I replaced an inefficient, all-aluminum commercial stock pot with this Winware stainless steel cooker and the difference is night and day. I first came across this series of pots at a restaurant supply chain and was very impressed. The price on Amazon was better than what I saw in the store, plus no tax and free 2-day shipping as a Prime customer.

This pot heats quickly and evenly, then retains heat with its thick, clad aluminum bottom. I was able to keep my burner on low for the three hours I needed to simmer my cook, and the heat was distributed evenly, with a uniform low bubble. The pot stayed flat against the cooktop and didn't warp or wobble with heat. This was such an improvement over what I'd been using that I knew after the first time I used it that I'd have this pot for a very long time! This is excellent cookware, and the clad bottom goes a long way to maintaining an even heat for the type of cooking you'd expect to do in a stockpot.

The pot is shaped slightly different than a traditional stock pot in that it's a bit squatter. For me, this wasn't a problem as it fit perfectly on my large KitchenAid stovetop burner. I also tried it on my DSC two-burner outdoor stove and the flame covered the bottom perfectly. For me, the shape is ideal.

Clean-up was easy and typical of good stainless steel. If you burn something on, you'll need to soak the pot for awhile, but all-in-all, it cleaned up exactly as I expected.

I wanted to address the issue some have raised about the handles. There is NO way those handles are going to come off or loosen. This criticism is picayune. I agree that they're spot welded rather than riveted, but IMHO, it's just fine. There are actually two big advantages to this method. First, it leaves the inside surface of the pot completely smooth, with no protruding rivets where the handles attach. It makes clean-up that much easier as food and debris can't get trapped around the rivets. The second is that the handles are cool to the touch, even when the pot is hot. This was true of both the lid and the pot, and I found that I could lift the pot from the stove to the counter without mitts. Lastly, I'm not a metallurgist, but it's my understanding that a weld is actually stronger than the original metal, hence my opinion that these handles are just fine and will most likely outlast me.

In summary, I think this 8-quart stockpot is an excellent value, will last a long time, cooks great, and is a good value. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who likes to cook. I'd even consider giving it as a wedding gift! It's a fine piece of cookware, whether you're making chicken stock or chili!

Just as described

I wanted a multi-use large stock pot and after a good deal of research I ordered the Winware 32 Quart Stock Pot with cover. I knew this was a commercial grade stock pot when I ordered it, but even so it is wider than I expected and as such it does not fit on my electric range burner so I will not be able to use it indoors unless I purchase an upgraded range. Not a big deal though, it works great outdoors over an open flame or a propane burner. Even thought it is wider than I expected, it has everything else I was looking for in a good, long lasting stock pot:

* heavy gauge stainless steel
* thick, encapsulated bottom (5mm aluminum encased in 1mm stainless steel). There is no exposed aluminum and provides even heat distribution.
* stainless steel lid - handle on lid is welded, not riveted, but there is no need for rivets unless you are planning to use the lid as a shield as my children wished to do.
* riveted handles - they were both spot welded and riveted, four rivets for each handle

The product shipped double-boxed and upon opening, there were no dents or rust spots. The pot was covered in a grey dust (stainless steel from finishing??). I washed it thoroughly before using. This product is made in China.

My first use was for scalding chickens for plucking on slaughter day. Had it over an open flame for 5 hours and it worked great. Cleaned up relatively well with some steel wool and a little elbow grease. Thanks to the very thick bottom on this stock pot there was no warping of any kind and had no issue with anything sticking to the bottom.

Great stock pot and best price/shipping combo I found anywhere. With my AmazonPrime trial it was shipped two-day for free - I needed it very quickly so everything worked out perfectly.

This review is for the 20 quart size. It fits very well on my standard electric stove top with plenty of clearance from the microwave situated right above the stove. I'll add exact measurements at some point, the measurements listed by Amazon don't seem to be correct.

The short version: I highly recommend this pot, if you're a homebrewer of any level and need a 5 gallon pot for 3ish gallon stovetop brewing, this is your pot. Don't buy one of those entry level pots from homebrew shops, they are garbage and way overpriced.

The longer version:
Recently I moved into a smaller apartment and it's also 5 degrees outside most of the time. I've been searching for a solid, 5ish gallon pot for homebrewing that didn't cost $100+ and would also be useful once I can move back outside to my 10 gallon pot and burner. I looked at every 16, 20, 24 gallon pot there is and this one was by far the best value.

I did a test run of heating 3 gallons of cold tap water to 165 degrees then to boiling.
It took 38 min to get to 165 and continuing right to a boil it took another 22 minutes.
So an hour total to get 3 gallons to boil on a standard electric coil stove top element. Not too bad. Also, if your worried about the electric cost of running your stove for this long, my rudimentary math/google searches told me it would be around $3 and $5 for the entire brew session depending on your local kwh cost.

Tip:
Don't wash anything that's super hot with cold water. If you dump cold water into this pot after it was boiling you might cause the bottom to become deformed. Let it cool down a while before you wash it. For homebrewers: if you're using an ice bath, let the pot cool for a couple minutes on an off burner. Put it in the water bath with no ice at first, add a tsp of salt (which lowers the freezing point of the water, which means faster cooling, or so i'm told) then add the ice. This will help prevent damage to your pot.

Pros:
Solid handles - no faulty grommets that will loosen over time
It comes with a good lid - watch out for this one, some pots don't and it adds $15 to buy one
Has a thick aluminum core bottom - aluminum is between copper (the high end) and stainless (the low) as far as conducting heat goes - this is a good thing
The sides are not too thick if you're thinking about drilling and adding a thermometer and ball valve
Very sturdy when pouring 3 gallons of wort

Cons:
No cons of note yet, I figure any large problems with this pot will appear over a long period of time and are probably more related to how you take care of the pot anyway (i.e. rust, scratching, handles falling off, dents, discoloration) All of which are cons of the owner not the pot.

Not really a con, more of a tip:
This is not a problem with this pot, but rather all stainless pots - It does not hold heat very well. Adding thickness to the sides would add considerable weight which in my opinion would be more of a con. If you're using this for homebrewing (or really anything) I would suggest looking into reflective insulation. It's a thin tin foil looking material that you would wrap around the pot, cutting holes for the handles and using a specific foil tape made for this stuff to seal it. Leave plenty of room at the bottom to clear direct heat from the burner, the stuff is made of plastic. It would simply keep more heat from being lost through the sides of the pot.

The size of it as well as it's construction vey nice gauge of metal easy to clean not so easyto store.