Can I put a pot in a pan?

[Jeekinz]

I'm using one of my extra large cheapo stock pots to make sauseege and peppers for 17 people. Only problem is it's thin guage so I have to keep attending to it, when I could be having a beer or making more food.

Can I put said pot into one of my good pans as a heat diffuser?

 

[GB]

Yes you should be able to do that.

 

[Jeekinz]

Sweet...Thanks.

 

[GB]

Don't go too far away though. It might not work as well as you are hoping.

 

[Jeekinz]

It just came back up to a simmer on the original temp. Seems to be working good so far.

I need one of those $$$$ pots...lol.

 

[GB]

Not if this works for you you don't

 

[DramaQueen]

I'm using one of my extra large cheapo stock pots to make sauseege and peppers for 17 people. Only problem is it's thin guage so I have to keep attending to it, when I could be having a beer or making more food.

Can I put said pot into one of my good pans as a heat diffuser?

I make Italian sausage and peppers in a cast iron skillet. Brown the sausage first, remove then add the onions and green and red bell peppers. Saute for a couple of minutes, add a little wine, then put sausage and peppers in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350. Go have all the beer you want, you don't have to watch this.

 

[kitchenelf]

DQ - I think you may have missed the part where he is cooking for 17 people. He is cooking quantity and unless he's got a HUGE DO, his stockpot is the size he needs.

I can see where a skillet under would work. You might want to add some water to your skillet as a diffuser/buffer from the heat. I know what a pain it is to try to actually "cook" in one of those stockpots, but, sometimes you just have to do it!

 

[Jeekinz]

Thanks Gang.

What I actually did was sauteed the onion and peppers in batches in a 12" skillet first and dumped the batches into the El Cheapo stock pot. Meanwhile, I cooked the sausage (about 40 or so links) on the grill. I sliced the sausage and added it to El Cheapo along with more seasoning and the canned tomato.

KE, I was thinking about the water too...as an inslator I guess?..anyway, it seems to work just fine without it. Once everything came to temp, I was able to control the heat normally (as if the pan wasn't there). I think if you didn't have good contact between the pan and pot, adding water would definately fix that.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention, while it was simmering I was able to wash one of my bikes. No burnt crud on the bottom of the pot either!

 

[DramaQueen]

DQ - I think you may have missed the part where he is cooking for 17 people. He is cooking quantity and unless he's got a HUGE DO, his stockpot is the size he needs.

I can see where a skillet under would work. You might want to add some water to your skillet as a diffuser/buffer from the heat. I know what a pain it is to try to actually "cook" in one of those stockpots, but, sometimes you just have to do it!

Ahhh, didn't realize he was siimmering the sausage. I was referring to roasting method. I have made these for as many as 14 people but transferred from the skillet to a roaster. Sorry, my mistake.

Actually, I've never simmered my sausage in tomatoes, but I bought a package of Torentino Italian Sausage from Costco and there's a ton of sausages in the pack so I just might make some of those in tomatoes and simmer them. Good idea.

 

[Russellkhan]

In case you decide to get yourself an actual, dedicated heat diffuser, I recommend the one I have. It's made by Kuhn Rikon and it's just a solid disc of anodized aluminum. Can't remember what it cost, but I don't think it was more than $20 and it's worth it, especially if you have big cheap stockpots (upgrading to the nice ones is expensive!).

 

[Maverick2272]

I like the "stand in front of the stove staring at it while drinking a beer method", actually helps get me out of having to do anything else while it is cooking!

 

[Jeekinz]

In case you decide to get yourself an actual, dedicated heat diffuser, I recommend the one I have. It's made by Kuhn Rikon and it's just a solid disc of anodized aluminum. Can't remember what it cost, but I don't think it was more than $20 and it's worth it, especially if you have big cheap stockpots (upgrading to the nice ones is expensive!).

Diffuser! That's the word I was looking for. Thanks Russ, I'll look into those.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I bought a cast iron roasting rack from Lodge that I can use as a heat diffuser. I have also set a smaller pan inside my big cast iron frying pan--especially useful for cooking steel cut oats, which are thick and have to simmer for 20 minutes.

 

[RPCookin]

I have a stainless stock pot by Invitations that would probably work for you, and it's not an expensive item... about $40 tops ( I got it as a gift from my mother and she would never spend more than that). I think its a 16 quart cap.... big anyway. It's got a heavy disk bottom that does a great job of diffusing and stabilizing the heat when simmering on my flattop range.