# Question on title cookware



## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Hi,
I was wandering why catalog places sell cookware called either pan set or pot set,when i thought only pans were shallow and not deep with a long handle and a pot deep with handles on both sides. I would think pan sets only had pans no pots and pot all pots no pans. ALSO was wandering why after in a cookbook seen use dutch oven pot/pan, what does that mean po/pan?

THANKS A NEWBIE
mumu


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## sushigaijin (Apr 12, 2005)

hey,

Common names for cooking equipment are just that - common. Some are more common than others, I have never had anyone not know what a fork was.

What i call a chinois might just be a sieve for someone else, or a strainer for someone else. Once i asked for a collander and was given a pen and a notebook because the calender was downstairs.

My point is that a person cannot assume much about an item based upon it's name. It is what it is, and that may not be what it is called. What is that shakespeare quote about "a rose by any other name?" (just occured to me that might not be the actual quote, but you get the idea.)

Dutch ovens *traditionally* are large pots of heavy material, cast iron comes to mind, with a recessed lid so that hot coals can be shoveled on top. These days it is difficult to find that old style, and most dutch ovens are merely heavy roasters with lids.

good luck.

Erik.


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

thanks for reply.But i still would like more feed back from others. There has to be a answer. I asked someone who told me they refer to a frying pan and a skillet as the same type of pot. I asked why they refer to these as a pot, because i would refer to them as a pan. Thier answer was dont know just do. There has to be an explaination. Also why in a recipe says dutch oven[ pot/pan] meaning what?

Thanks mumu


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Hi,
do people refer to pans as pots? So am i right to think these two terms are interchanageable. Thats why before someone called a skillet a pot? So in some cases pan and pot mean the same.

mumu


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

anyone reading this thread pleaase comment on the question. I am new in cooking and would like peoples come back.
mumu


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

(oops- duplicate post)


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Hello Mumu.

To me, a pot has steep sides. It may have one long handle, two short ones, or one long one with a short "helper" handle. 
http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
http://images.google.com/images?q=tb.../11438_med.jpg (Note smaller "helper" handle)
http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...pot_59_387.jpg (cast iron Dutch oven)

To me, a pan is wider with shallow sides. (I won't get into baking pans here!)


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

the main qustion is, do people call pans pots? LIKE A SKILLET REFERED TO A POT. also can someone tell me what it means when have dutch oven pot/pan after it what does pot/pan mean?

thanks


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

I have never seen "pot set" or "pan set" used in a catalog when referring to a set of pots and pans. I've seen plenty of "cookware sets". I think usage may be regional as you have seen something different. This is a language question and not a cookware question, in other words. My usage of the terms "pot" and "pan" is the same as Mezzaluna's.


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Freerider,
on the internet if u type in pot set and pan set and cookware set you will see the different names.


mumu


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

Did so and, no, it didn't come up with pans in a pot set or pots in a pan set. Lots of tea pot sets though. I have a feeling you're looking at the advertisements that repeat what you have put in your search terms.


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Free rider,
I just went there to google and typed in pot sets and another time type in pans set and each set comes up with the same equipment in both.

thanks, mumu


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Free rider, 
One is called revere pot set 14 pc. its in a company called overstock.
mumu


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

If you look at the description below, it does not refer to the set as a "pot set". Overstock has slipped the word "pot" in because everything else just says "set", which would throw off their search function. Even on the Revere website, they just say "set". If it really gets to you that someone at Overstock used the word "pot set" for this particular product instead of "cookware set", send them an e-mail about it. They describe the contents of the set clearly. I copied it below for your review:

Get every pot and pan you need for your kitchen with the high quality Revere 14-piece stainless steel set.

This all-inclusive Revere set features extra heavy-duty 18/10 stainless steel and a tri-ply aluminum core for quick and even heat distribution. Get the entire set for a fraction of the retail price.

Get everything for your kitchen at one low price with Overstock.com







.

*Set includes:* 
1-qt. saucepan and cover
1.5-qt. saucepan and cover
2-qt. saucepan and cover
3-qt. saucepan and cover
6-qt. stock pot and cover
9-in. open skillet
3-pc. bowl set


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Free rider,

Its funny u mention on e mail them ,because when i first seen their catalog i did just that. Their reply was the manufacture tells them what to call them, and they say right on the box it says pot set and they even said they have by the same cop. a set called pan set and another printed on the box called a cookware set. They also said i could email rival but would be told the same thing ,this is whats printed on the box. Thats why i was wandering how pots and pans differ from the "usual "way we know pots and pans. Still wandering why some people call a skillet or fry pan a pot when i know it as a pan?????? Juat learning to cook and I am the type of person who likes to know why! If can help with any suggestions feel free too, same with any one else.

THANKS,
MUMU


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

I just talked to someone down south and we were talking and we got talking about my question and the person i was talking to said she calls cake pans down here a cake pot . has anyone else heard this type of term used?


mumu


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

I don't believe you. Now you're just trolling.


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## dmt (Jul 28, 2006)

Oh no they're not trolling.

I would believe it is more in the order of smoking something...

Like the better part of a nickle bag of pan...


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Just grab the right equipment for the job and don't worry too much about what it's called!  

Good luck,
Mezzaluna


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

I am not SMOKING ANYTHING or TROLLING! I am a newbie in cooking and would like to know things and reason behind questions and if you people have a problem with someone asking questions that u think are silly than i feel very sorry for you. Only way you learn is by asking questions silly or stupid. And by the way i am a christian person and who i was talking to from the south was also a older woman from the same background. She was trying to help ,she also told me down there a pop (soda drink) is called a coke meaning a pepsi , dr.pepper ,mountain dew.
wher here a coke means a coke.

mumu


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

No worries, Mumu. Let us know if you have other questions by posting in the best forum for your question.


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

my qustion still applies, if there is a certain forum to ask these questions than please tell me. 

mumu


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

still no answer on some rec. seen dutch oven pot/pan . does anyone know what or why they would put pot/pan after the vessel to use?

thanks 
mumu


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

I googled pot set and pan set and found pretty much the same things, cookware.
Never heard of a cake pot, but then I don't get out much.
I would chalk it up to regional differnces.

Are you looking for a spacific item? :talk:


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

thanks for the reply. Am i looking for a certain item ,no . Just some answers, like i stated before. Why people call frying pan or skillet a pot when most people call it a pan ,has to be a reason. And why after a dutch oven have pot/pan,meaning what... use a dutch oen( pot/pan.)

mumu.


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Mumu, they could call a pan "pot" (and vice versa) because of their local dialect, a family tradition or just because they don't know the correct term. I guess what you call it matters less than using it well to make tasty food. :lips:


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :chef: yes, yes yes!


I lived in the south of the USA for a good long time and never, never heard anyone use the term "cake pot". Just to be sure, I googled the term "cake pot" and came up with nothing. I don't think it is a regional term at all. Soooo, if you're not smoking anything, Mumu, I will humbly and politely suggest that perhaps the person who gave you that term was. :smoking: 

Mezzaluna is right. Who cares what it's called as long as you get something tasty out of it.


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Free rider,

This lady is 65years young and only thing she is high on is god. Answers would be nice and PLEASE keep the remarks to your self .THANKS. By the way she is from tenn. and lived their all her life.


MUMU:roll:


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Hi,
Just in case u people thought i was making up a cake pot ,well here under ronco rotisserie is a chili pot not like u think its a pan .look for yourself ,but its called a chili pot. Like a cake pot?HMMMM!(Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Chili pot)



mumu


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

mumu,

I believe you are getting answers, but you might not be willing to accept the answers you have presented with. The people you were raised with and the area you grew up in will differ from the experiences of other humans around this country and others. The etymology of terms evolves over time. Some terms are colloquial (specific to certain areas/regions) others are just what your elders learned based on how they were raised. These terms may or may not be absolutely accurate, but as SushiGaijin, Mezzaluna, and others said above, these terms are *common names*.

For instance, if you want a Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Pepsi, etc. you can say the brand name or you can generalize with a common term such as cola, soda, soda pop, pop, etc. All are *common names* which are indicative to region. The northern part of the US usually calls it something different than the southern part of the US, etc.

People call an item whatever they call it based on who and where they learned it from. _It's that simple._ It usually is not an issue of whether they are right or wrong when the use is as a *common name*.

Regarding the searches you are doing, if you read further, you'll find that "pot sets" are often directly related to use such as "stock pot set", "rice pot set", "pasta pot set", etc. All of which require higher sides in order to hold the volume of the contents.

In summary, the answer to your question is that you are referring to *common names*.

This is similar to the reason why Latin names when used in reference to plants are much preferred over the common names of plants. Why? Because then we know exactly which plant is being referred to. Common names vary according to regions, countries, continents and sometimes even from one garden to another.

"Sorting out _Miscanthus sinensis_ is very challenging. For instance we have seen it referred to as Eulalia grass, Maiden grass, Silver grass, Japanese plume grass, Japanese silver grass and Chinese silver grass. Chasmanthium latifolium is also known as Northern sea oats, Spangle grass, Inland sea oats and Wild oats. See the problem?

Then there is a single common name that is given to two different grasses, such as Bunchgrass (Schizachyrium scoparium and Sporobolus heterolepis). So common names are not very useful to nurseries! Can you imagine ordering bunchgrass, thinking you were getting a tall plant, but ending up with a short one?"

If you use the Latin name, there is no question of what plant is being referred to no matter where you are in the world.

But then... while cookware terminology can get quite specific, it hasn't been standardized by a scientific community so that the terms are universal worldwide.


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## mumu (Sep 29, 2004)

Thankyou for you response.
mumu


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## happy brian (Aug 29, 2006)

Mumu you can still get Dutch Ovens. Go to any sporting goods store that sells camping equipment and they will have a large selection.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Mumu-
As a non-professional, but a guy who's cooked for quite a few decades and is a nut for tools of various trades, I consider a "pot" to have high sides and a "pan" to have low sides, relative to the size or diameter of the "cookware."

A "pot" is more likely to come with a lid, but of course some "pans" do, too. A skillet has low sides so it's a variety of "pan." May or may not come with a lid.

Don't sweat the nomenclature. Sweat the onions instead, and have fun. :bounce: 

Mike 
"controversy- what's worsey?" :crazy:


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Mumu-

Go here...

http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=25717

for more about stopvetop cookware than you ever wanted to know.

Mike


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