Stainless Steel Pot question

Ozzy2001

Ozzy2001

        I want to get a stainless steel pot and I'm not very knowledgeable on what to look for.  I'm planning to use it to cook down hot sauces and purees and probably some spaghetti sauce.  Due to the long cook times I'm leaning towards SS so I won't have the metallic taste etc in the food.  I'm not a pro and I won't be using it all the time, so I'm not looking to spend a fortune and get the "best" one.  I just want a few suggestions on what to get.  So far it looks like I should find one with cladding on the bottom.  Aside from that what else do you guys feel is a necessity?
 
Thanks
 
 
JHP toldya true Ozzy.  And definitely get cladded - they heat up faster and hold heat better.  I have and use these - at home and the shop.  Come in many sizes and hold up well under near constant abuse.  That 5 gallon I posted is perfect for multi case batches of hot sauce - you might want to go a lil smaller for home use or a little bigger if you plan on brewing beer in the future.  :)
 
I do not do commercial food, just home canning.  When making pickles, salsa, and other high acid foods they are an absolute must.  I imagine the same is true of hot sauces.  So willing to bet there is a commercial kitchen source that is better than where I purchase them.  I get them at our local feed store.  I do not remember if it was Tractor Supply or Rural King, but one of them had much better prices than Walmart and larger pots.

Thing is, they dont stock them year round.  Just mid summer till late fall when people are putting up their gardens.

As an after thought: Some people swear by ceramic for canning, but it is a bit too old world for me.
 
Thanks guys.  Appreciate the input.  I have a birthday coming up and people were asking what I wanted, but I didn't know what to tell them lol.

SmokenFire said:
JHP toldya true Ozzy.  And definitely get cladded - they heat up faster and hold heat better.  I have and use these - at home and the shop.  Come in many sizes and hold up well under near constant abuse.  That 5 gallon I posted is perfect for multi case batches of hot sauce - you might want to go a lil smaller for home use or a little bigger if you plan on brewing beer in the future.   :)
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lol funny thing is I am planning on brewing beer in the future.  That was another thing on my bday list :)
 
thick, heavy base ...

JoynersHotPeppers said:
Most of my stuff is 18/10 or 18/8. I figured it was worth paying for good pots because I was doing several chili cookoffs and what not and who wants to ruin a good soup or sauce!
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000X1JO6W/ref=psdc_289832_t1_B0017WPY1A
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This one is exceedingly popular amongst people folks brewing. I recognize it by the wide handles - wide for pouring because it's damn hot and heavy ...
 
I have two, and they're a treat ...
 
The Polar Ware line is often described as the top of the line SS pots in the brewing community, so you can look into why (I didn't, so I can't tell you why) ...
 
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I just invested in a whole stainless cook ware set about a year ago and I have to say it was worth every penny. Don't go for the cheapest one like Joyner stated, and make sure you get tri-ply preferably with aluminum core. The one down side I learned the hard way was not to salt water without the water boiling, it causes the salt and water to react with the chromium in the SS and caused pitting.
 
I bought a set of ss pots from 1 gallon to 5 gal at Sam's Club over 23 years ago and they're still going strong. But if you can find some with thicker bottoms that would probably be better if you're going to be hovering over them.
 
Twice the Spice said:
I strictly only use SS and cast iron for any type of cooking, I love the cast Dutch ovens I just tend to use SS for acidic things because of iron leaching.
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Yes thats why I use the enameled CI for most of my sauces. I also have a couple of large SS pots as well. I have a really nice heavy older Cuisinart that I really like.
 
I find a 2 gallon size is great for small batches, short runs, test batches.  +++ to the clad bottoms... There'a good selection of sizes here-
 
I love my 2 gallon Caphelon copper clad Stainless pot. Glass lid so I can see what's going on in there, and as SL said, great for prototyping small batches, scaling out the recipes to test batches, etc. 
 
I have a backup Cuisinart SS pot, but the Caphelon is better, 
 
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
I love my 2 gallon Caphelon copper clad Stainless pot. Glass lid so I can see what's going on in there, and as SL said, great for prototyping small batches, scaling out the recipes to test batches, etc. 
 
I have a backup Cuisinart SS pot, but the Caphelon is better, 
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Caphelon makes some decent stuff, most of my cookwear is that cause I am too poor for All-Clad :) 
 
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