Stockpots (Cookware)

Volume comes first in a stockpot, which runs 8 to 16 quarts in home kitchens and stands tall on straight sides. Its walls are deliberately thin, because nothing here needs browning. The pot's job is bringing a large amount of water to a boil and holding it there. Thin metal moves heat into liquid faster than thick metal does.

The tall narrow shape limits how much surface meets the air, so a stock simmers for six hours and loses relatively little water. That shape also stacks ingredients deep, keeping bones and vegetables submerged so they give up gelatin instead of drying out at the top. The base is the one place thickness works best. An aluminum core sandwiched into the bottom stops the underside scorching when you sweat onions before the liquid goes in. Two handles rather than one is a safety feature, since 12 quarts of boiling water weighs roughly 25 pounds.

A Dutch oven is the pot to reach for when browning comes first and simmering second; a stockpot is for when volume beats searing. Saucepans do the same liquid work at one sixth the scale and heat up far quicker for small jobs. Cookware sets usually include an 8 quart stockpot. That is the size most households actually use, since 16 quarts will not fit under a kitchen faucet or into most sinks.

Pasta for four or more, corn and seafood boils, big batches of soup and stock built from a carcass all need this pot. Home canners need enough depth to cover jars by an inch of water, which usually means 12 quarts or more. Cooking for one or two makes 8 quarts the sensible ceiling, since anything larger wastes energy heating metal you never use. Paying for thick clad walls in a pot whose purpose is boiling water is money spent on weight you then have to lift.

Lift it empty and imagine it full, then confirm it fits under your tap and into your sink, because a pot you cannot fill or wash lives permanently in a cupboard. Riveted handles wide enough for oven mitts beat small elegant ones every time. Cool stock in the pot only until it stops steaming, then move it into shallow containers, since a full stockpot in a refrigerator sits in the bacterial danger zone for hours. Dry the base thoroughly after washing so the sandwiched aluminum layer does not corrode at its exposed edge.