Are the saucepan and cooker one and the same?

[learnerAF]

Are the saucepan and cooker one and the same?

 

[tedmc]

Have you tried googling on the two items? Their names suggest what they are used for.

 

[Barque]

The photo in your post shows a saucepan.

Cookers can be of different types--a pressure cooker or a rice cooker or a slow cooker. It can also refer to an appliance rather than a utensil--a cooking unit with a stove and an oven.

 

[tedmc]

A cooker can be any appliance that does cooking, so it covers a wide range of appliances.

 

[Barque]

I wouldn't call a microwave oven or a charcoal grill a cooker, though they're both appliances used to cook food.

 

[tedmc]

I wouldn't call a microwave oven or a charcoal grill a cooker, though they're both appliances used to cook food.

Why not?

 

[Barque]

I don't consider it the right term for either of those things.

Edited to add - To clarify, in #5, I was referring to a stand-alone microwave oven or a stand-alone charcoal grill. A single unit combining a stovetop and oven is usually called a cooker, as I said in #3 above and as 5jj says in #8 below.

 

[5jj]

A cooker is a large metal device for cooking food using gas or electricity. A cooker usually consists of a grill, an oven, and some gas or electric rings.
[British]
...a gas cooker.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cooker

We also use the word 'cooker in such compounds as pressure cooker, rice cooker, and slow cooker as barque noted.

Microwaves, charcoal grills, electric toasters and campfires are not cookers.

 

[Tdol]

Why not?

I associate a microwave with heating food rather than cooking it. A charcoal grill is a bit limited to be a cooker. I wouldn't call a couple of electric rings a cooker either if there was not oven or grill. I'd use the definition in 5jj's post.

 

[SoothingDave]

A cooker is a large metal device for cooking food using gas or electricity. A cooker usually consists of a grill, an oven, and some gas or electric rings.
[British]
...a gas cooker.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cooker

We also use the word 'cooker in such compounds as pressure cooker, rice cooker, and slow cooker as barque noted.

Microwaves, charcoal grills, electric toasters and campfires are not cookers.

This is a major appliance? In America, the large kitchen appliance is a "range," but often referred to as a "stove." Burners on top for cooking in pans, and an oven below.

 

[tedmc]

Are microwaves, charcoal grills and electric toasters considered cookers?

I posed the question to ChatGPT and here is what I got:

Yes, microwaves, charcoal grills, and electric toasters are all considered types of cookers. Each of these appliances uses a different method for cooking food.

Microwaves use electromagnetic waves to generate heat and cook food quickly. They are commonly used for heating up leftovers, defrosting frozen food, or cooking simple meals.

Charcoal grills use charcoal or wood as a fuel source to create an open flame, which cooks food through direct heat. They are commonly used for outdoor cooking and are popular for grilling meats, vegetables, and other foods.

Electric toasters use heated elements to brown bread or other food items, such as bagels or English muffins. They are commonly used for breakfast foods and snacks.

So, while each of these appliances has its own specific purpose and method for cooking, they can all be considered types of cookers.

 

[5jj]

I posed the question to ChatGPT

I prefer the knowledge of the teachers at UE and the authority of the dictionaries at www.onelook.com.

 

[Skrej]

Yeah, we've already demonstrated how ChatGP's answer can vary, just based on how you pose the question.

If you're considering anything that cooks food as your definition of a cooker, then an open campfire is technically a cooker, too. I could roast my hotdog with a cigarette lighter and call it a cooker as well by that standard.

In AmE, 'cooker' isn't used by itself. It's always a compound word for a particular item, as in the aforementioned rice cookers, slow cookers, and pressure cookers, etc.

As Dave mentioned, in AmE the large gas or electric appliance with burners and an oven is a 'stove' or 'range', with the terms being used interchangeably and inconsistently. A range may or may not have the oven component included. Usage really varies widely from person to person - I don't think you can even call it regional variations, because you'll hear inconsistencies in usage even within the same local area.

The original image to me is just a pan (saucepan), although I frequently convert mine into a makeshift steamer with a steamer basket.

 

[SoothingDave]

The original microwave oven was called the "Radarrange."

 

[jutfrank]

So, while each of these appliances has its own specific purpose and method for cooking, they can all be considered types of cookers.

You're not really wrong but you're taking the wrong approach to this, if you'll forgive my saying. You're starting with a definition of the word, and then applying that definition to things. Apart from only in a few cases, that's not how language works. The question here is about usage. We don't call barbecues and microwaves and toasters 'cookers'. There's a difference between what people call things and what things are.

It seems to me that the proper question that the OP meant to ask is 'What do you call this?' The answer, of course, is 'a saucepan (not 'a cooker')'. I don't think any of us will disagree on that.

 

[Barque]

It seems to me that the proper question that the OP meant to ask is 'What do you call this?'

You could be right.

In India, the word "cooker" usually refers to a pressure cooker, which is a very common appliance, and an Indian-style pressure cooker looks roughly like the saucepan in the image, except that it generally has an opaque metal lid and not a glass one.

And saucepans with lids aren't very common.

Is that what's confused you, Utsavviradiya?

The first thing below is a pressure cooker. The second is a saucepan without a lid. Both are from Amazon's India site.

 

[tedmc]

I prefer the knowledge of the teachers at UE and the authority of the dictionaries at www.onelook.com.

In this case, the dictionaries merely give a general definition of a cooker, which is an appliance used for cooking. They do not specifically exclude the microwave oven as a cooker. The categorisation is rather subjective, so I think it is just an opinion when someone says it's not. It is like saying "something is true because I say so".

 

[Tarheel]

@tedmc Well, you can call something anything you want to call it. However, I only call it a microwave. (They used to call them microwave ovens, but the "oven" part was dropped a long time ago.)

 

[5jj]

@tedmc, You are at liberty to think that all the dictionaries at www.onelook.com and all the native speakers who have responded in this thread are mistaken, but I recommend that learners do not place any confidence in your opinion.

Thread locked.