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Pots, Pans and their uses 1\. Stockpot.  A stockpot is a deep, large, straight-sided pot that is used for making stock and simmering large quantities of liquids. Stockpots with spigots allow easy draining of liquid without disturbing the solid contents within. The size of a stockpot can range fro...

Pots, Pans and their uses 1\. Stockpot.  A stockpot is a deep, large, straight-sided pot that is used for making stock and simmering large quantities of liquids. Stockpots with spigots allow easy draining of liquid without disturbing the solid contents within. The size of a stockpot can range from 8 to 200 liters. 2\. Saucepot.  A saucepot is a round pot of medium depth used for making soups, sauces, and other liquids. It is shallower than a stockpot and makes stirring or mixing easier. The size of a saucepot ranges from 6 to 60 liters. 3\. Brazier.  Braziers are broad, round, shallow pots with straight sides. They are heavy-duty and are used for braising, browning, and stewing meats. A brazier would fall under the size range of 11 to 30 liters. 4\. Saucepan.  Similar to a light saucepot, a saucepan is a small and shallow equipment with a long handle instead of two loop handles. A saucepan may have straight or slanted sides. It is used for a wide variety of range top cooking. Saucepans come in sizes ranging from 1.5 to 15 liters. 5\. Sauté pan, straight-sided.  A sauté pan (straight sided) is similar to a shallow, straight-sided saucepan, but heavier. A sauté pan is used for browning, sautéing, and frying. Since it has a broader surface area, the sauté pan is used for cooking sauces and other liquids when rapid reduction is needed. A sauté pan ranges from 21.5 to 5 inches (65 to 130 mm) in depth and 6 to 16 inches (160 to 400 mm) in diameter. 6\. Sauté pan, slope-sided.  A sauté pan (slope-sided) is used for general sautéing and frying meats, fish, vegetables, and eggs. The sloping sides help in easy flipping and tossing of items with or without the need of a spatula. The dimensions of a slope-sided sauté pan are 6 to 14 inches (160 to 360 mm) of top diameter. 7\. Cast-iron skillet.  A cast-iron skillet is a very-heavy fry pan with a thick bottom. It is generally used for pan-frying when steady, even heat is required. For example, shallow frying, high-heat searing, and high-temperature grilling.​ 8\. Double boiler.  A double boiler is a pot with two sections -- lower section and upper section. The lower section is similar to a stockpot and holds boiling water. The upper section holds foods cooked at low temperatures, further away from direct source of heat. The size of the upper section of a double boiler ranges from 4 to 36 liters. 9\. Sheet pan or bun pan.  A sheet pan or bun pan is a shallow rectangular pan used for baking cakes, rolls, cookies, and baking or broiling certain meats and fish. Sheet pans come in two sizes, full pans, and half pans. Full pans are generally a size of 18 × 26 inches or 46 × 66 centimeters. Half-pans are a size of 18 × 13 inches or 46 × 33 centimeters. 10\. Bake pan.  A bake pan is a rectangular pan used for general baking with a depth of 2 inches (50 mm). They are available in a variety of sizes. 11\. Roasting pan.  A roasting pan is a large rectangular pan used for roasting meats and poultry. It is heavier and deeper than a baking pan. 12\. Wok.  A wok is a round-bottomed steel pan consisting of two loop handles. It is highly used as an equipment to stir fry in Chinese cuisines. Woks are best used with a broad ring-shaped support that holds the equipment together and steady enough while cooking. They are also used to their optimum with special burner units carrying high heat outputs. 13\. Hotel pan, also called counter pan, steam table pan, or service pan.  A hotel pan is a regular pan made of stainless steel. It is also known as a counter pan, steam table pan, or a service pan. It is used for baking, steaming and ultimately, serving. It is specially designed to hold food at service counters. They have a high storage value. A standard size hotel pan is 12 × 20 inches. Fractions of this size (1/2, 1/3^rd^, etc.) are also available in the market. The standard depth of a hotel pan is 2.5 inches (65mm). However, deeper pans are also used and are available in the market. 14\. Stainless-steel bowl.  A stainless-steel bowl is a round bottomed bowl used for mixing, whipping and making hollandaise, whipped cream, mayonnaise, and egg white foams. The round construction of this equipment enables whip to reach all areas. A stainless-steel bowl is available in many sizes. Measuring Devices  1\. Scales.   Scales are important for accurate weighing of ingredients used in recipes. Portion scales are used for measuring as well as portioning products for service. Traditional scales usually have a dial to indicate weight and are spring operated. Digital scales measure higher accuracy and are electrically operated to provide a digital readout. 2\. Volume measures Volume measures are used for measuring liquids. The device structure consists of lips at the top for easy pouring. Volume measures come in pints, quarts, gallons, and half gallons. Each size is marked off into fourths by ridges on the sides. 3\. Measuring cups Measuring cups come in varied sizes - 1-, 1⁄2-, 1⁄3-, and 1⁄4-cup. They are used for both dry measures as well as measuring liquid. 4\. Measuring spoons Measuring spoons are used for measuring small volumes like 1 tablespoon, 1 teaspoon, 1⁄2 teaspoon, and 1⁄4 teaspoon. They are commonly for adding spices and seasonings while cooking. A ladle is generally used for measuring and portioning liquids. The size of a ladle is stamped on the handle in the measuring unit. 5\. Scoops Scoops are used for portioning soft, solid foods. They come in standard sizes. Unlike domestic scoops, the newer ones have a mechanical release that avoids the difficulty in operation. 6\. Thermometers Thermometers are used to measure temperature. There are many kinds for many purposes.  A meat thermometer is used to generate the internal temperature of meats. It is inserted before cooking the meat and is kept intact in the product during cooking. However, thermometers used nowadays give out instant readings. They exempt the need to leave the device inside the product while cooking. Temperatures of frying fats and sugar syrups are largely tested using fat thermometers. Their readings go up to 400°F. In order to test the accuracy of oven, refrigerator, and freezer thermostats, special thermometers are used. Hand Tools and Small Equipment  1\. Ball cutter, melon ball scoop, or parisienne knife.   A ball cutter is used for cutting fruits and vegetables into small balls. The blade of a ball cutter is a small, cup-shaped half-sphere. 2\. Straight spatula or palette knife.  A straight spatula mostly used for spreading icing on cakes is a long, flexible blade with rounded end. It is also used for mixing and bowl scraping. 3\. Offset spatula.  An offset spatula has a broad blade that is bent to keep hands off surfaces. It is used for turning and lifting eggs, meats on griddles, grills, sheet pans, and so on. It is also used effectively as a scraper to clean benches and griddles. 4\. Rubber/silicon spatula or scraper.  A rubber/silicon spatula has a broad, flexible plastic or a rubber tip with a long handle. It is primarily used for folding in whipped cream and egg foams, alongside scraping bowls and pans. 5\. Pie server.  A pie server is a wedge-shaped offset spatula. It is used to lift pieces of pie or pie wedges from a pan. 6\. Bench scraper or dough knife.  A bench scraper is a stiff piece of metal with a broad wooden handle on one edge. Alongside cutting pieces of dough, it is also used to scrape work benches. 7\. Pastry wheel or wheel knife.  A party wheel is a round, rotating blade on a handle. It is used to cut rolled-out doughs, pastry, and baked pizza. 8\. Spoons: slotted, perforated, and solid.  Spoons are used for mixing, stirring, and serving. Large, stainless-steel spoons can hold about 3 ounces (90ml). Slotted and perforated spoons are used to drain liquids from solids. 9\. Skimmer.  A skimmer is a perforated disk, slightly cupped with a long handle. It is used to remove solid pieces from soups, stocks, and other liquid alongside skimming froth from liquids. 10\. Tongs.  Tongs are scissors-type tools used to lift and handle food items. 11\. Wire whip.  Wire whips are loops of stainless-steel wire fastened at an end to a handle. Whips are of two types -- Heavy whips and balloon whips. Heavy whips are straight and stiff. They are used for regular stirring, mixing, and beating liquids, heavy liquids in specific. They have fewer wires than in a balloon whip. Balloon whips, or piano-wire whips, have many flexible wires. They are used for whipping cream, eggs and hollandaise. They are also used to mix thinner liquids. 12\. China cap.  A China cap is a cone-shaped strainer used for straining soups, sauces, stocks, and other liquids. The conical shape of the china cap allows drainage of liquids through a relatively small opening.  13\. Fine china cap or chinois (shee-nwah).  A Fine China cap is like a China cap with a very fine mesh. It is used to acquire smoothness and clarity in the liquid drained.  14\. Strainer.  A strainer is a cup-shaped tool with a round bottom made of perforated metal or a screen type mesh. It is widely used to strain pasta, vegetables, and so on. 15\. Drum sieve or tamis.  A drum sieve has a screen-type mesh supported in a round metal frame. It is used to sieve flour and other dry ingredients. It can also puree soft, solid foods. 16\. Colander.  A colander is a large, perforated bowl made of aluminum or stainless steel. It drains washed or cooked vegetables, salad greens, pasta, and other foods.  17\. Grater.  A grater is a four-sided metal box with grids of varying sizes. It can shred and grate cheese, citrus rinds, vegetables, and other foods.  18\. Microplane  Microplane is an equipment known by the brand name 'Microplane'. The grater helps in shaving off thin shreds of the item being grated. They are made of varying degrees of fineness or coarseness.  19\. Zester.  A Zester is a small hand tool. It helps in the removal of the coloured parts of citrus peels in thin strips.  20\. Mandoline.  A mandolin is a manual cutting tool with flat wooden or metal frames and attached blades. The mandoline\'s legs can be folded to position it at a 45-degree angle on the worktable for operation. Slice thickness can be changed by adjusting the blades using levers. Both a flat and a serrated blade are found on a classic mandoline. To cut julienne and bâtonnet, additional blades can be used in addition to the flat blade. Slices of gaufrette or waffles are sliced with the serrated blade. A detachable guard is also provided for the safest use. The food is held by the guard while being cut without anyone\'s fingers getting too close to the blades. 21\. Pastry bag and tubes.  Pastry bags are cloth or plastic bags in the shape of cones that have one open end that can be fitted with a variety of metal tubes or points. They are used for moulding and decorating with materials including whipped cream, duchess potatoes, soft dough, and cake frosting. 22\. Pastry brush.  A pastry brush is used to brush items with glaze, egg wash, etc.  23\. Can opener.  Heavy-duty can openers are mounted on the edge of the workbench. Each day, they must be thoroughly cleaned and sterilised to avoid contaminating food. Replace any dull blades that may have left metal shavings in the food.