The Complete Handbook of Steam Table Pans

Chapter 1: Understanding Steam Table Pans

A steam table pan is a food container that is not designed to cook food, but to hold it. It sits in a heated water bath, often called a well, and it keeps hot food at a safe serving temperature for hours on end. This is a simple job, but the engineering required to do it well, consistently, and safely is more complex than most kitchen equipment buyers realize. Every decision you make about a pan, from the size to the metal to the rim design, affects how well it performs that job.

In a commercial kitchen, these pans are most commonly called hotel pans. The name is a holdover from the 19th century, when they were used in hotel kitchens to hold food for banquets and buffets. The name stuck, and you will hear both terms used interchangeably. When you are ordering from a supplier, you will usually see them listed as "steam table pans" or "hotel pans." They are distinct from other kitchen containers like sheet pans, mixing bowls, or gastronorm containers, which are more common in European kitchen systems. While they look similar to some other pans, the specific dimensions and the purpose are what define them.

How the System Works

To understand the pan, you must first understand the system it works within. A steam table consists of a counter-height unit that contains one or more rectangular openings, which are the wells. These wells are plumbed with either gravity-fed hot