Aebleskiver pans are special pans in which to cook small Danish pancake balls called “aebleskivers” on top of the stove. You rotate the balls half-way through cooking to cook both sides.
An appachatti pan is a stove-top frying pan that is completely rounded at the sides, with two short handles, one on each side, and will usually come with a cover. It is used for making vella appam.
Broiling pans are special low, flat pans that come with North American stoves to help with broiling food. Many stoves come with a two-part broiling pan designed to fit nicely into a designated broiling space.
Cast iron is an iron and carbon alloy. Typically it is left uncoated in North America, but in Europe, enamelled versions are preferred.
Crêpe pans are very shallow frying pans, with outward-sloping sides specially designed for frying crêpes in. They are usually carbon steel pans, but also come in with non-stick coatings for home use.
Electric frying pans are frying pans whose heat source comes from an electrical element attached to them.
Frying pans are wide, shallow pans with a long handle and sloping sides. If it has straight sides, then technically it’s classed as a sauté pan.
Kanom krok pans are large flat pans, often made of cast iron, with rounded cavities in them. They are used to make the fried Thai pastries known as “kanom krok.”
Meatloaf pans are special baking pans sold for baking meatloaf in. Most are loaf-shaped, and have an insert that raises the meatloaf above the bottom of the pan, allowing a space for the fat to drain off into below.
Omelet pans are frying pans with shallow, steeply sloping sides that allow an omelet being cooked to be rolled against the sides, and when it’s finished, to slide out easily.
A paella pan (“paellera” in Spanish) is a very broad, round, shallow frying pan used to cook paella in.
A paniyaram pan is a stove-top pan that has somewhat the functionality of a muffin tin. It is used for making kuzhi appam.
The role of cooking pans is to contain food over heat, and deliver heat from the outside heat source — burner or oven — to the food inside. In general, pans are used for solid ingredients.
Quiche pans are specially designed, straight-sided pans for making quiches in. They can be metal or ceramic.
A roasting pan is used for roasting food in. Typically the food is meat such as poultry, beef or pork, but it could also be vegetables. In England, the Sunday roast dinner is still a very common occurrence, so roasting pans get very frequent use. In North America, they live most of the year in…
A sauté pan is a frying pan with straight sides. The straight sides are designed to help keep food in as you toss it, if you choose to.
Self-basting roasters are roasting pans that come with special lids that enable a piece of meat being roasted to “baste itself.”
Spiders were frying pans with long handles, and three legs on them. They were designed to allow you to fry food over the coals in a hearth.
A wok is an all-purpose pan. It can be used for braising, deep frying, frying, roasting, stir frying, steaming and stewing. In northern China, a wok is more likely to be used for braising or stewing than for a quick stir-fry.
