron skillet with lid sears, bakes, and goes straight to the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a skillet and a frying pan?

In most American kitchens, nothing. Skillet and frying pan are two names for the same shallow, round pan with low, flared walls and one long handle. Some cooks use skillet more often for cast iron and frying pan for stainless or nonstick, but the shape and the job are the same.

Is a sauté pan the same as a frying pan?

No. A sauté pan has tall, straight walls and usually a lid, so it holds liquid for simmering and braising. A frying pan has low, flared walls that release steam and make it easy to flip and slide food out. Use a frying pan for searing and eggs, and a sauté pan for anything that ends in a sauce.

What size frying pan is the most useful?

A 10 in frying pan is the most versatile size for one or two people, and a 12 in pan is the better choice for a family of four. Remember that size is measured across the rim, so a 12 in pan with flared walls has a flat cooking floor of about 9 to 10 inches.

Which types of pans work on an induction cooktop?

Induction needs a magnetic base. Cast iron, enameled cast iron, carbon steel, and stainless steel pans with a magnetic exterior layer all work. Plain aluminum and copper pans do not unless they have a magnetic plate bonded to the bottom. If a magnet sticks firmly to the base, the pan will work.

Can you put a frying pan in the oven?

Most all-metal pans can go in the oven, including stainless steel, cast iron, and carbon steel. Pans with nonstick coatings, silicone grips, or plastic handles have lower temperature limits. Check the manufacturer's oven-safe rating for your specific pan, and always use a mitt, because the handle gets as hot as the pan.

What is the best type of pan for cooking eggs?

A nonstick or ceramic nonstick frying pan in the 8 to 10 in range is the easiest choice for eggs, since they release with very little fat. A well-seasoned carbon steel or cast iron pan also works, and a stainless steel pan can cook eggs cleanly if it is preheated properly and well oiled.

Cook With Confidence

The best pan in your kitchen is the one shaped for the food you love to make. Add a little know-how: a hot skillet for the crust, straight walls for the sauce, a wide floor for the crowd. Learn those few patterns and every recipe becomes easier to read, and every dinner a little more yours.

When you are ready to fill the gaps in your kitchen, browse the full range of pots and pans and start with the shape you will use most.

Be curious. Be a better cook.