8Qt Caldero w/ Etched Cover
Bought this off woot a month or so ago… it’s been getting lots of use. Works great with induction or regular stove top.
Mine says Princess House on it, which is one of those invite everyone to a party to buy overpriced items companies. Seems to be the same thing as RegalWare from what I can tell. Whatever the relationship between those companies is, the products are good, and this is a good price.
This is a reasonable price for an 8qt steel pot with lid. Not really much else you can say about it, unless there’s some negative issue with the construction (poor riveting, etc).
What size is the lid, 11" or 12"? Just curious. Thanks
I really don’t see the advantage over a straight-sided pot with the same diameter as upper part of this one. In fact, it seems that a straight pot would have the same “evaporative area”, would be more stable, and would have a larger base to allow the application of more heat.
This would be an attractive pot to use to serve something I’ve cooked in a different pot.
Measured from the inner lip of the lid, it is a little less than 11 1/2", but measured from the outer ring, it is 12". Look at the middle picture in the offer (the one of the lid alone) and you can see there is a lip which I suppose makes the lid more snug. I hope I explained this well and that it answers your question.
I bought this last time and as another person wrote, it is stamped on the bottom in big bold print, “Princess House.” This thing is very substantial in size and weight and the etched floral lid is very impressive. I believe I paid $50 or $60 during a previous Woot!. Mine arrived with an improperly installed rivet and a quality control person had circled the rivet with a red grease pen. I contacted Woot! and they made my transaction right. I have not yet used my caldero, but I don’t cook much. It sits on my stove top and is very nice looking. For the price I would recommend people buy this thing. $40 doesn’t really buy much these days and with $5 shipping it can’t be beat. I have a lot of stainless steel stuff; I have moved away from aluminum because of health reports. Use Bar Keepers cleaner (can be bought at Home Depot or On-line) and your caldero and other stainless items will shine brightly forever.
Have you, yourself, personally used yours with an induction stove top? I need to know before I pop $40.
I find that my “good” stainless will not work. Only cheaper stuff (where a magnet slightly attracts) will work.
" I have moved away from aluminum because of health reports."
You are spreading an urban legend.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-any-proof-that-a
It’s not just a pot, a caldero is the mainstay of Latin kitchens - going from being used on the stove for cooking rice, soups and sauces to in the oven for roasting and braising. The closest thing to it would be a dutch oven.
And I have a stew in my oven at this moment using this very caldero I got from Woot a few months back.
So how would a similar straight-sided pot not be able to do the same things, be more stable, and have a base heating advantage? just being “Latin” isn’t much of a recommendation, to me, as a source of superior technology.
Got to agree with you on this point. Seems a little odd. Is this a saucier substitute?
If you made this pot bigger at the bottom with straighter sides (and keeping the same interior volume), you’d basically have a dutch oven. The small bottom with the taller rounder sides works better for me when braising meats in the oven. It’s depth also allows one to use it for frying.
Don’t quote me, LOL, I could be wrong - but I have a ceramic top stove, and I believe they tell you in the documentation that you should not use a pot with a diameter more than an inch larger or smaller than your cooking area as it can lead to the ceramic/glass cracking. That being the case, this would allow you to be able to cook a larger stew in a pot that actually fits the burner.
No, in ratio to volume it doesn’t. The sloping sides prevent boiling over by allowing heat to escape. Imagine the inverse, and what should happen with less surface area to volume; the heat could not escape and should build up pressure as in a nozzle. A pot with straight sides is in the middle of these extremes, and offers a moderate, and not equal, result. Elementary physics.
cathammer wrote:I really don’t see the advantage over a straight-sided pot with the same diameter as upper part of this one. In fact, it seems that a straight pot would have the same “evaporative area”, would be more stable, and would have a larger base to allow the application of more heat.
You’re looking at it wrong; remember, we are comparing pots with the same (maximum) diameter at the top. On a straight-sided pot, that maximum diameter & surface area to dissipate heat is available at any level (volume) in the pot, top to bottom. On a downward-tapered pot, the surface area declines as the volume drops, so it actually has an increasingly inferior surface to volume ratio, compared to straight-side, at any point where its diameter falls below the maximum top diameter.
For example, let’s say the two pots are both 10” in diameter at the top (78.5 sq. in. surface). With 8 qts. of liquid in each (filled to top), they would both have the maximum surface area and same ratio to volume: 78.5sq.in./8qt = 9.8 sq. in. per quart. With 4 qts. In each, the straight pot still has the same surface area, so its sq.in. per qt. ratio would be 78.5/4 = 19.6. At that volume, the tapered pot’s diameter will have dropped. If it’s now 8”, say, the surface area would be 50 sq.in., and its ratio would be 50/4, or 12.5…only 64% of the 19.6 ratio of straight-side. If you have one quart in each, and the tapered pot were 6” in diam. (28 sq.in. surface) at that point, the straight pot would have a ratio of 78.5/1 = 78.5, while tapered would have 28/1= 28, almost 2/3 less than straight-side.
To make things worse, from a practical standpoint, to apply the same amount of heat to the contents of each pot would require a more intense application to the caldero because of its smaller base area, which would increase the danger of scorching the contents. To be efficient, it would also require a smaller diameter heat source (stove “eye”) to cut down on the tendency of available heat to “wrap around” the smaller base and be lost.
For what it’s worth, straight-side pots with thicker aluminum sides (matching the bottom) and metal lids (preferably thicker as well…I have some Magna-lites with cast tops) more closely mimic the function of a (cast iron) Dutch oven than this caldero. The larger bottom on a straight-side also makes it easier to brown roasts prior to braising or brown larger quantities of sausage for gumbo, etc.
My suspicions are that the caldero developed for use in more “primitive” kitchens where its tapered shape would have permitted it to sit in a round hole and be stable. Think of a metal tripod with a ring at the top which fits the pot partway down, and holds it over a fire or coals…A metal or stone slab with a hole and spanning a shelf to hold the fire would work the same way. These types of are setups are seen in some pretty ancient kitchen arrangements.
I’ve got mine out and washed and on the stovetop now. Shiny 18/10 stainless steel, MADE IN THE USA! Whoo hoo! How can this NOT be a good deal? Way to go woot! I’m glad that my doubts about the functionality or efficiency of this kitchenware didn’t prevent me from pulling the trigger! The etchings on the glass top are subdued and elegant. Just as I expected, this pot will give good service as a serving dish even if I don’t rely upon it for cooking.