Stewpans

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cooking vessel typically made of metal with a lid, used for simmering or boiling food slowly over a low heat
2. A deep, usually round container with a handle used for heating food, often designed to enhance flavor by allowing ingredients to meld
3. A kitchen appliance designed to hold liquids for slow cooking processes, allowing the dish to blend and develop rich flavors over time

Etymology: "Stewpans" is simply the plural of "stewpan," a compound of "stew" and "pan." A stewpan is a deep cooking pot suited to slow-simmering, the kind used for braising meat or cooking food in liquid, and the plural refers to several such pots. "Stew" comes from Old French "estuve," a hot bath or steam room, which passed into English with the sense of a heated room and later a vapour bath. Its link to cooking came through the idea of cooking in steam or in a closed pot, which is what the word came to mean. "Pan," from Old English "panne," is a shallow metal vessel, so the compound describes a pan in which food is stewed.

Synonyms: saucepans, cooking pots