Pots are essential kitchen utensils with a deep base, high sides, and loop handles on either side.
Their characteristic shape allows them to hold a large quantity of ingredients. Pots can come in all sizes and are used for multiple purposes.
They may also be constructed using different materials like copper, aluminum, stainless steel, terracotta, and ceramic.
We can differentiate pots based on the material used for construction.
Another way is to divide them according to use. Each pot is suitable for a specific need.
Let’s look at how to use some of the most common types of pots.
Sauce Pot
Sauce pots are deep and wide vessels with high walls and a base with a large diameter. These pots usually have loop handles on either side.
These features make it easy to cook liquid-based dishes in sauce pots. But you can also use them to make various other dishes.
Sauce pots are good for boiling pasta and cooking stews and soups. You can also use them to steam vegetables and rice.
High sides provide headroom, but they do not prevent every spill or boil-over. Sauce pots can also be used to reduce sauces when the recipe calls for it.
Due to their shape, they can hold more volume than saucepans and can be used to cook sauces and liquids in larger quantities.
Stock Pot
Stock pots are larger than sauce pots and easily identifiable by their size and shape. They have very high walls and a wide base.
However, the base diameter is comparable to other pots, and these pots appear taller than they are wide.
The unique shape of a stock pot makes it easy to heat large quantities of liquids. So you can use them to simmer and boil ingredients.
The lid prevents liquids from evaporating, so the liquid doesn’t reduce too much.
This makes it ideal for cooking stocks, soups, and similar dishes using large amounts of liquids.
Braziers
Braziers are shallow pots with a wide cooking surface. They can hold a good amount of liquid but have a smaller capacity than stock pots and sauce pots.
These pots are good for long and slow cooking of meat and vegetables in a liquid base.
Cooking ingredients in a small space allows the liquid to infuse into them and add flavor.
Braziers are often made of metal, but thickness alone does not establish oven safety. Check the exact vessel, handles and lid.
If both heat sources are approved, you can start the dish on the stove and finish it in the oven within the product’s limits.
Fryer Pot
A fryer pot is a good alternative to a deep fryer. But you can use it for other needs besides deep frying.
It holds enough oil to fry small batches of food. Most fryer pots come with a side hook to hook up a draining basket when needed.
A suitable base can help spread heat, but it does not prevent overheating. Follow the pot’s oil-fill limit and recipe temperature, and monitor frying continuously.
Apart from using it to cook French fries, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, and fish, you can also use the pot to cook sauces and stews.
Pasta Pot
If you make pasta regularly, you will know that you need a deep pot to prevent the liquid from spilling over.
A pasta pot is the right kitchen utensil for this purpose.
This pot usually has three parts: a fitted lid, a main deep pot with high edges, and a strainer that fits inside the main pot.
After adding the pasta to the strainer, place it inside the main pot with the cooking liquid and cook as usual.
When the pasta is done, carefully lift the strainer insert from the main pot, let it drain and transfer the pasta to the sauce. Use suitable heat protection and follow the pot’s instructions.
There is no need to drain it into another vessel or wait till it loses all the liquid.
Some pasta pots may come without the perforated basket or strainer. In this case, you will add the pasta directly into the boiling water.
A lid can help bring water to a boil, but watch the pot and follow the pasta directions during cooking. Covering does not guarantee faster cooking or prevent boil-over.
In this case also, the two side handles make it easy to get rid of the excess liquid by straining it into a colander or mesh strainer.
Apart from making pasta, you can use the same pot for cooking rice or steaming vegetables, meat, and seafood.
Dutch Oven
Dutch ovens are sturdy pots with lids, often made of bare or enameled cast iron. Other constructions also exist, so check the actual product.
Bare cast iron needs a maintained seasoning layer, but a pre-seasoned pot may be ready to use after the maker’s initial cleaning. Lodge explains that its seasoned cast iron does not need initial home seasoning.
Enamel does not need bare-metal seasoning. Both surfaces need suitable heat control and care rather than a promise that food will never stick.
Dutch ovens can suit stews, braises, roasting or bread recipes when the exact pot is approved for that heat source and method. Do not treat stovetop bread as a general use for every pot.
Check hob compatibility, complete oven limits and any preheating restrictions. A Dutch oven is not automatically induction-compatible merely because many are made of cast iron.
French Oven
French oven often refers to an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven. The enamel is a glasslike coating, not a layer of cast aluminum.
Enamel does not need the seasoning used on bare cast iron. It can still allow food to stick, so use the maker’s heat and cooking-fat guidance.
These pots often come in a range of enamel colors. The name is not a guarantee of a higher price or better performance than every Dutch oven.
Double Boiler
A double boiler is a two-layer pot with a base pot and an insert pot that fits neatly inside the rim of the outer pot.
The lower pot holds water while the upper pot carries the ingredients to be cooked.
The ingredients in the upper pot cook in gentle heat from the boiling water in the base.
This gentle cooking process is used to make sauces and melt chocolate.
Indirect heat can make a delicate mixture easier to control, but it can still overheat. Follow the recipe and monitor the mixture.
A double-boiler is also called a Bain Marie.
Clay Pots
Clay vessels have long been used for storing water and cooking, but a storage or decorative pot is not automatically cookware.
Use a food-contact cooking pot with explicit permission for the intended stove or oven method. Follow its directions for soaking, heating and drying.
For example, Römertopf’s traditional clay-baker instructions require a cold oven start and distinguish glazed and unglazed parts. That is not a rule for every clay pot.
A suitable clay pot can be used for the stews, rice dishes and other recipes intended for it. Do not improvise oil seasoning to prevent brittleness or change porosity; use the maker’s preparation method.
