The history of the stock pot is not as old as one might think. Cooking utensils were a very slow but necessary part of human evolution. While early humans used reeds, the shells of turtles, mollusks, and the stomachs of animals to heat their food, the evolution into pottery was a slow process. Pottery allows foodstuffs to be held over a slow, low heat. Pottery cracks when it gets too hot. Even modern pottery is meant for slow cooking. No open fires please! It was not until the development of bronze and iron that utensils made of metal became another option. A cauldron found in medieval kitchen resembles modern pots. The cauldron has a round bottom and a curved handle that hangs over an open fire. Pots or kettles were used for cooking or boiling liquids. Cauldrons fell out of favor when they became a symbol of the witches’ chariot and fire requirements.
Stock pots are round with a flat bottom and handles on either side. The cap is a useful accessory. The circular handles get hot when cooking, making them less useful than the upper side handles on modern stock pots. Stock pots are made from a small selection of modern metals. The useful metals in pots conduct heat well and are not chemically reactive. Food should not taste like a frying pan, nor should the qualities of the mineral become part of your diet. Metals that have been used over time are aluminium, copper, cast iron, stainless steel, carbon steel, enameled cast iron, enameled over steel, covered iron or brass, and metal with non-stick interiors.
While stainless steel has many great qualities, thermal conductivity is not among them. A good stainless steel pot should have another heat-conducting metal at the base of the pot.
In construction, a stock pot is similar to a large sauce pot. The height of the pot vertically equals the diameter of the bottom. Pots are measured by volume. The smaller the sauce pot, the more likely it is to fit one handle, and the handle is much longer. Stock pots are much larger with two handles on either side in order to use both hands to balance the weight of the pot. Stock pots are also measured in volume, usually from 6 to 36 liters. The sides of the stockpot are at least as large as their diameter allowing for simmering for long periods of time. The broth is produced by placing vegetables or meats in a large amount of water and simmering them over a long period of time. Reducing the liquid creates a rich stock (vegetable or meat) for use as a base for soups, stews, pot pies, and sauces. Some meats are not suitable for storage, such as pork, due to their fatty quality.
Some recommendations for a good broth are to start with cold water, add the meat in a ratio of 1 part to 2 parts water, add the meat before the vegetables, simmer with bubbles breaking just the top (not boiling), and the scum that gets to the fat should be removed and discarded. from the top.