A sauté pan offers the broad cooking surface of a skillet but unlike a skillet, it has L-shaped walls that are tall enough to contain food as you stir but low enough to allow easy access to food. It’s one of our go-to pans for braising, shallow frying, and cooking large amounts of greens.
The seven pans we tested shared some similarities: They are made from stainless steel, which is good for developing fond, the flavorful bits of food left behind after browning that serve as the base for pan sauces; all are ovensafe to at least 500