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From the episode: Feeding a Crowd, Italian-Style
A large saucepan is a true kitchen workhorse—we tested seven models to help you choose the right one.
Note: The Pinzon 3.5-Quart Stainless Steel Sauce Pan and Berndes Tricion 3.5-Quart Stainless Steel Sauce Pan are no longer available.
In the test kitchen, we use our large saucepans for making rice and oatmeal; blanching vegetables; and cooking small amounts of pasta, soup, stew, and all manner of sauces. Clearly, the large saucepan is a kitchen workhorse that should handle everyday tasks with aplomb. Which begs the question: Does the brand matter? With prices for large saucepans ranging from just $30 up to $185, there's a lot of money riding on the answer. To offer some guidance, we tested seven models, all between three and four quarts in size, from well-known cookware manufacturers.
Unlike many Cook's tests of pots and pans, this one does not include models with nonstick finishes. Nonstick pans do an acceptable job of browning food but fall short when it comes to developing fond, the brown, sticky, caramelized film that forms on the pan bottom and eventually imparts deep flavor to the dish you're building. Many of the dishes prepared in a large saucepan, from chowder to chili, derive part of their savory backbone from the fond, so we decided that nonstick finishes were out.
Of the tests we performed, sautéing onions and allowing marinara sauce to burn were the most telling. In our view, onions should soften reliably and evenly (and with minimal attention and stirring) and sauces shouldn’t burn even when sautéed over medium heat. So what's the big deal about sautéing on the fast side? A good pan should keep the food from burning for a short while if you have to leave it for a short time. The best pans were the ones that cooked slowly and steadily.
Weight does matter. The pans that sautéed onions faster than we'd like were the lightest of the bunch. This indicates that they are made from thinner metal, which is one reason they heat quickly. We didn’t like pans that were too heavy, either. We found they could be uncomfortable to lift when full. One combination that worked was a relatively thick bottom and thinner sides.
The design of the saucepan impacted how user-friendly it was. Handles were especially important. While handles on skillets and sauté pans must be able to withstand high oven temperatures, most saucepan handles see only the top of the stove. A saucepan handle should, however, remain cool enough to grasp easily during stovetop cooking. Also, handles should make it easy to hold the pan with one hand and scrape out the contents with a utensil in the other. We also found a pouring lip to be useful, although it didn’t affect cooking performance.
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