Sheldon replied to Melondy:

> I don't mind anyone butting in only you don't know what you're talking
> about... all frying is cooking in fat within a very narrow temperature
> range... defining frying by the type of vessel used is just plain
> ignorant.


Welcome to the PARTICIPATING members, Melondy! Pay no attention to Sheldon;
he's impotent and stupid, with all the charm of a malignant tumor on the
anus of a toad.

Classically, sautéing is done in an uncrowded straight-sided sauté pan,
exactly as you described. The term "stir-frying" leaped into the American
lexicon in connection with wok cookery.

Sheldon doesn't understand how the vessel shape affects the cooking process,
but that's because he's just plain ignorant. Cook's Illustrated had an
article a couple years ago regarding the classic sauté, along with a fairly
good explanation of why that straight-sided pan was a good pan for the job.

Alan, the term "pan-frying" is a broad one; it includes sautéing. Since
sautéing is done right around the smoking point of whatever fat is being
used, there's not really a higher-temp version of it. Searing differs from
sautéing in that when you're searing something you leave it alone in the pan
until the surface in contact with the pan begins to turn dark brown, whereas
in sautéing, you keep the food in constant motion. Blackening is a sear-like
technique where you DO crank the heat way up, but it differs from pan-frying
(or sautéing) in that no fat is used in the pan.

Bob