Martha Stewart Multi Pot
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Martha Stewart
8 and 12 Quart Multi Pots
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Product Review of Martha Stewart Multi Pot Ideas How to Use the Martha Stewart Multi Pot Choosing Between the 8 Quart and 12 Quart Models Cookbook Gifts to Pair with Martha Stewart Multi Pot |
Product Review of Martha Stewart Multi Pot
Several years ago, I bought a previous version of this multi pot (it’s a 14 qt. multi pot with two steamer inserts instead of one, and no pasta insert), even though I was a little concerned about how it would heat up with the glass lid. My concern turned out to be completely unfounded, and it instantly became my favorite stockpot, and getting the pasta insert instead of a second steamer insert is an even better idea, so they’ve improved on it.
It’s a very well constructed, well thought out product that works well. The handles are large and well secured, and I can easily fit my hands, in oven mitts, inside them. All of the components fit very well together, even after years of use. The slightly domed glass lid has a little hole in the top to allow excess steam to escape, if necessary. It heats as well, if not better, than my other stock pots, and it retains the heat well. And its fairly easy to clean, both by hand and in the dishwasher, even when I’ve accidentally burned some of the split pea soup on the bottom of the pan. Its a nice weight without being too heavy, so its easy to handle. I saw one review that claimed the pot had rusted after one use, and I find this extremely hard to believe. I’ve had my multi pot for three years now, I frequently will leave the pot on the stove or in the sink full of water for extended periods, overnight, sometimes longer until I get back to it, and I’ve never had the slightest hint of rust or any such problem.
This multi pot would be a great gift choice for both serious cooks and those who only cook during the holidays, for people who are interested in making their own stocks, soups and stews, to braise meats, and for vegetable and fruit gardeners as well. I’m constantly thinking of new ways to use it.
Ideas How to Use the Martha Stewart Multi Pot
Here are some ideas how you, or your gift recipient, can use the multi pot to get the most out of it:
- Make the Best Mashed Potatoes You’ve Ever Had Quicker Than You Ever Have. I love mashed potatoes, and they’re an integral part of both Thanksgiving and Christmas in our household, so I’ve always strived to improve my results. Both boiling and oven baking the potatoes weren’t getting me the results I wanted. After I bought this multi pot, I had an inspiration, and sure enough, you can go ahead and use those starchy Russet potatoes, just steam them instead, and their starch becomes a benefit, not a liability. (I can cook 10 pounds of cubed potatoes in a single steamer insert for the 14 qt. multi pot, so I think you should be able to do at least 5 lbs. in the 8 qt. size and closer to 10 lbs. at once in the 12 qt. size.)
Set a pot of water to boil. Peel the potatoes, then cube them – the smaller the potato cubes, the quicker they’ll cook. I’ve routinely made mashed potatoes in less than a half hour, and I set my timer for 20 minutes to start checking the potatoes. Potatoes are ready when you can easily cut through them with a fork or spoon. The secret (aside from steaming) is to have all your ingredients HOT when you combine them. Your milk or cream and butter should be heated to just below the boiling point, either on the stove, or in the microwave. (If memory serves, I use about a quart of milk per 10 lbs. of potatoes.) Mash the potatoes immediately before introducing the hot milk and butter mixture, then pour the hot milk mixture into the potatoes. The starch in the steamed potatoes will be much less saturated with liquid because they’ve been steamed instead of boiled, and will absorb so much more hot milk than they would otherwise, and that’s what makes them so rich and creamy, how much milk or cream they can absorb. Be careful in mixing in the hot milk so you don’t slosh the hot liquid on yourself. The first amount of liquid added absorbs almost immediately into the potatoes, then I heat small additional amounts of milk and butter, adding slowly and carefully until I reach the desired consistency. I’ll then add salt to taste.
- Cook Multiple Dishes at Once for Dinner or During Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. I’m always looking for ways to save money, multi-task, and prepare multiple dishes at the same time, preferably with fewer dishes to clean. You could braise your pot roast in the pot, while you steam your potatoes for mashed potatoes (and/or other vegetable side dishes) in the steamer insert. Rather than using two burners on the stove, you can use the same amount of energy and money to make a second dish. I will simmer cubed pork shoulder in broth (that I then use for carnitas tacos, enchiladas, a whole variety of things) while I make a large batch of mashed potatoes, then I remove the pork from the broth, and use the lovely pork flavored broth to make bean or split pea soup while I steam carrots in the steamer insert. I’ll even add some of the pork and carrots back to the soup to make it even better.
For the holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, where we are cooking more dishes for a larger group of people at once, our family often finds we don’t have enough oven space and stovetop burners to make every dish. Use the steamer insert, and you’ve got additional cooking opportunities with the same number of burners. I’ve made the stock for gravy in the pot, while I steam the potatoes for mashed potatoes. Or boiled the yams while steaming potatoes, green beans, leafy greens or other vegetable side dishes. This Thanksgiving, I’m thinking about making either soup or chili while cooking that I can add leftover turkey to for meals on subsequent days. Plan your holiday and weekly menu out in advance to do as much cooking, with as few dirty dishes and energy expended, as possible, and instead of cooking the rest of the holiday week, you can spend more time with your loved ones.
- Other Uses for the Steamer Insert. The steamer insert can be used to steam other vegetables, meat and fish. You can also steam prepared foods like homemade dim sum, and mine is deep enough to steam cook homemade tamales. It can also be used to gently reheat any previously cooked food where you don’t want to add any additional fat (as you might have to with a skillet) and you want to gently reheat without losing water. I’m also a vegetable gardener, and either by accident or design, we often have many more vegetables or fruit than we can eat at once. I use the steamer insert to blanch leafy vegetables like spinach, swiss chard and bok choy, where you need to blanch them to freeze them, but don’t want to introduce a lot more water into the vegetables before freezing. If I blanch using the steamer insert, I save myself the extra step of wringing water out of the leafy greens before freezing.
- Pasta Insert Is So Much More Than a Pasta Insert. Any time you are working with boiling water, hot frying oil and the like, there is always the possibility of a slip and resultant injury. A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, if you have more than one gallon in the pot, and you add in the weight of the food, the weight you have to carry adds up, and if you’re unfortunate enough to have sink all the way across the kitchen from the stove, that’s a lot of weight to carry quite a distance, especially for those who are petite or older. If you’re a bit clumsy like me, there are drops of water on the floor, you’ve got pets or small kids who might dart into the room unexpectedly, there are lots of potential causes of a mishap. There are lots of uses for your pasta insert.
- Cooking Pasta, Obviously. Whether you’re making pasta, cooking a pot of mussels, or boiling vegetables, rather than using a Kitchen Spider
and scooping out your food one scoop at a time, simply lift the pasta insert slowly out of the water, hold the bottom just above the surface of the water, hold for a minute or two to let drain, and remove your food immediately from the boiling water.
- Making Homemade Stock. I keep my pasta insert in the pot when I make homemade stock. My family is particularly fond of buying several of those wonderful Costco roast chickens at a time, we bone the chickens for a variety of different dishes, then we put the bones, the wings and back (with a little meat attached) in the pot with half water, half chicken stock, bouquet garni, and any vegetables, herbs and spices we want to remove afterward inside the pasta insert, and when the stock has simmered long enough, you can pull it all out at once and discard. I leave the stock on the stove to simmer and reduce to a strong concentrate afterward, then strain for small particulates and freeze for future use.
- Deep Frying Foods. The multi pot is a good choice for deep frying because it holds heat well, and I can tell you from personal experience, no matter how good your Tongs
are, there’s always the possibility of the food slipping, falling in the pan, and spattering you with hot oil. Keep the pasta insert in the pot while you fry, and you can remove your fried chicken pieces, a whole fried turkey breast or turkey leg, or all your French fries all at once. If you are making twice fried fries, you can pull your potatoes out of the oil, let them cool in the pasta insert, raise the oil temperature to the higher temperature, then once its reached the desired temperature, carefully slip the pasta insert back into the oil for the final fry.
- Blanching Home Grown Fruit and Vegetables for Freezing. Almost everyone who grows their own fruit and vegetables ends up at one time or another with more fruit or vegetables than they can eat. Fruit and vegetables contain one or more enzymes which allow them to continue the ripening process, even after they are frozen, they can lose their color, texture and taste will suffer. Blanching fruit and vegetables properly neutralizes this enzyme and preserves them better in the frozen state, which is why commercially frozen vegetables and fruit are also blanched. I will blanche root vegetables like carrots, zucchini, squash, beans and the like in boiling water, using the pasta insert to pluck everything out of the pot at once (so nothing is overcooked) and will use the steamer insert to blanch greens like spinach, bok choy, and other leaf vegetables where I want to keep as much water out of them as possible.
- Canning Your Homegrown Food, Jams and Jellies, Spaghetti Sauce. My sister loves to can her own garden produce, make and can her own sauce and jellies, and she uses the traditional Canning Jar Lifter
to remove the jars from the water. I recommend using the pasta insert instead. It has a convenient handle you can grasp while wearing oven mitts, its sturdy enough to safely lift the weight, and you can remove all the jars all at once with a lot less of a chance of dropping a jar back into the water, cracking it, and losing all your hard work (not to mention a canning jar).
- Cooking Pasta, Obviously. Whether you’re making pasta, cooking a pot of mussels, or boiling vegetables, rather than using a Kitchen Spider
Choosing Between the 8 Quart and 12 Quart Models
If you’re not used to the various sizes of cookware, it can be hard to select between the size options, particularly if you don’t have them in front of you. From my own experience, an eight quart stock pot is the smallest size I would personally use for most applications. I would say the smaller, 8 quart size is more appropriate for cooking for two or a smaller family unit, for casual cooks who are mostly interested in making soup or chili, who might braise a smaller piece of meat, but nothing particularly large. If your gift recipient is a serious dedicated cook, is interested in braising larger pieces of meat, has a vegetable garden, wants to learn canning and preserving, has a couple of kids, entertains, or might be the designated cook for a family holiday, I would recommend the larger size. If you’re still unsure, since at this time the price differential is only $15, I would recommend going ahead and buying the larger size. Better to have too much pot than too little.
Cookbooks Gifts to Pair With Martha Stewart Multi Pot
