Like the All-Clad, it has an aluminum base and is dishwasher-safe but felt a little less hefty and long-wearing—perhaps less likely to stand up to many years of use. After vacationing in France in the early 1970s, retired physicist Carl Sontheimer was inspired to go back to work. He’d seen a new gadget—a mechanized food processor for restaurants—and wanted to retool it for passionate home cooks like himself. His scaled down version of the machine was efficient and versatile, allowing users to mix eggs into puff pastry in as little as 15 seconds, as opposed to 15 minutes manually. Immediately, revered chefs including Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, and James Beard applauded the invention, and Beard even wrote an entire cookbook dedicated to the machine. Decades later, Cuisinart’s line of innovative products ranges from waffle makers and rice cookers to eco-friendly nonstick pans.
By clicking on the products below, we may receive a commission at no cost to you. The pot in the OP’s pic seems to be fully clad but I would need to see the bottom to say for sure. Hestan Probond is another great option, and absolutely beautiful pans to look at. Demeyere is the somewhat dark horse but I prefer them to All-Clad because the pans are rivetless which makes cleaning the inside very convenient and the handles are more comfortable than all-clad.
The lid is also constructed from stainless steel and has a tight fit and solid handle. We believe that for the average home, eight quarts is the perfect size. Go smaller and you teeter into normal pot territory, finding yourself able to make only a small amount cuisinart soup maker of broth. You definitely need one big pot in your kitchen, and eight quarts is exactly how big. Sure, it’s probably the biggest vessel you own, built to last a lifetime of cooking quadruple batches of pasta sauce, and simmering chicken pieces for stock.
But if you plan to prepare meals without super high heat and don’t mind using only plastic or wooden utensils, the finish on the T-Fal Nonstick Stockpot will last for years according to many happy cooks. But, I would hate to have to pull out my heavy dutch cuisinart pots and pans set oven every time I want to boil water for spaghetti. Not to mention, a good enameled cast iron Dutch oven is going to cost significantly more for a much smaller size. When filled with liquid, a stockpot is probably one of the heaviest items in the kitchen.
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We believe that tri-ply or multi-ply is the best choice in a smaller stockpot for most cooks, and a disk encapsulated bottom is best in larger sizes to keep prices down. For braising and stirring, a shorter pot with a wider mouth makes manipulating food easier. And reducing broths to create concentrated flavors is more efficient in such a vessel. However, if you only plan to use it for preparing soups and stock, a larger vessel such as the 12-quart might serve better. If it’s only going to be used on the range top, you would do well with a less expensive disk-bottomed pot rather than one that’s fully clad. If you plan to use it for a variety of purposes, look for one with a 6- or 8-quart capacity.
This is an all-around great company and their products are still made in the USA. All-Clad is known for their superior warranty coverage – as long as you didn’t take a sledgehammer to the product or otherwise abuse it, they will cover it. However, these two sizes will become the cornerstones of your collection. Once you have a 6- and/or 8-quart stockpot of decent quality, such as the All-Clad, you’ll find this to be true.
This piece was edited by Bernadette Machard de Gramont, an LA-based writer who specializes in global food and wine content. A Williams-Sonoma HQ alum, she researches and tests a variety of cookware, bakeware, and wine tools, and interviews field experts for their insight. A 12-quart capacity stockpot works well for making large amounts of, well, anything. Use it to simmer bone broth, whip up a batch of chili or Bolognese sauce, steam crab legs, or boil a family-sized amount of pasta. Deep stockpots can also be used for sous vide cooking, instead of having to buy a special container. People praise this stockpot for being of similar construction and quality to more expensive versions, but at a fraction of the price–especially considering the extra colanders included with this set.