orbisvicis

Fair point. I use my frying pan as I suspect you use your wok - for everything. The only problems I've had are with stir-fries, that's what I brought it up. So I'll use my new non-stick for shallow-frying (chicken parm), eggs, and pancakes. Anything else? What is a wok not good at? How does a wok address my initial concerns? Doesn't burn around the edges - no thin side walls. ? Cooks larger batches - higher heat capacity. I don't understand how a wok will help. A carbon steel wok is thin; any food dropped in will quickly lower the temperature of the pot. My current frying pan is only 3/32" thick and has similar problems. Is easy to clean after cooking multiple batches. Seasoned carbon steel is well known for its non-stick properties. How does it compare to ceramic non-stick? Can it cook acidic dishes without ruining the patina? Yeah I have no experience with cast iron / carbon steel but after skimming the literature it does seem rather easy to maintain. Do you have a dedicated towel for cleaning the wok - much like a mechanic has one for grease and gasoline - or do you just use paper towels? That looks like a small stainless steel wok. How hard is it to clean? So... everyone is in agreement? A wok is best?

What else do you use the wok for?

But that's how you cook breaded chicken, by shallow-frying, and you leave the chicken in place until it is ready to flip.

In the center of the wok chicken will deep-fry. Further up it will shallow-fry as intended. Around the edge I'd imagine it sears.

I've read that a wok doesn't do well on flat stoves, and needs commercial-grade heat to really shine. Most sites recommend getting a frying pan or stir-fry pan instead, which is basically a frying pan with high-curved sides, aka chef's pan aka sauteuse evasée aka everyday pan . Also, its not like I can do chicken parm in a wok.

I have a cheap 3" by 13" ceramic nonstick skillet which I use to stir-fry bulgogi, kimchi, etc. On my gas stove food burns in a ring around the outer edge of the skillet. I also have to cook in small batches to avoid stewing the food. It is a black mess after all the batches but being nonstick, cleans easily. Now that it's time to upgrade my skillet, which material is most appropriate? Doesn't burn around the edges - no thin side walls. Cooks larger batches - higher heat capacity. Is easy to clean after cooking multiple batches - ??.

CenturyLife makes the argument that a fully-clad stock pot can be used as a dutch oven. The idea, I think, is that clad sidewalls act as a heat barrier, retaining the heat just as a dutch oven would - as long as heat is applied. Though I'd argue you could put a thin pot in the oven for much the same effect. Notice that All-Clad and Demeyere dutch ovens are clad stainless steel, not [enameled] cast iron.

Ah. On the stovetop you can see enough to control the amount of boiling, even with condensation. Maybe professional cooks have enough of a routine to not need to check. When cooking rice you're never supposed to remove the lid, so I tilt the pot to check the water level and that's how I know how much time to add.

Hmm I was not aware my gas stovetop could reach 3600+F. Aluminum melts at 1170F and steel at 2600F. Which begs the question, has anyone ever seen a glowing pot. Yeah, but why. Glass can even go in an oven (less than 350F no more than 300F).

I've cooked on them so long any other way seems outdated. I like seeing through the glass. How else would I make sure my food is still there? And apparently glass is a better insulator. I just found this little WTF tidbit in the Cuisinart manual. Steel melts at 2750F. What cheap metals could lead to a Cuisinart pot melting? Anyone ever encounter anything like this?

Growing up we had a 6-quart Farberware (I think). My Dad used to fill it to the brim (literally) with chili and then I had to scour the stove clean. Also used for vegetables, potatoes and corned beef. Always overfilled and dribbling foam. Eventually the plastic knob cracked and fell off, and we used tongs to remove the lid. Never again.

@JoNorvelleWalker I read the topic but missed the Q&A. Most of the pots recommended in the Q&A are Sitram and Paderno, which sell without lids, though stainless steel lids can be purchased separately. These brands are praised for a higher standard of manufacturing that doesn't obscure the thickness of the thermal core in disc-clad pots. Unlike the Cuisinart brand in which the core is obscured and the thickness is not published. However I suspect the visible rings are just decorative or misleading. I have seen a fully-clad All-Clad copper pan with what I believe is just a decorative copper ring around the base, around 1/4" - 1/2" thick. That pan is just over 4 lbs without the lid. I've also handled the Anolon 6.5-quart copper disc-clad stock pot with a 1/4" - 1/2" thick copper ring. That pot is incredibly bottom-heavy and the side walls feel cheap. My understanding is that most discs are fully enclosed, and I doubt a 1/2" copper disc pot would sell for $120 MSRP. The Q&A also recommends casseroles for cooking stews. A casserole is just a wider & shorter stock pot. The author (@slkinsey) prefers cooking stews in an enameled cast-iron casserole. I don't understand why. Stews are cooked "low & slow". Cast iron is a poor thermal conductor with high specific heat. No reason not to use a disc-clad pot. Plus a cast-iron pot has too many limitations: excessive weight, limited size, limited thermal conductivity. I'm looking for a versatile pot. So I'll be looking for a wide and short "stock pot", around 11" diameter and 7" height. That topic describes the sauteuse evasée as the fait tout of pots due to the angled "windsor" sides. That's why I believe the best stock pots would also have angled sides. With a lid - no evaporation. Without a lid - maximum evaporation. Careful angle the lid to control the precise evaporation. Remains narrow at the bottom for convection heating. The Viking Contemporary stock pot is such a pot. I originally discounted Fissler until you mentioned them. Their US website doesn't sell anything with glass lids and there's no mention of cladding or aluminum or copper cores. After you mentioned them I visited their German website to find many pots with glass lids, though none with a capacity greater than 7 quarts. I also looked into their "cookstar" designation which is apparently a high-quality aluminum disc-clad base. For the record I've also found the Viking Contemporary and the Zwilling Pro series to have very nice glass lids. Anyway I would rank the contenders like so, best first: Fissler with glass lid: unavailable Zwilling Pro with glass lid: unavailable May not even be manufactured in 10-12 quart capacity. Demeyere Resto with metal lid: unavailable Viking Contemporary with glass lid: unavailable > 8 quarts Calphalon Contemporary 12-quart with glass lid: unavailable Cuisinart Classic 10-quart with glass lid: available Cuisinart Classic 12-quart with metal lid Viking fully-clad 12-quart with metal lid Fully-clad is unnecessary and heavier. Tramontina 12-quart with glass lid Just hasn't received as many reviews as Cuisinart. Tramontina 12-quart prima with metal lid Neat rim but some reviews claim the lid does not sit firmly. Cooks Standard 12-quart with metal lid Appears to copy Cuisinart. Cook N Home 12-quart with glass lid Looks cheap, recessed lip, silicone handles. Cuisinart 12-quart with glass lid Weird shape. Homichef 12-quart with glass lid Substandard or niche (pick one) materials. I went down the list and picked the highest-ranked available pot: Cuisinart Classic 10-quart with glass lid. I wanted to check if it felt flimsy and cheap before ordering so I called all my local retail stores but none are currently stocking any Cuisinart pots. So I ordered online. We'll see. I'm doing all this research because last year I had chosen Calphalon Contemporary. Now I'm bummed that I have to settle for a less-performant pot.

Brands considered: Vigor (webstaurantstore in-house?), Vollrath, Tramontina, Cuisinart, Viking, Calphalon, All-Clad, Le Creuset, Hestan, Demeyere, Zwilling, Farberware, CooknHome, Ozeri, Avacraft, Anolon, Homichef, Greenpan, Lodge, Ikea, RSVP, Made In, Duxpot, KitchenAid, Circulon, T-Fal, Fissler Notes: Vollrath had some very nice models, particularly models 9223503, 92247721, and 92277521, all without glass lids. I found it very strange that their tri-ply series was bonded with carbon steel - so 18/8, carbon steel, 18/8. Why on earth? The Tribute ($$$) series features unified sauce and stock pots while the Optio ($) and Intrigue ($$) series have separate sauce (wide) and stock (narrow) pots of matching capacities. The Demeyere Resto series, though without glass lid has excellent reputation for a presumably affordable price. As it is out of stock and due to Zwilling's unfortunate policy, I can't find any information on the 12L stock pot: not the price, not the web page, nothing. Only the stock pot is 12L (26cm diameter - 10.24"); the stew pot stops at 8L. On the pricier Apollo series the stock pot runs from 8L to 16L; only the stew pot is 12L (30cm diameter - 11.81"). As I like welded handles and a good quality aluminum base that extends fully to the sides, I would make an exception for the metal lid. The Zwilling Pro stock pot also looks promising and also has a glass lid. The 28cm (11") model carries 13.25 liters (14 quarts). From another retailer I discovered they have 20cm and 24cm models, but due to Zwilling policy, once again... no information. Same situation with the Zwilling Pro Stew Pot at 24cm. As I only discovered this pot through the same retailer so I don't even know the capacity. The Viking Contemporary stock pot is very nice but unfortunately only available up to 8 quarts. Like the discontinued Calphalon it has a flared design which I suspect is ideal to both convection heating of the liquid (like a narrow stock pot) and slow-cooking or reductions (like a wide stew pot). And probably saves money on the smaller disc bottom. Anolon has a very nice 6.5 quart stock pot with a copper disc base for only $120 ($100 on overstock). It has a flared design like the Calphalon albeit less pronounced. The glass lid of the Ikea 365+ looks very easy to clean as it lacks the typical exterior stainless steel rim. Unfortunately the 365+ series is not clad. RSVP had some decent stock pots, but only in 8qt and 16qt sizes. Rated as "very light". Made-In has a very affordable fully-clad stock pot for $160. As it is only available in 8qt I'm not considering it. The brand seems to have made a splash when released, but no recent or extensive reviews. I also include some contenders below without glass lids, mainly for comparison. I'm probably not considering them. Questions and Answers: Steam Vent: According to my research a lid's steam vent doesn't impact the steaming of sensitive foods such as rice. Nonetheless the steam vent might get dirty easily and be difficult to clean. Wide/Short vs. Narrow/Tall: While stock pots are traditionally tall and skinny some (9"-10" diameter, 8"-9" height) - like All-Clad - are wide and short (11"-12" diameter, 6"-7" height). Many brands usually higher-end or commercial such as Vollrath, Demeyere, and All-Clad sell both stock pots and a wider, flatter high-capacity pot labelled soup, sauce, or stew pot. I'm used to 9" diameter, 4" heigh pots. I think it is a better to prefer a wider pot more suited to cooking thick foods and for stacking pots. But 12-quart is on the smaller side so not too wide. The sweet spot is probably 10"-11". That said I prefer the hybrid "contemporary" design of a flared pot - narrow at the bottom, wide at the top. I feel it benefits from both the convection heating of a narrow pot, and the rapid evaporation of a stew pot. Cladding: For what I cook, bottom (disc) cladding is a minimum requirement. The disc may eventually detach on cheaper pots. Side cladding is not required and may add extra weight. Resolution: Don't get a cheaper pot. 18/8 vs 18/10: Both part of the 304 series with very little difference in performance. Some sites claim that cookware manufacturers often cheat in their alloy ratios anyway, leading to less durable cookware. Welded vs Riveted Handles A good weld should be as reliable as good rivets but spotty welding on cheap pots has besmirched the reputation of welded handles. That said, if you can pick up a good-quality pot the welded handles would make cleaning easier. Contenders (weight and dimensions are without lid): Manufacturer: Vigor (Webstaurant) Pot: 12 Qt. Heavy-Duty Stainless Steel Aluminum-Clad Stock Pot with Cover Model#: 473SSPOT12 Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 11.5" Inner Height: 7.25" Weight: ? Base Thickness: ? Cladding Thickness : 4mm (0.16") (Or is this the thickness of the entire base?) Material: unknown 21-gauge (0.032") stainless steel, aluminum base, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Stainless steel Oven-Safe: ? Handles Welded Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings : No Notes: Price: $49 Manufacturer: Vollrath Pot: Vollrath 3503 Optio 11 Qt. Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Cover Model#: 9223503 Shape: Traditional Capacity: 11 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 9.4" Inner Height: 9.67" Weight: ? Base Thickness: 0.25" Cladding Thickness: ? Material: Unknown 21-gauge (0.032") stainless steel, aluminum base, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Stainless steel Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Welded Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings: No Notes: Price: $62 Manufacturer: Vollrath Pot: Vollrath 47721 Intrigue 11 Qt. Stainless Steel Stock Pot Model#: 92247721 Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt (webstaurant store incorrect title and description) Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 9 3/8" Inner Height: 9 3/4" Weight: ? Base Thickness: 0.25" Cladding Thickness: ? Materia: 18/8 18-gauge (0.048") stainless steel, aluminum base (disputed by manufacturer), ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: None Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Welded Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings: No Notes: Lifetime warranty. Price: $109 Manufacturer: Vollrath Pot: Vollrath 77521 Tribute 12 Qt. Stainless Steel Sauce / Stock Pot Model#: 92277521 Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 12" Inner Height: 6.25" Weight: ? Base Thickness: ? Cladding Thickness: ? Material: 18/8 8-gauge stainless steel, 3004 aluminum base, 18/0 stainless steel Lid: None Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Riveted Rim: Slightly flared at a shallow/vertical angle, wide Graduated Markings: No Notes: Lifetime warranty. Price: $140 Manufacturer: Tramontina Pot: 12 Qt Covered Stainless Steel Stock Pot Model#: 80104/122DS Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: ? (Outer Diameter 10.87") Inner Height: ? (with lid 11.73") Weight: ? Base Thickness: ? Cladding Thickness: ? Material: 18/10, aluminum base, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Glass with steam-vent Oven-Safe: 500F (this can't include the lid?) Handles: Riveted Rim: Rim is recessed/notched. Graduated Markings: No Notes: Same pot as the Bed, Bath & Beyond pot for $40. Price: $42 Manufacturer: Tramontina Pot: Prima 12 Qt Stainless Steel Stock Pot Model#: 80101/012DS Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: ? (Outer Diameter 12.24") Inner Height: ? (with lid 10.24") Weight: ? (3.63 lb according to America's Test Kitchen) Base Thickness: ? (3/8" 0.375" according to America's Test Kitchen) Cladding Thickness: ? Material: 18/10, aluminum base, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Stainless steel 18/10 Oven-Safe: 500F (this can't include the lid?) Handles: Riveted Rim: Strongly flared at a flat/horizontal angle, and very wide Graduated Markings: No Notes: Lid rests on the wide rim which has led to some bad reviews. Price: $110 Manufacturer: Cuisinart Pot: 12 Quart Stainless Steel Stockpot with Cover Model#: 466-26 Shape: Bulging Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: ? Inner Height: ? Weight: ? Base Thickness: ? Cladding Thickness: ? Material: ?, aluminum base, ? Lid: Glass without steam vent Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Riveted Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings: No Notes: So many question marks yet so many good reviews. Price: $70 Manufacturer: Cuisinart Pot: Chef's Classic™ Stainless 10 Quart Stockpot with Cover Model#: 76610-26G Shape: Traditional Capacity: 10 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: ? Inner Height: ? Weight: ? Base Thickness: ? Cladding Thickness: ? Material: ?, aluminum base, ferrite steel (probably 18/10) Lid: Glass without steam vent Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Riveted Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings: Yes Notes: Here for the 12-quart version in this series (Chef's Classic). It is priced at $70 but only ships with a stainless steel lid. Model# 766-26. Price: $50 Manufacturer: Cuisinart Pot: MultiClad Pro Triple Ply Stainless Cookware 12 Quart Stockpot with Cover Model#: MCP66-28N Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: Yes Inner Diameter: ? Inner Height: ? Weight: ? (6.82 lb according to America's Test Kitchen) Base Thickness: ? (3/16" 0.1875 according to America's Test Kitchen) Cladding Thickness: ? Material: 18/10, aluminum, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Stainless steel Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Riveted Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings: No Notes: Price: $130 Manufacturer: Calphalon (Discontinued) Pot: Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel Cookware, Stock Pot, 12-quart Model#: LR8612P Shape: Slightly bulging and flared Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 8 1/4" at base, 12" at top Inner Height: 7 7/8" Weight: ? (4.40 lb according to America's Test Kitchen) Base Thickness: ? (5/16", 0.3125" according to America's Test Kitchen) Cladding Thickness: ? Material: ?, aluminum base, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Glass without steam vent. Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Riveted Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings: No Notes: Reviews found an unusually heavy lid at 2.09 lb. Price: Discontinued Manufacturer: Zwilling Pot: 28cm Stainless Steel Stockpot With Glass Lid Model#: 65124-280-0 Shape: Traditional Capacity: 13.25L (14 Qt) Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 28cm (11.02") Inner Height: 22.4cm (8.8") Weight: ? Base Thickness: ? Cladding Thickness: ? Material: 18/10, aluminum, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Glass without steam vent Oven-Safe: 200C (392F) probably including lid Handles: Welded (probably) Rim: ? (notched recessed?) Graduated Markings: Yes Notes: Price: $208 Manufacturer: Cook N Home Pot: Stainless Steel Stockpot with Lid 12 Quart Model#: ? Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 26cm (10.24") Inner Height: 21.5cm (8.46") Weight: ? (4.078 lb according to America's Test Kitchen) Base Thickness: ? (3/16" 0.1875" according to America's Test Kitchen) Cladding Thickness: ? Material: 18/10, aluminum, ferrite steel (probably 18/0) Lid: Glass with steam vent Oven-Safe: 350F Handles: Riveted Rim: Recessed notched Graduated Markings: No Notes: Two upgrades available both only with stainless steel lids and the following differences. Cooks Standard Classic ($50) with flared, flat, thin rim and thicker handles. Cooks Standard Professional ($57) with "heavy-duty" steel, flared/flat/thin rim and thick riveted handles. Roughly 10" diameter, 10" height and 5.25lb. Price: $40 Manufacturer: Homichef Pot: <some really long title> Model#: ? Shape: Traditional Capacity: 12 Qt Fully-Clad: No Inner Diameter: 11" Inner Height: 8" Weight: 4lbs Base Thickness: 7mm (0.28") Cladding Thickness: ? Material: 21/0, aluminum, 18/0 Lid: Glass with steam vent Oven-Safe: ? Handles: Riveted Rim: Flared, flat, thin Graduated Markings: No Notes: 21/0 is a cheaper 18/8 without nickel but more chromium to compensate. Performance is unknown. Chromium makes a pot harder and more corrosion resistant. Nickel makes a pot less brittle and more corrosion resistant (and also shinier). Price: $42 Unfortunately it is hard to make a choice when there is so little information available. Most pots don't even publish weight. And this is how a Calphalon rep on Amazon responded to the question, "Is this 18/10?".

Heh, did you ever reheat food on that thing? Just plop on some leftovers and crank the gas? Its pretty cool. Maybe even eat right off it like stovestop-safe stoneware dishware, i.e. dolsot. I think its a good idea but maybe a tad inconvenient. It also may waste heat on the four corners not in contact with the pot. Regarding Zwilling, I just got off the phone with a Zwilling rep and can only say they have a very unusual policy. I noticed that Zwilling and its many associated brands have a very spotty catalog. What's worse, the catalog changes when you change your language/country, US/CA/UK/FR. But I found some promising pots on other websites like Amara and Target for a decent price and called Zwilling to get more details such as capacity and materials. The rep wouldn't give me any information for any out-of-stock items. The rep wouldn't give me any information on pots listed on the UK site, since I was calling from a US number. I asked for a product catalog and was told the issue would have to be "escalated". Well, all I can say is I found a review declaring Zwilling pots to be mediocre, so I might not be missing much.

Yeah, I didn't know IKEA had cookware. That said, only the OUMBÄRLIG is disc-clad so I'd have to purchase the lid elsewhere. Neither the IKEA 365+ nor the ANNONS are clad. That is a nice looking glass lid. What is that? I'll check out the webstaurant site. I admit I am concerned about the weight, to some degree, as I can no longer lift as much. My local HomeGoods (discount store) had 7 or 8 Calphalon Classic 8-quart stock pots and they were all too small. Many pots exaggerate their capacity (obvious when you see an internally graduated pot), and you have to leave room for boiling, so I suspect it is better to prefer a larger pot. HomeGoods also had many larger and cheaper pots, the sides thin enough to flex easily. I am sorry to say I discounted them too quickly and didn't catch the sizes for comparison. Pretty much everyone here has ruled out the Cuisinart Multiclad on the basis that the side walls don't matter for soups. Though I think the term "soup" may fall a bit flat. I'm not considering aluminum. I don't feel comfortable cooking with it for health reasons. It is too reactive a metal, and dents too easily... or so I've been told. That is a very good tip. They look nice and are also disc-clad with aluminum. How is it cooking with a steam hold in the lid? Hmm I took several looks and didn't find anything at their website. Next post I'm going to link to all the contenders, with as much information as I can dig up.