Stock Pots: The Topic

[KateW]

The search option was all screwed up just now, so let me know if there's a topic going on this one...

Every time I stop by a kitchen store or even the cooking section of sears I see stock pots for like $160. Amazon has them for about $30. Hmmm...wonder where I'm getting mine. Or should I wait and register for one for September? :)

All I have right now is what's basically a really big sauce pot I guess; it can barely hold a whole chicken carcass and mirepoix and then to cover it all with water is like asking for disaster.

Thing is I want to make consomme at some point also. I never got to in school and I have been dying to. I hear that a consomme pot has to have straight sides. Here's another thing; it has to be short enough for me to peer over the side, and I am only five feet tall :)

Names and links welcome :) It doesn't have to be cheap, but are the really expensive ones worth it?

[Rachel Perlow]

I would (and have) get something at least 16 quarts in size -- if you're going to make stock, you may as well make a lot of it. Actually, by the time I'm done straining, defatting and concentrating, I get about 2-3 quarts of concentrated stock out of a 16 quart pot. I freeze it in ice cube trays and 1 & 2 cup containers for later use.

Here is a link to a previous stockpot thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST&f=3&t=16259

I'm working on an amazon link for what I bought at Target, will edit soon.

Edit: OK, they don't seem to have the 16 quart Chefmate pot at amazon/target (as a search of amazon and a review of the above linked thread proved), they do have a 12 quart available for $25: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00...7/egulletcom-20

But, as I said above, you may as well use the biggest pot that will fit on your stove and in your sink, so here are a couple other recommendations:

Krona 20-Quart Stock Pot with Glass Lid, $45, compare to All-Clad 20-Quart Stainless Stock Pot, $120 (eek!)

Hope this helps!

Edited January 28, 2004 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[KateW]

I've never actually reduced my stock. How much do you reduce it?

Edit--guess I could figure it out, since you give me the numbers right there....

Edited January 28, 2004 by KateW (log)

[AlexP]

I purchased this stockpot the other day from Amazon for $24.99, now it is $10.00 more. It works well, but as Rachel suggests, I would purchase at least a 16 qtr pot. I made some chicken stock the other day and I wish I had something bigger than my new 12 qtr pot.

I did see a 16 qtr pot in Target for $25.00 that seen good enough for stocks.

Alex

[Rachel Perlow]

That's probably the Chefmate I bought there last year.

KateW - read through Fat Guy's stock making class in the eGCI for more inspiration. It'll make you want to have two stockpots!

[KateW]

Oh, another question. If I make consomme, do I need a pot with a spigot, or do you all have any ideas for getting the stock out of a normal pot without damaging the raft?

[MichaelB]

I would (and have) get something at least 16 quarts in size -- if you're going to make stock, you may as well make a lot of it.

Well, I guess that I am no help. When I make stock, I MAKE STOCK --

40 to 50 pounds of veal, chicken or duck bones in

a 60 quart stock pot.

When finished, I reduce it down to a glace or demi-glace before freezing.

[Dave the Cook]

I agree with Rachel and Alex that 16-quarts is the smallest size you should get, though I say this as someone who used a 12-quart pot for years. Pots made for home use get wider rather than taller once you reach a capacity of 12 quarts (commercial pots grow in both directions), so a 16-quart is not much, if any, taller than the smaller one. This lets you make more stock at once, without compromising your ability to see over the rim.

Chefmate is very decent stuff for these puposes, as is Tramontina. As Rachel suggests, you can get Chefmate at Amazon (which is really Target): I've seen Tramontina at Wal-Mart. If you have a Farberware outlet nearby, check them, too. Occasionally they have an overstock on their Millenium line (the only one worth buying). This stuff is at least the equivalent of the other two brands.

It's not worth it to buy any higher quality than what we're talking about here, unless you're into high-end stuff for its own sake. There's no functional advantage to say, an All-Clad pot for making stock.

[Dave the Cook]

Oh, another question. If I make consomme, do I need a pot with a spigot, or do you all have any ideas for getting the stock out of a normal pot without damaging the raft?

Siphon it.

[KateW]

I wouldn't make that much stock because space is an issue--I have one of those tiny freezer-on-top-of-the-fridge deals in my little apartment. Usually when I make stock I make soup out of a couple quarts and put the remaining 3 cups or so in a ziplock bowl and shove it in the freezer. Just estimating--I'm too lazy to get up and see how much that pot actually holds.

Thanks so much for the help. I skimmed through the egullet class. I love it! I've never simmered overnight. 3 hours or so go by and it seems flavorful enough but I probably have no idea just how good it can be if simmered longer.

[josephreese]

I really like my Le Creuset stock pot.

For my family of 4 the 16-quart size is plenty large.

Amazon sells them new for about $100.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...itchen&n=284507

[Dave the Cook]

I have freezer issues, too: two and a half teenagers means I have to fight for space with pizza, ice cream and chocolate-chip cookie dough, and every inch is precious.

So I go a step further than Rachel and reduce it to a glaze, so that one ounce is equivalent to one cup of stock. This happens to be the size of a compartment in a standard ice cube tray, so I freeze it, pop it out and bag it: twelve quarts of stock is 48 cubes. When I need a cup of stock, I put a cube in a measuring cup and fill it up to eight ounces. Since the cube is also a glaze, I can also just toss it straight into a pan to give a sauce a beautiful finish and extra flavor.

[KateW]

Ok out of sheer curiosity I found out my pot holds about a gallon.

The ice cube thing sounds like a great idea, but brings back a memory of when I made margarita ice cubes and my fiance unknowingly used them and said, "Hey my coke tastes funny..." Water isn't normally green either...

I found out my fiance reads this page once in a while so I have to be careful now and be nice!

[Rachel Perlow]

After your stock cubes are frozen, you remove them to a freezer ziploc and clearly label. You don't want to confuse them with coffee or iced tea cubes!

This pot seems like a decent deal, 20 quarts and it comes with a strainer insert, for $55.

[Dave the Cook]

This pot seems like a decent deal, 20 quarts and it comes with a strainer insert, for $55.

That is a pretty good deal. But looking at the other items by that manufacturer, they seem to work strictly in aluminum and cast iron. I know a lot of restaurants use giant aluminum pots for stocks (especially brown stocks), but I wouldn't recommend them for white or fish stocks, and most home cooks don't have the luxury of dedicated pots for different stocks. On this particular item, the material isn't mentioned, but I'd make sure it was stainless steel before buying.

Good advice on labeling, Rachel. I've found myself mistaking beef for chicken -- not to mention the mix-up when the 12-year-old decided to make Coca-Cola cubes. He and Kate's fiance would get along fine.

[Carolyn Tillie]

The ice cube thing sounds like a great idea, but brings back a memory of when I made margarita ice cubes and my fiance unknowingly used them and said, "Hey my coke tastes funny..." Water isn't normally green either...

I found out my fiance reads this page once in a while so I have to be careful now and be nice!

Consider making ice-cube "sheets". Ziplok makes a variety of zipping baggies in sizes from "snack" size to quart, gallon, and two-gallon sized bags. A great hint in freezing stock is to put the reduced stock in a number of these various sized bags and lie them down flat. They will freeze thin and can then be stored vertically, buying you tons of space.

The other advantage to this over the ice-cube method of using an ice-cube tray is that the sheets are sealed. Once you have made the cubes and you store them in a bag loose, they due tend to get coated with crystals and start to deteriorate (unless used quickly).

More than half my freezer is filled with various sheets of stock and sauce...

[melkor]

You can never have too many stock pots. As long as they are all different sizes you can just stack them inside eachother. I've got 6qt, 8.5qt, 12qt, 16qt, and 35qt pots and all of them get regular use.

[KateW]

Oh yeah, I saw the frozen sheets thing too. That's a great idea.

Right now I'm making two batches of turkey stock, one in the gallon pot and one in a pot that holds about 2 quarts...I still couldn't fit one of the wings in though, so I have a lone wing for next time, lol. I'm going to try reducing this time, so we'll see...

not sure what I'm going to use turkey stock for because I really don't have much meat left, but it gives me something to do today. (snow day!)

[Rachel Perlow]

Today would have been such a great day for stock making, with all that snow outside just waiting to cool down the reduced liquid gold. Unfortunately all that snow also made it impossible to get to the store. Oh well, I still have several containers left in the freezer. :)

[snowangel]

Walking through Target yesterday, noted the 3 pot Chefmate set is marked down to something ridiculous like $15.00.

[KateW]

I've got my stock and I'm going to try reducing it now. It came out to about 2 quarts. Seems surprisingly little now that I think about it.

[Rachel Perlow]

but this is what you made in a 4 quart pot, right? If you've defatted it, you could bring it all the way down to a pint for a 4:1 reduction.

[Richard Kilgore]

Snowangel -- is that the set with aluminum disk bottoms on stainless (I think they call it their "Professional" line) or the plain stainless. Either way it's a good to fabtastic price. I do, however, recommend the disk bottoms so you can sweat ingredients when making stock and soups. I think the usual price for the set w/ disks and vents is about $69, and the 16 qt. w/disk runs about $29.95 (corrected).

Edited to correct the price of the 16 qt. -- should be only $29.95 at Target. No sets available in the local store here.

[KateW]

but this is what you made in a 4 quart pot, right? If you've defatted it, you could bring it all the way down to a pint for a 4:1 reduction.

I made a 1-gallon batch and a half gallon batch and combined them and then reduced it. But the gallon and half gallon were when I had the bones and mirepoix in it. After I took all that stuff out the liquid was less than half. I reduced it down enough to fill one of those ziplock bowls, almost 4 cups. I know I'm not using very scientific methods here but I was just playing around, really. Anyway it smells good and I didn't have to turn the heat on all day.

[Marlene]

Ok, ok, another pot question. So now that I have learned the wonders of stock making, it's time I invested in at least one stock pot. The question is, which one?

As much as I like All Clad, somehow I don't think I need an All Clad pot for making stock, but then again, I don' twant a cheap flimsy pot either. Is there a best brand for stock pots? I'm thinking a 16 inch and a 20 inch pot would serve me nicely.