To put pans on the table

[IndiaAutumn]

Slightly inspired by another thread…imagine a sort of Sunday lunch scenario…

DH grew up in a house where no saucepan would ever go on the table- everything was decanted into serving dishes.

I grew up in a house where pans regularly went on the table (ie cook peas in a saucepan, drain, put them back in the saucepan and put it on a mat on the table).

I’m in the middle I think- I don’t mind a pan on the table and it’s convenient but I’d only do this with my pretty cast iron pans, not a stainless steel pan. DH meanwhile feels that this is like living in an episode of Shameless 😂 (He is of course welcome to warm serving dishes and do the extra washing up- strangely that hasn’t happened 😂)

Yabu- use a serving dish, you slattern
Yanbu- it’s not Downton Abbey. Totally normal to put a pan on the table.

Hmmmm. Maybe for something that's been baked in it, or similar for a lasagne or something.

Deffo not a pan of basic cauli though!

If it’s just DH and me, I’ll plate up our dinners in the kitchen. If there’s anyone else, then it all goes into serving bowls - but I would put, say, a tagine cooked in a le Creuset pot on the table (on a board). Apart from anything else, it keeps whatever’s in it hotter for longer. Stainless steel saucepan? Never!

We just plate up in the kitchen seems easier

Then surely there's no needs to put them in the table? They can stay 10" away and people can serve themselves from there.

@IndiaAutumn no, pans don't belong on the table. Either serve onto plates in the kitchen or decant into serving dishes, which aren't exactly difficult to wash up after.

EDIT: just seen your pictures. I wouldn't call them saucepans & they are ok on the table.

Family meals - pans on the table. Who has time for extra dishes?
Visitors - serving dishes unless lasagne or a curry/stew straight from the fake le crueset pan.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you meant casserole dishes! That makes more sense. Nowt wrong with casseroles.

Yesterday I did a big rice dish that all ended up in the big frying pan and I put that on the table.
I realised a while ago that the kids eat what’s on their plate if I dish it up but serve themselves less which I think is healthier and will help them learn to moderate their portions. I think learning to eat what they actually want is more important than whether my table looks pretty. Also, serving dishes are just extras to store and extras to wash up.

My mum would just put the saucepan on the table so I've never thought that was weird at all... But we always ate at the kitchen table so the pans were right there anyway.

I do it for an ordinary family dinner but I would use serving dishes for guests. And a fancy casserole pot is basically a serving dish in itself.

I do a mixture of both and would use serving dishes if we had guests. I’m always fascinated by those scenes in American programmes where it’s a family of 3 sitting down to dinner and there’s endless dishes of vegetables / salads/ bread on the table. All I can think of is the washing up and the waste!

My parents put pans on the table. My grandma commented on it every single time they did it when she was there. They continued to do it. Therefore I spent about 25 years hearing my grandma comment on pans on the table and my parents ignoring her every single time.

I have come to the conclusion that my parents are pathologically logical if that makes sense. The food is already in a perfectly functional container for serving it in, decanting it to a different container achieves nothing other than to create more washing up, so why would they do it? The notion of presentation or conforming to societal norms just isn’t on their radar.

My parents are lovely people, just a little unusual it seems. I generally don’t put pans on the table. But I do sometimes put plastic microwave bowls on the table if I’ve reheated something in them (I batch cook and freeze) and it’s only family.

Just realised the only reason I would never do it with vegetables is because I steam them so couldn't put the steamer on the table.

This is so funny - I’d never realised this was a controversy!

I sometimes put pans on the table for just family. I wouldn’t with guests.

Funnily enough I’d been thinking “am I ridiculously causing more washing up” by so often decanting to save space, but now I’ll carry on with confidence.

I think either is fine though - the only thing I don’t like is everything served before coming to the table - which is weird because that is what I was brought up with!

Exh was very “pans on the table” as is his family - they’re quite posh compared to my family if that means anything!

(Edit - the reasons I don’t like everything served are

1. feels a bit like force feeding people rather than letting them choose what they have (main reason)
2. it’s more work for the “chef” (ie me!)

Nothing to do with posh or not posh)

Only le creuset or similar

Like you'd have your main in your pan, or a fancy side dish like vegetable gratin

But thats it - everything else should be put into a serving bowl, imo

Not that I live like this 😄😄, i'm in bed waiting for my chicken wings to cook which I will devour whilst watching two doors down

If it’s just me and the DP we do. But if we have guests we don’t.

I grew up in a family where dinner was dished up by whoever cooked.

These days, we don't even sit at the table to eat! So we serve our own plates directly from the cooking pans (still on the cooktop or moved off to the worktop), then take them to the couch to eat in front of the TV. In our defence, it's just the two of us, so no example to set or table manners to instill in the next generation. 😂

If we're entertaining, I'd probably put food in more attractive dishes (if everything was moving to the table, but we usually adopt a more casual buffet-style affair, in which case I might not bother, honestly), but just for ourselves on a daily basis? No, far too much extra work (and neither of us care enough to bother). I'd rather have more time to relax after eating than spend longer in the kitchen!

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing
I think either is fine though - the only thing I don’t like is everything served before coming to the table - which is weird because that is what I was brought up with!
Exh was very “pans on the table” as is his family - they’re quite posh compared to my family if that means anything!

I think it does actually - I reckon it's one of those things which is both working class and posh (like saying 'what?' instead of 'pardon') and it's the people in between who don't do it.

not keen on dishing up but if I had people over I would do dishes

if it’s just us we help ourselves in kitchen and sometimes I do serving dishes at weekend. Tend not to do on pans on table and I like using my nice serving stuff

Yes we do mainly but do table at weekend if my ds is there

But that's more of a stock pot/casserole dish, which is very different from an ordinary stainless steel saucepan. So yes, to me this is fine. I will also often put glass roasters of veg on the table with a big serving spoon in.

Yes le Creuset is fine on table

This is a "plate up" house (out of habit), but I wouldn't think twice about pots on the table. I just can't remember ever doing it.

Middle ground is food on the table in Tupperware (of which the leftovers will be refrigerated afterwards)

Now that you've clarified what "pan" means, @OP I'd concede that a naice casserole dish is welcome on my glass table (with a thick cork mat underneath, ofc!)

Pans (including stainless steel) all the way - our kitchen is too small for a table, so we have to carry food into the living room. It's much less likely to be spilled from a pan than a plate (especially 'wet' food like a casserole), and I don't need any extra washing up! We deliberately got a wide dining table to allow dishes in the middle.

It stays warm in the pan, so you don't have to reheat seconds. And less washing up. Its the old milk jug vs bottle again isn't it?