Customer Reviews

Calphalon D812 Commercial Hard Anodized 12-Quart Stockpot with Lid

5 star:		(106)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I have owned this pot for over 6 years, er now over 9 years and it gets used all the time. Coming from a professional resturant family, I knew about the Calphalon Commercial Hard Anodized line we used in the resturant-- and how they perform. So buying one for home use just meant saving up enough $$ to purchase it, but at this price I'm buying another one! They are well worth the money.

This pot is very user friendly as it can do everything from Soup, spagetti sauce to large batches of jelly and jam, or corn on the cob for a small army of diners. We've even used it to boil 2-3 small lobsters without a hitch.

THE FOLLOWING IS SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR CALPHALON'S HARD ANODIZED COOKWARE-- Not the non-stick.

A few other reviewers have mentioned a couple things I'd like to set straight.

1. NEVER EVER put this pot in the dishwasher. It will void the warranty. Calphalon tells you wash it by hand in the sink with hot water. Calphalon tells you in the instructions you can use 3M Pot Scrubbers and Comet Cleanser on the pan. This will remove any and all food residue, in order to keep it from sticking. Clean or Treating it about every 3-4 washings with Dormond Cleanser is recommended by Calphalon to return the pan to it's like new condition. Normally soaking the pot by filling it with dish soap and hot water releases most sticky food.

2. For those reviewers who commented about warped lids and problems, Calphalon does take their warranty seriously. Call the company (get the number off their website,) and tell them your problems and don't take no for an answer. I do agree that since some Calphalon has been made overseas vs the old time stock out of Ohio, the quality has been spotty at times. But this is where you get the opportunity to speak up and tell them exactly what you think. (I personally have bought every piece of Ohio made Calphalon I can find, it is superior.) But I've returned a poorly made lid and other problems and never had a problem. If you first don't like the answer you get, Write the CEO/President of the company a letter. It will get action if you explain your problem and tell them what you exspect of them to do make it right. They are used to dealing with the expections of professional chefs.

In our house we do not like the idea of using a non-stick pan and have never had a problem with these Hard Anodized pans and food sticking. The trick is getting the pan hot enough with the proper oil or liquid before you begin adding additional items to cook.

The major problem most people have is understanding HOW to cook with these pans. It really pays to read the instruction booklet that comes with the pans. It will save you countless grief and make you a much better cook/chef.

And we still love it and it's twin that's now going on 4 years old!

I recieved this item as a wedding gift, and have found it to be the greatest stockpot in the world for so many things: from huge batches of pasta to ham-hock soup to turning my tomato harvest into several gallons of sauce, this pot has never let me down. Why? the thick, anodized aluminum ensures even heat. It stands up to all day slow cooking of highly acidic tomatoes without staining. The handles are large and sturdy enough even for my huge, sometimes clumsy hands to grip. The lid stays on but allows steam to vent; I never have to worry about a kitchen "explosion" onto the stove. And the whole thing is so sturdy it stands up any abuse I dish out: dropping, stabbing, three day soaks, without a stain, dent or complaint. I highly reccomend this product for anyone from beginning cooks to experienced chefs.

This stockpot is the last one you'll ever buy. It is so well-constructed, so solid, and so well crafted it will last for generations. The cooking performance is superb. It conducts heat well (it's made of aluminum) and distributes it evenly to ensure good results even on high heat. I've used it for soups, stews, cassoulets, and canning and in every instance it outperforms every other pot of its kind I've ever tried.

People may question the price, but trust me, the four other stockpots I've owned collectively cost a lot more and did a lot less. Spend the money and get yourself a once-in-a-lifetime pot that will serve your needs for good. This is a true bargain in every regard.

I know that genuine Calphalon hard anodized cookware is as good as cookware can be and is likely to last forever with a minimum of simple care. But this made in China 12 quart stockpot is of such poor quality I can only assume that it is a fake/knock-off. It is so thin that it flexs, something that NONE of my other pieces of Calphalon can do (even their lids!). The surface finish is rough, almost raw, barely smooth enough to touch without getting a metal splinter. The anodizing appears very thin, even incomplete. My USA made hard anodized pieces (I have almost 30 Calphalon pieces, not counting their lids) have a glassy smooth surface texture and deep gray homogenous anodizing. The quality of the anaodized surface is what makes Calphalon such a great cooking surface and gives it the non-reactive properties that lets it accomodate any type of acidic foods safely. This Chinese produced pot damages Calphalons reputation from my point of view. If this is really a Calphalon product, shame on the executives and quality control managers responsible for risking the company's legendary reputation by allowing that name to be used on junk. Yes, junk. I would not have purchased this inferior pot at any price upon examination. I will continue to buy Caphalon cookware only if it continues to deliver that quality and performance the company is known for.

I bought this stockpot because the coating is supposed to make the aluminum non-reactive with foods that are acidic like tomato sauce. The first time I used the pot was to make sauce with the tomatoes that I had spent all summer growing in my garden only to have the coating come right off the bottom and sides of the pot and leave me with a bitter tasting sauce. Not only did the pot not work as advertised, but, it wasted a whole summer's worth of work in the garden, too. Calphalon said that happens sometimes, but, that it isn't supposed to. They will replace the pot if I pay to mail it back to them and write an explanation. Save your money, time, and effort - buy something else instead.

I've been using a few Calphalon hard-anodized pans in my kitchen for almost a decade. They are sturdy, well constructed, cook great, clean easy and are second only to my much more expensive All-Clad copper core pans. This stock pot however is not even in the same league. Not even close. If it didn't say Calphalon on the lid, I'd think they sent me some cheap(er) knock-off.

The anodized aluminum is not only very thin, but it doesn't look or feel *anything* like the Calphalon pans that I have. This appears to have been given a very quick anodizing treatment so that you can easily scratch the surface and expose untreated aluminum. That cannot happen with my pans. I can scrape the heck out of them with steel utensils and nothing happens other than a light mark that I can clean off. As if that weren't bad enough, the first time I put this to use, the rivets on one of the handles leaked. I thought maybe after I get it up to temp the metal would expand enough to stop the leaking. I thought wrong. It continued to leak during the entire cooking process making this pot pretty much worthless.

This product seems inexpensive, but it's actually way too much for this very low quality piece. I will definitely think twice before buying another Calphalon product.

Allways satisfied with the fifteen other Calphalon pots I own, I bought the 12 qt stockpot to compliment the 8 qt. I have loved. Sadly, this pot is a light-weight version, only half as thick as the older 8 qt. and not as well finished. It would rate an "okay", for $29.99, but I would never have added it to my kitchen. Restaurant supply stores, open to the public, have better made pots for less and really nice stainless clad pots for similar prices. This pot is definitely not the old "commercial" Calphalon.

I have owned a 12 qt. Calphalon Stockpot
for many years. I grow my own tomatoes yearly
and it has served me well. I decided I needed
an additional pot to cut my time in the kitchen
and increase my volume of canned tomatoes.
My original pot is from Ohio and is a sturdy
well balanced pot. The new one is sadly not made
in the USA and a slimmer lightweight version of
it's former pot. They are similar in color but
that is where it ends. When you are stirring heavy
pots of hot food you want stability & this pot does
not give me the confindence I am used to for Calphalon.

I guess my old favorite made in America company has
failed me this time.

This pot = thin junk. Older Calphalon made in USA = thick, heavy, high-quality. Very sad to see such a nosedive in quality.

I ordered this about three weeks ago when it was on sale. Since then, Amazon has sent me three stock pots, each as replacements.

The problem is a quality control issue, seemingly with Calphalon. But Calphalon cannot directly help me. I called them, but because these pots are made in China, Amazon has to replace them. Calphalon cannot issue replacements as they do not have access to them here in the United States.

Each of the three stock pots arrive scratched, or with very small holes in the coating from the manufacturing process. It looks like the entire silver aluminum base has been spray painted with the lightest, thinnest possible coating of the dark material that you see, that material which you think is so indestructible.

Well, it is not indestructible. It is incredibly thin. Every pan I've received has scratches showing the silver underneath, dots where when it was "spray painted" or however they apply this coating in the factory, the coating did not stick to the silver in some places.

Who wants a brand new pot that arrives and already has compromises to the anodized coating?

This is a very poorly made stock pot. It looks GORGEOUS except for the issues with the coating. It sits on my stovetop and if you do not see the areas where it is scratched, it looks indestructible. It looks like a sturdy pot and has the most marvelous handles. It has a very pleasing shape. It looks like something you can't wait to cook in. It looks wonderful sitting on my stove top, but I am sending it back to Amazon.

If they can ever get their quality control issues resolved, so that I can receive one where the coating is not compromised, I will gladly try to cook in it.

Until then, I will wait.

EDITED TO ADD: Also, I tried to store this in my cabinet. Just the briefest contact with another pot, and I do mean the briefest; it barely touched it -- scratched the exterior so that the silver aluminum underneath shows through. So if I ever did end up with one and used it for cooking, I would be using kid gloves to do so. These are not hardy, sturdy pots as they initially appear.