Cookware puzzlement
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Everything I see on the Caphalon website tells me that is not a cover for the Dutch oven.
It’s a two handled sauté pan.
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This post is deleted!
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That’s pretty big for a sauté pan. Actually, where I mentioned a matching “skillet” in my first remark, that is more accurately a saute pan; it’s only about 2” deep, where this one is about 4”.
But what do I know? Maybe sauté pans can be huge.
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Well, I guess a Dutch oven with lid is what it is. Seems like a weird lid design though.
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I think it's a sauteuse, and I'm guessing the cover you mentioned in your original post probably fits it and the Dutch oven.
Here are Le Creuset's versions of the two pans:
A sauteuse is deeper than a saute/skillet and not as deep as a Dutch oven. It's used to make things that are simmered and that have to be stirred, things like risotto and various sauces. It usually has two short handles, whereas a saute has one long handle because you might be lifting the pan to toss the food that is being sauteed.
The taller sides of a sauteuse let you stir the contents without sloshing stuff all over the stovetop. You can also shallow fry in it.
A Dutch oven is deeper and is typically used for stews and such. Dutch oven accommodates a larger volume of food cooked for a long time, either on the stovetop or in the oven. I've seen the ATK people deep fry in a Dutch oven, too.
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The edge is strange. I wonder what the flat lid looks like.
I wondered about paella, too, but it seems much narrower than the paella pans I've seen. Most of those are 15" - 18" in diameter, and @RealPlayer 's pan is 12". The sides on paella pans tend to slope outwards more, presumably for easy stirring.
There's probably some subreddit where they talk about this kind of stuff...
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I was going to post a pic of the pot with the alternate lid. BB won’t let me do it, even though I cropped it to the max. “Too large” a file.
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@RealPlayer - you could upload to postimages.org, click on Share, copy the direct link from there, and post it here. It will automatically get resized. And the storage will be at postimages, not here, saving on costs...
You don't have to create an account at postimages to use their services. I upload my throwaway images (ones that I'm just posting here for grins and that I won't keep for the long term) to postimages all the time.
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I didn’t find a Share button on postimage but you can click the above blue link and see it.
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Looks like it's a good fit for the mystery pot.
I forgot to mention in the instructions for posting photos...if you want to embed the photo so it shows up in your post, you can use the Full Edit screen. That's where there is an icon for Image Link.
Hover your cursor over the various icons in the Full Edit screen.
Press Image Link and the following text will appear in the edit panel:
"(image url)" will be highlighted. Just paste the link that you copied from Postimages. The postimages link should end in .jpg or .jpeg
I'll do some screenshots and a tutorial in the Tips and Tricks thread. Meanwhile, as you pointed out, people can just click on your link and see the photo on postimages.
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Here is the matching sauté pan with the same lid.
https://i.postimg.cc/Qx3KPcnK/IMG-1933.jpgThe weird anodized lid has a number printed on it. Calphalon does have a page on its site with numbers and corresponding pots, but it doesn’t have this number, or any lids really.
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Yes. The pots are the same diameter and both lids fit both.
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I was asking about new (versus secondhand) because you can often pair a lid from one manufacturer with a pot from another. Pot sizes are pretty standard.
What are the numbers on the original mystery pan, and also the plain aluminum lid?
I'm actually seeing some people on eBay selling what looks like the mystery pot, calling it a "braiser lid", or a "Sauce pan lid", depending on the diameter of the "lid". And some discussion on Reddit about it being dual purpose, being used as a lid and as a cooking vessel. I would never have imagined it as a lid, for the reason that you mentioned in your original post, that any condensed steam would run down the outside of the pot that was being covered.
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@wtg said in Cookware puzzlement:
Any chance the number on the mystery pot is G 303 HC?
It reads G30340 or G3C34C. (The stamping is kind of light.) I’ll go back and look at it later, but pretty sure it’s a 4, not H. Interesting that you found this! Any info welcome.
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Here are two listings I found for similar lids. They're just different sizes, both smaller than yours.
Since those are G 301 HC and G 302 HC, and they are for 8" and 10" pots, I figured that the 12" might be G 303 HC.
One thing I'm seeing is that the two listings on eBay are for Commercial Aluminum Cookware, which appeared to be a professional line. Subsequently the company name changed to Calphalon.
I love puzzles like this!
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Wow, amazing you found these. Yes, mine is exactly like those two, just larger.
I would be surprised if the lid were used as a cooking surface, because the metal is thinner than on the pot. Still, what do I know? I’m not a high-level cook.
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I've never seen a lid anything like it.
Based on what's on eBay, your description of the metal being thinner, and the fact that it drips on the outside of the pan it covers, I guess I have to change my vote from "it's a sauteuse" to "it's a lid, but a poorly designed one".
