Tools of the Trade: My Stock Pot

I talked in my culinary point of view about believing in "simple" to prepare dishes that could be made in any kitchen with a common set of tools and devices. While my own kitchen definitely has quite a few more than the mandatory minimum, I thought that I should talk about some of the toys in my kitchen.

Something that I think SHOULD be a requirement in any kitchen, but isn't officially is a stock pot. While stock pots come in different sizes, it should be at least twice the size of a dutch oven to be effective. My personal stock pot is a 16 qt All Clad with an aluminum bottom that fits rather nicely on the adjustable burner of my glass top range.

The nicest thing about a stock pot is that you don't have to worry about how much you put in it (within reason!). I can a multi-batch of pasta sauce or make stock out of the remains of a 8 lbs chicken roast and never come close to filling the pot. Mind you I did manage to fill it up with a multi-batch of Kashmir chutney last summer, but the less said about that the better!

Anyways, on the list of funnest toys to play with in the kitchen, my stock pot ends up #3!