How to choose a 4-5 liter pot?

The pan for 4-5 liters is the most popular one. This volume allows you to prepare food for a small family for at least a couple of days. Therefore, the choice of these dishes should be approached wisely. Which pan is better: enamelled, aluminum or stainless steel? In fact, each of these materials has its own advantages and disadvantages that a good housewife just needs to know in order to make the right choice when buying new dishes.

Enamel pots, first of all, are distinguished by their beautiful appearance: they are multi-colored (which is convenient when choosing a shade suitable for the interior), various patterns are applied to them. But this is not their main advantage.

The enamel allows food to have no points of contact with bare metal. This is very important, since oxidation processes and the corresponding release of harmful substances into cooked food do not occur. You can store food in an enamel pot for a long time and do not put it in a separate container.

In addition to the obvious advantages, these pots have a number of disadvantages. After blows and falls, the enamel is quickly damaged... Rust easily forms on the resulting chip, and pathogens accumulate. In addition, in enameled dishes dairy products burn easily, even if they are constantly stirring.

When choosing a five- or four-liter enamelled pot, you should be guided by the thickness of the enamel. The thicker the coating, the longer the cookware will last.

Aluminum pots can be found on the shelves of our mothers and grandmothers, as they were very popular in the Soviet Union. Their undoubted advantages are lightness and quick heating. That is why this metal is used in the manufacture of kitchen utensils.

But besides the obvious advantages, aluminum pans have a dangerous drawback. When oxidized, the metal releases toxic substances, which makes food cooked in such dishes less useful. And if it is still possible to cook food in it, then storing food in an aluminum pan in the refrigerator is simply unacceptable. In addition to this clearly negative factor, there is another problem, but it is more an aesthetic one.

A 4 or 5 liter aluminum pot is likely to be used frequently. Therefore, it is not very convenient: it can turn black and bend with active use.

If you nevertheless decide to purchase an aluminum pan, then pay attention to two nuances:

• the thickness of the metal must be at least 3 mm;
• handles should not be cast, but screwed to avoid deformation when lifting a heated heavy container with food.

The 4-5 liter stainless steel pot will become your favorite kitchen utensil as it is easy to cook and easy to clean. You can use such utensils for a very long time: wear resistance (compared to models made of aluminum and enamel) is at a height.

You cannot spoil a steel pan with iron whisks, forks and knives. So it is not afraid of scratches, so it is much easier to wash it - you can use an iron brush. In a professional kitchen, these are the most commonly used dishes.

Be smart about choosing a stainless steel pot:

• the larger the diameter of such dishes with a volume of 4-5 liters, the better, since it heats up slowly;
• its thickness should not be less than 3 mm at the bottom and 0.5 mm along the walls;
• pay attention to the content of chromium and nickel in the alloy, the higher these two numbers, the better (18/10 is the optimal ratio).

Regardless of what material of the pan you prefer, you need to choose it taking into account certain subtleties.

1. When cooking cereals, vegetables, meat, kitchen utensils with a thick bottom are needed so that the food does not burn and can languish for a long time under the lid. You don't need a thick bottom to boil compotes, soups and eggs. When buying, be guided first of all by what dishes you will cook in this dish.
2. Pot handles are stronger when they are bolted on rather than welded on. In this case, they can be replaced over time, and they are practically not susceptible to corrosion. The material of the handles should ideally not be heated, so the pan will be as convenient to use as possible. Anti-slip silicone pads are the ideal material.
3. The lid of a small saucepan should fit as tightly as possible and have a hole for steam to escape. With a slight tilt, the lid should not slide off immediately.
4. A good casserole cannot be cheap. When choosing kitchen utensils, be guided by brands, because companies such as Gipfel, Tefal, Nadoba, Vitesse, Gurman and Kukmara have long established themselves on the market.
5. Be sure to check any pot for defects before purchasing. It should not have cracks and chips, the bottom must be perfectly flat.
6. If you plan on storing a five-liter saucepan in the refrigerator, pay attention to its height: will it fit on the shelf? It is optimal to choose this parameter within 30 cm, taking into account the height of the lid.
7. For happy owners of a dishwasher: find out if the pan can be washed using this miracle technique. If there is such an opportunity, then in the future, cooking in such a pan will free you from unnecessary trouble.

For information on how to choose the right pan, see the next video.