to wonder what on earth is the point of a 10cm saucepan?

[slightlyglitterstained]

DP spent £15 on one today. Because it's pretty. And a total bargain cos it's half-price! And he doesn't have any other pans that size (it's tiny).

AIBU to think they must have seen him coming? He doesn't even know what he's going to use it for, he muttered something like "gravy" when I asked, but he only makes that once or twice a year anyway.

Perhaps your DH is planning on remodelling the entire kitchen and this is just the start!

You are all wrong. It's for sterilising a mooncup.

wingdingdong has nailed it. We use it for cooking for the very small children. It makes a perfect amount of porridge for DD1 (who has different milk to the rest of us), it makes a beautiful fried egg for one ans useful for doing garlic or an egg.

We're on our third (in three years) because they do tend to suffer a bit from the gas rings.

We have a ridiculously tiny 99p purple pan. It is the BEST thing I've ever used for making individual portions of scrambled eggs. Also used for peas, tinned spaghetti, soup, sauce etc.

*or a mini omelette that should say.

Warming milk? Boiling an egg?

I love that he bought it because it was pretty

While we were in Pains today my DS said 'let's go all Masterchef' whilst gazing at the copper-bottomed range. Sadly all my bottoms have to be induction-friendly
since the new kitchen.

I still like to think how nice it'd be to make small things in it. Tho not fried eggs.

statusupdate beat me to it. It's a mooncup pan.

I use it to cook a tin of soup, tin of beans, warm up milk for hot chocolate, a small portion of various indian curries.

I find it really handy and it actually helps with portion control too :)

use mine for blinis, and heating milk for hot chocolate.

Now MN has conviced me that I need a little pan in my life.

I doubt if that would even work on my induction hob. My smallest is a 14cm milk pan.

I do remember a phase of teeny tiny sauce pans for actual sauces - the sort that looked like something got splashed on the plate.

We have a 15cm pan that we use all the time and a tiny frying pan that does one egg perfectly. I have to admit I bought that one totally because it was cute, and it's not even coppery. On the plus side it doesn't take up very much room :)

We have alittle saucepan, its used for one portion of orridge or a small serving of soup or beans or a chocolate fudge icing I make.

Suprisingly for a fmily of 7 we use it quite a lot.

All the uses that have been listed make me think: microwave; microwave; microwave. Except maybe blinis or mooncup. Tho can even the latter be done in the microwave in a baby-bottle steriliser?

My smallest saucepan is perhaps a bit bigger than that but I use it all the time.
For:
boiling eggs
cooking small amounts of pasta or veg for the kids (or me for that matter)
heating up baked beans
for water to melt chocolate (because the glass bowl I want to use would not stand on a bigger pan IYSWIM)
scrambled eggs
boiling milk for hot chocolate or ready brek

Spermy, my DH also wants a tiny copper pan because of Masterchef. He hero worships Michel Roux junior, who is often seen wielding titchy pans. He must have some magic quality that appeals to married men.

Two years ago it was a magimix...which he has used precisely ten times since.

Please don't publish it on here if he puts it next to the bed at night

I'd probably serve stuff in it rather than cook in it. But I'd have more than 1 for this purpose. Or it could be a decorative way to bake individual soufflés?

I suppose if you frequently cook for 1 or have a family member whose diet means different food needs cooking, it could be useful.

Really quite sweet that he bought it for the cuteness factor though

princess you have to worry when he will only add an ingredient that's already been measured into a wine glass

I too have the mini frying pan, which I mostly bought on an impulse, because it does look cute - but it's actually brilliant for a single fried egg or a small omlette, and I'm really glad I've got it, and I've used it a lot more than I expected to, which I'm glad about, because it means I can actually justify having spent the money on it.

I never thought that I would see "Blini" and "mooncup" in the same sentence :)

I bought a tiny pan thinking it would be useful for small boy dinners. It is so tiny it won't stay on the pan supports (had to google that). It is not even non-stick. Grrr.

Nigella is very fond of her little mini pan; she uses it for making some sort of Mexican egg type affair iirc.

I want one!