Customer Reviews

Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 6-1/2-Quart Saucepot with Pasta Insert

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the best things about this pasta set was being able to throw away my plastic colander. This was worth its weight in gold from the day I brought this home. Pasta cooks very nicely in this combination, as does steamed vegetables. It's particularly helpful when boiling crab legs- much easier to simply lift out the insert than to take all those pesky legs and put them in a colander. This is also great for making pot roasts that could be made in a stockpot or crockpot- the strainer makes it very easy to separate the stock for making gravy. So many uses, so little time!

This Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 6 1/2-Quart Saucepot with Pasta Insert and Lid is a "pasta pentola set" from the newer line of Calphalon's Hard Anodized cookware. Because the handles of this saucepot, pasta insert, and lid are made from stainless steel, they stay cool to the touch. The pasta insert is made from heavy duty 18/10 stainless steel.

I have found that the cooking times for different kinds of pasta are consistent when I cook them with this pot and insert, so I can set my kitchen timer for a minute or so before the time I need for al dente. When the pasta is done, I remove the insert, let the water drain off into the pan, and put the cooked pasta into a large bowl and sauce it.

The sauce pan can be used to make large quanties of sauce, stew, chili, or soup. It heats up to a medium-high setting in a short amount of time. The Commercial hard anodized finish is almost nonstick. I don't use any pan cooking spray on these hard anodized pans because it causes a sticky residue to be built up. I hand wash my Calphalon pots and pans and use Bon Ami or Dormond cleaner for any stains or discoloration.

All of the Calphalon "Collector's Edition" "specials" are great buys, and this pasta pentola set is perfect for a couple or a small family to add to their collection of quality cookware.

I bought this out of my gold box. Nearly ended in divorce court. This fills up the cupboard and some pots have been relegated to the shelves in the garage. I bought this to replace a Circulon stock pot that I bought to try that brand. No comparison! The Circulon doesn't fit on the burner, is too tall for the stove, and is non-stick. To be fair, it's a fine pot, but I'm not a big fan of non-stick. The Calphalon stays on the stove while I try to figure out where to keep all this stuff. I love this for pasta and stock. You can lift out the stainless liner and remove all the dross from stock (I just made a chicken dish with the 12" everyday pan, this pot to make the stock, and the 4 qt. pot to cook some tortellini). The stock comes out clear, and the remains are easy to sort out for the cat! I've finally decided to limit the number of lids for all these pots. Thankfully, many lids fit more than one pot. Clean up is easy IF you follow directions. I spent 39 years in the public schools trying to teach kids to FOLLOW DIRECTIONS! The Calphalon cleaner works wonders if all else fails. Always, always heat the pan first, then add oil, then the ingredients at ROOM temperature. One other thing, I only use plastic or wooden utensils in any cookware, I hate the look of scratches! This product line is better than any other I have ever used; you can keep your teflon and non-stick stuff....and I NEVER let anyone else wash these pans!

I very nearly didn't, thanks to the comments of reviewer Glam72 in San Francisco. Having never used Calphalon, I didn't know how seriously to take the comment about it requiring 1/2 hour to heat the water, but did know that my life isn't about waiting around for pots to boil. However, after a fruitless search for another pasta cooker with an insert that goes clear to the bottom of the pot, I bought this set. Within five minutes of taking it out of the box, I had it on the stove with four quarts of cold water in it and my stopwatch running. 9.75 minutes from cold to rolling boil, and the only "cheat" was that I turned the burner on to begin heating while I was filling the pot. This I can live with. Given my new found passion for Italian cooking, I'm expecting this pot to become one of the "couldn't live without's" in my kitchen.

I Own a 6 & 1/2 Commercial, and a Professional. Both get a good workout between doing steamed spiced shrimp, pasta, mashed potatoes, and home made stocks. The different handles Do make a big difference. My stubbornness creates a burning hot flying disc in the kitchen with the Professional lid, however I am able to pick up and place down the Commercial lid without causing any discomfort.
Don't fill this pot up past the last set of holes before you set it on the burner. (You will have about 1"&1/2 before the lip of the pot {not the pentola}. If you fill it up further, you will have a boil over.
With the starchy types of foods that you cook with the pasta pentola, it tends to quickly loose its shine, and builds up a dull scum. I find that by using a lemon peel with some comet, removes the scum quickly.

Anything mot than 1 pound and 1/2 of pasta, I'd recommend a bigger pot. Otherwise, this is the pot for you.

The 6 1/2 Quart Pasta Pot is a beauty, heavy, well shaped, fitted with a deep and manageable insert. I'm just not sure I'll be able to use it for anything other than boiling a single pound of pasta. It's too small to make a chicken soup, just big enough for a pasta sauce. I'm wondering if there's a larger version.

This is a nice pot and fits the burners on my stove without hanging over.

There are two disadvantages:

1. The 6 1/2 qt. size is barely sufficient for 16 oz of macaroni. An 8 qt. pot with insert would've been better. I know Calphalon has an 8 qt. stock pot and an 8 qt. insert, but they don't appear to offer these packaged together, making a set prohibitively expensive.

2. Contrary to what Top 100 Reviewer Michela says above, the stainless steel insert does get hot, and you can burn your hands on the insert handles if you're not using towels or mitts.

Water, aluminum, and stainless steel are fairly good conductors of heat, so all of the elements of this set get hot (which is what you want) EXCEPT for the silverstone handles on the stock pot.

I have mixed feelings about using an insert. You usually have to dispose of the macaroni cooking water anyway, so dumping the entire contents of the pot into a colander makes sense, rendering unnecessary the insert.

Also, if you sauce your macaroni in the pot in the traditional Italian fashion, you're not going to want the water in there, again eliminating the need for an insert.

Alton Brown makes a good point in his new book about getting the biggest pot for making macaroni that you can fit in a cabinet. He suggests going with a cheap aluminum job from a restaurant supply store, because you want it to be as light as possible when filled with water and macaroni.

As other reviewers have noted, 6.5 quarts is sufficient for 16 oz of macaroni or less. If you routinely need to cook more than a pound, you're going to need a much bigger pot.

I have a monster 16 qt. Farberware stainless steel stock pot for times like this. It may not be quite as light as Alton Brown's suggested non-anodized aluminum restaurant supply store model, but it will hold up better over the long term and probably didn't cost too much more.

I very nearly didn't, thanks to the comments of reviewer Glam72 in San Francisco. Having never used Calphalon, I didn't know how seriously to take the comment about it requiring 1/2 hour to heat the water, but did know that my life isn't about waiting around for pots to boil. However, after a fruitless search for another pasta cooker with an insert that goes clear to the bottom of the pot, I bought this set. Within five minutes of taking it out of the box, I had it on the stove with four quarts of cold water in it and my stopwatch running. 9.75 minutes from cold to rolling boil, and the only "cheat" was that I turned the burner on to begin heating while I was filling the pot. This I can live with. Given my new found passion for Italian cooking, I'm expecting this pot to become one of the "couldn't live without's" in my kitchen.

I bought this set over a year ago. Although it is on the smaller side, I have to say it is probably the second most used pot in our household (the first being the 2 1/2 qt shallow commercial anodized sauce pan!). It works well for meals for my family of four. I routinely boil 1 pound of pasta or approx. 5 lbs of cubed potatoes for mashed potatoes. I have made soup, chili and spaghetti sauce in the pot as well. It's the right size for enough of these dishes for my family, plus some leftovers to freeze for another full meal. I don't find it as "narrow" or difficult to use as my 8 qt stock pot - the height seems perfect for the width of this pot.

The 6-quart is the perfect size for me, since the 8 quart is still too big. I use this for pastas, stocks, and even deep frying. Really a good quality pan that cleans up easily after a moments soak in hot sudsy water.