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A new cook often spend a lot of energy
and money trying to find just the right sauté pan. In fact, it is possible
to make perfect sautéed dishes in any old pan. It just easier if the pan
is of better quality. Whenever possible, sauté in a pan just large enough
to hold the food in a single layer, but not so large that it's difficult
to handle. If the pan is too large, the juices released by the sautéing
foods may run out to the edges of the pan and burn. If the pan is too
small, the foods will be crowded and will steam in their juices instead of
brown.
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The most important quality to look for
in a pan is that it is heavy-bottomed, so that the heat will be evenly
distributed over its surface. If the pan is thin, the patch directly over
the heat will get much hotter than the rest of the pan, and foods in that
spot will burn while foods in the rest of the pan cook too slowly.
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Use a pan with sloping sides to toss
foods such as sliced vegetables, scallops or small pieces of meat. The
sloped sides help toss the food back onto itself.
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Use a pan with straight sides for
sautéing larger pieces of seafood, poultry, meat and vegetables that are
turned with tongs rather than tossed. A straight-sided pan is also best
when you'll be deglazing the pan for a sauce. Otherwise, the sauce might
stick to the sloping sides of the pan and burn as it reduces. If you're
making a deglazed sauce, it is best to choose a pan with a light rather
than dark surface such as aluminum, tin or stainless steel so that you can
see if the juices have burned before you deglaze. Straight-sided pans with
lids are also perfect for dishes such as fricassees, when sautéing is only
the first step in a two-stage process and liquid will be added after the
food is sautéed
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High-quality nonstick pans make the
easiest work of sautéing, but well-made, heavy-bottomed nonstick pans are
expensive. A well-seasoned cast-iron skillet makes a good substitute but
some cooks find them too heavy, especially for foods that need to be
tossed. The French iron skillets called poeles are somewhat lighter and
have sloping sides for tossing.
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