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A hotel pan is a large rectangular pan that food is served out of when you are at a wedding reception, banquet, or eating from a buffet. These pans are also used in the kitchen, such as to hold ingredients for a line cook. A hotel pan is the same as a steam table pan, counter pan, or service pan. They are all-purpose pans that can be used for cooking, storing, holding, etc.
Hotel pans are usually made out of stainless steel. Some large rectangular heat-proof and food-grade plastic containers might be called hotel pans as well. They come in eight standard sizes, according to length and width.
- Standard Hotel Pan Size: 12×20 inches to fit openings in a steam table or insert in chafing dishes (chafers).
- Various Depths: Hotel pans are available in various depths, such as 2 1/2, 4, 6, and 8 inches deep.
- Identification Numbers: Sometimes identified by their depth using numbers such as 200, 400, etc.
- 200 = 2-inch deep pan
- 400 = 4 inches deep, and so on.
The practice of using numbers stems from the original manufacturing practice of identifying stock sizes by these numbers.
Full 4″ Stainless Steel Steamtable Pan
Also, there are smaller-sized pans that are called half pans, quarter pans, etc. based on their relationship to the standard-sized pans. There are even pans that are 1/6 the size of the standard pan.
As to why these pans are called hotel pans, the name probably came from long ago, when hotel owners would serve their guests dinners at designated times, and everyone would eat at once, requiring the use of large pans for serving. Many hotel chefs served food in chafing dishes, as well.
