Here's the very best one.
), though stainless steel themselves, came with a glass lid. It was nice to be able to see through the lid to check if our water was boiling we suppose, but the lids were harder to clean and weren’t nearly as durable. The one outlier was the, which is enamel-coated carbon steel. We stayed away from nonstick stock pots because, as with all nonstick cookware, the coatings only last a few years, can’t be used over high heat, and it won’t come handy for most stock pot projects.
is a solid budget pick and has a 10-year warranty. It’s very similar to the Cuisinart, but just a tad taller, apparently due to a thicker aluminum-core plate at the bottom. Its looping handles are easy to grip and stay cooler than smaller ones while over the heat. But we prefer the flatter handle shape of the handles on the Cuisinart and the All-Clad—they’re just as roomy, but a little thicker, and their flatness provides better support when moving the pots around when full and heavy.
is, like most other products from this iconic brand, a total looker. The color choices are fun and playful, but online reviewers warn that the coating chips over time and bemoan the fact that it isn’t dishwasher-safe. The tall, skinny shape took up little space on our stove, heated quickly, and featured a “stay cool” knob on the lid, but we preferred the stainless-steel models we tested for durability.was the tallest, narrowest, and lightest weight stock pot we tested.
For wide lasagna noodles and other XXL pasta, a stock pot is the best way to boil a casserole’s-worth at once.