Pots and pans
How do you call those things such as:

- utensil destined to cook soups;
- utensil destined to fry something (like vegetables of meat);
- utensil destined to bake something in an oven.

The dictionary says 2 first things have one name, but is it correct?

Thank you.

Question

Pots and pans
How do you call those things such as:

- utensil destined to cook soups;
- utensil destined to fry something (like vegetables of meat); 
- utensil destined to bake something in an oven.

The dictionary says 2 first things have one name, but is it correct?

Thank you.

Answer

Pots are the ones for soups as Pots are deep where as Pans are shallow for frying (Frying Pan). We also call baking trays for inside the oven pans. But a frying pan has a handle and goes on the top of the stove where as a baking pan is generally rectangular like a tray. But Pots are deep and Pans are shallow.

Answer

Usage varies, as cooking terminology tends to be quite localised. For me, they're both pans. You could call the shallower one a frying pan and the deeper one a saucepan, but they're both still pans. There is also the word "skillet" which is sometimes used to refer to a frying pan, but that wouldn't be understood outside the US. British English uses the term "frying pan". Personally, I wouldn't call anything I put in or on the stove a "pot".

For something (such as lasagna) that's baked in the oven, I'd say 'oven dish.'

By the way, American English also used the word "pan" for the containers used for cake-baking, while British English uses "tin".

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