I apparently don't do a lot of 'reducing' in my kitchen as I just ran
across a recipe for reducing 1 cup of mashed strawberries to 1/4 of a
cup.

As I was stirring them in my 1 qt saucepan I was thinking a smaller
saucepan might be nice--- then I wondered if my little saute pan would
have been a better choice.

Then I had time to wonder if they make a nice little pot with some
sort of makings on the inside so I'd know when half or 3/4 of my
original volume was gone.

I know for sure that the next time I do this, I'll be reducing 4 cups
of mashed strawberries to 1 cup- that's a lot of stirring for 1/4
pound of strawberry butter.

But in general is there a preferred pan or method for reducing things?

And is there a pan with markings on the inside? I can pour 1/4,
1/2, or 1 tsp of spiced into my hand with 'good enough' accuracy, but
I so misjudged the amount of liquid in that pan as to make myself
laugh -- twice!

Jim