Cuisinart 755-26GD 5.5-Quart Multi-Purpose Pan Chef's-Classic-Stainless-Cookware-Collection

I have mixed feelings about this pot. On the one hand, I like the quality construction, the glass lid (which seals very well), and the shape. This is my second item in the Chef's Classic line. There are a couple of things about this pot that I don't like, and they are big ones, so that's why I knocked off two stars (meaning I think this pot is just ok, not great and not awful). First, it takes FOREVER for water to boil. Not forever as in 10 minutes, but more like 45 minutes. You're not supposed to use this pan on high heat, so that's at a 6 on my stove, which is the highest I ever turn it up with stainless steel. Second, the base of this pan is significantly smaller than that of a stockpot, which makes it hard to use on the larger burners on my glass top stove. I believe the measurement is in the product description, so that's my fault for not measuring the burner, but I think it's annoying regardless. I guess I would say that if you have to cook something in a hurry, or if you just want it for things like boiling pasta, then keep looking. If you want to use it more like a slow cooker or have a lot of time to spend standing over it and waiting for the contents to get hot, then this is the pan for you. In my kitchen, it will probably only be used for anything that needs to simmer for a couple of hours. I wish I would have sprung for the Multiclad Pro or Calphalon Tri-Ply stock pot instead, even though they are 4-5x the price. Update 6/20/13: I came back to add a star. Since I had decided I didn't like this pan at all, I started using it in ways I wouldn't normally use my cookware. I used a metal whisk in it. I even used a metal hand blender in it. Honestly, I was kind of hoping to destroy it so I could get it out of my house, but it has held up. It has a few scratches on the bottom now, but they seem to be only cosmetic. I have used it as a large mixing bowl for double batches of muffins, and as a popcorn bowl for our air popper (it works great for this because of the large circumference of the top). In terms of cooking, I mostly use it for soup now. If I make something like potatoes in it, I just start them well ahead of when I think I need to. For something I was really disappointed in at first, this has turned out to be a pretty great little pan. Update 1/9/16: Three years in, I love this pan and have upgraded it to five stars. Shortly after I wrote the original review, I did go out and buy a Multiclad Pro stock pot. It's beautiful and a great investment, but do you know which pot I reach for almost every time? This one. It's a workhorse, and it has held up well to almost daily use. If something happened to this pot, I would buy another one in a heartbeat...but at this rate, I'm pretty sure it will last forever.

I've made pasta in it, large batches of sauces, stews, tossed salads in it (pretty easy with the lid on, which has a lip going down into the pot)and found this a good shape overall for many things. I now have three pans in different sizes in this Chef's shape from Cuisinart, in addition to a slew of standard pieces, and find myself reaching for these the most, other than the 8" fry for mushrooms, onions, etc. This is very adaptable and useful pot, does many different things, looks cool, doesn't have a long handle to get in the way of your other pans and is a snap to clean, just like any good Stainless Steel is. Not too heavy, either, which is nice if you have mobility or pain issues with your hands. Seems well made, like all their stuff, the glass lid, a departure for them, lets you see your work without releasing vital moisture, and can provide "waterless" cooking quality seal... there is no vent, which is good if you know what you're doing, not so good if you don't. The lid is domed enough to return condensate to the sides of the dish, which helps cut crusting and sticking, and keeps things most. I don't eat meat, but you should be able to do a small chicken or cornish hens in here and have that come out very very moist. AS WITH ANY STAINLESS COOKWARE, a couple notes: keep the heat LOWER than you're used to with aluminum and other materials. Steel is fast. Keep the food moving. That is normal in any pan, but with stainless, heat transfers quickly, so keep it moving and pay attention to how fast it's searing: you save time and energy with Stainless. Lastly, let is soak before cleaning, usually the duration of your actual dining is quite sufficient and I have never yet needed anything more aggressive than a Dobie Pad or other NYLON scrubby. ALWAYS season new Stainless cookware. Keep it seasoned: this means trying to NOT use soap on the inside, but to use only very hot water and the nylon scrubby or a sponge. It's safe, natural and after several times of cooking, will be as good as teflon but smoother. Use ONLY a sponge on the outside if you can, so you don't scratch the nice finish. This is a good shape, looks like you know what you're doing, even if you're still learning, and should last a long time with a little care. It cooks evenly, quickly, works great. As with any disk/encapsulate cookware, do NOT let the flames from your burner exceed the width of the disc, and don't use it on an electric that is wider than the disc. That's one sure way to mess up or maintain the overall look of your lovely Cuisinart Stainless. It's always on sale for pretty attractive price on Amazon, so... get one! Believe me, you'll use it, even if you have no other Cuisinart Stainless encapsulated Chef's Classic cookware. This is useful.

Somehow I seem to reach for this pot just about every time I am cooking for 3-5 persons. It is nice and so easy to use. The size and weight are perfect and the shape of this pot is really good, it's rounded corners make it easy to clean and food tends not to stick in the corners. The handles never get hot with my style of cooking and I also use it as a makeshift wok at times. I just love this pot and use it for literally all my medium to large dishes. I boil pasta in it, do soups, large batches of bolognese sauce, chili, steam veggies in it, even cook rice in it and everything turns our right. A word to the wise, as with ALL STAINLESS STEEL POTS AND PANS always remember to PREHEAT them before adding oil then the meat, etc. Do the water test when preheating your pans and you should not have any sticking issues whatsoever. Heck, sometimes I have even used it as a mixing bowl for cake recipes and its perfect. This is a great pot and I highly recommend it.

Whether or not you will like this unusual pot as much as I do depends on your needs and expectations. What I like about this pot: I like the gently rounded shape and attractive double handles (looks much better on the table or the sideboard then a regular pot); the very useful size; the even heating; and the easy cleanability. I cook every day, and I find myself reaching for this pot often lately to make soup (about five to six servings); to boil a perfect pound of pasta, then to use the same pot to toss the drained pasta with sauce, and then to serve directly from this attractive pot (fewer dishes to wash!); and to make popcorn (as others have pointed out, the size and shape of this pot are ideal for popping popcorn without burning). I also like that this is a more lightweight alternative to my enameled cast-iron Le Creuset vessel of around the same size. This Cuisinart pot comes in handy when I don't need the insulating properties of the heavier, harder to clean Le Crueset pot. I should also note that although the unusual, rounded shape of this pot concerned me a bit before I ordered this item – I was concerned about its stability on my large cast iron burners -- I have found the pot to be very stable on the stove and on the sideboard. What you may not like about this pot: It is not particularly heavy, although the bottom is well clad, and I have not found burning to be a problem as long as you regulate the heat appropriately for stainless steel. However, if you are looking for a heavyweight stainless steel pot, this isn't it. Also: if you use a hand blender to purée your soups, the curved lower sides of this pot will make it a little harder to purée every single drop (but a few extra seconds of tilting and blending will get the job done). And, as with all stainless steel, it will take a bit of elbow grease or barkeeper's friend to get every single spot off the metal. Spots don't particularly bother me these days, as almost all of my cookware is old now and has a beaten up, well loved look. But it might bother you to do the extra polishing if you want the piece to look pristine forever. Good luck with your decision.

Until my old spaghetti/soup pot bit the dust, and I found this, I didn't know that Cuisinart did anything other than kitchen appliances. This Cuisinart pot is beautiful and incredibly affordable. It is the perfect size for making a pot of anything for up to 6 people. I am "sold" on Scanpans, but the Scanpan closest in size to my needs is about 5x the price. I was leary of stainless and metal handles so I read all the reviews and critiques and decided to try it despite the naysayers. It is exactly as advertised - the lid does NOT get hot, the lid handle does NOT get hot, the pot handles do NOT get hot. It does NOT get little spots on it as some said, and we have high lime content in our water here, so if minerals would spot stainless, I would know it. I love fried potatoes and fried okra. I often use this for deep frying at the hottest setting on my glass top stove. It heats oil fast, cooks evenly and perfectly. It is my go-to kitchen pot, used often for many things. Still is beautiful although yes the bottom has gotten browned. But who looks at pan bottoms anyway? It is so beautiful that I leave it set out so I can see it daily.This pot iis one of my favorite cooking "tools."

This is very nice. Light so I can easily pick it up even when it had water in it. I washed it really well and then put about 3 inches of water in it. I set my induction cook top to 50. It was boiling when I returned to the kitchen just a few minutes later. I measured out 2 cups of the boiling water, returned it to the pot, added 1 cup of rice and in 22 minutes I had perfect rice. I am impressed! It had no discoloration, it cleaned up nice.

UPDATE FROM 2019: My original review follows. I am not removing stars, either, but wanted to warn buyers that this pot actually developed a HOLE over time. Yep - a HOLE. A couple of months ago (I am writing this update in May 2020), I filled the pot at the sink and put it on the counter so I could go over to the stove and turn on the burner. When I turned back to the counter, there was water all over - and the counter had been totally dry when I set the pot down. I hadn't even sloshed any water out of the pot. "That's weird," I thought. And then I noticed a little trickle of water down the side of the pot. It took some figuring out, because (a) the hole was just a tiny pinprick in size and (b) seriously, have you ever had a stainless steel pot LEAK?!? , but figure it out I did. There was a tiny hole in the pot. So I had to throw it out. OMG, so very, very unexpected and weird! *****Original review: This is lighter weight than I anticipated, and I don't care. It's an excellent pot. The lid fits perfectly, it heats up quickly and evenly, and looks great. One reviewer mentioned tiny black "fleck" marks turning up upon washing... that happened to me, and I just used my scratchy pad to buff them out. Makes no difference to the pot's performance, and the flecks are few and far between, so I don't downgrade my stars for that (very minor) issue at all.

I have owned several Cuisinart pots as well as other 3 ply high end stainless pans and pots made by allclad and surlatable brand. This pot is a nice size and well designed but it is absolutely not the same quality as my other Cuisinart pots. The sides and handles of this pot are thinner/lesser grade stainless. They get too hot, scorch, discolor and pit. This pot is fine if used on medium heat for warming soup. But it is not a work horse pot like my others where I can use high heat to brown meat, then turn down to braise or saute dry rice before making risotto Too thin, too lightweight.

Llegó el paquete en excelentes condiciones y la olla se ve de muy buen material, tamaño y resistente. Tenía mis dudas al comprar por primera vez esta marca, y reviews de otras personas ayudaron a tomar la decisión. Habrá que ver cómo quedan las albóndigas 👌

Perfeito

It is a size pot I was looking for and great for cooking soups i make weekly. Follow the instructions for cooking…no high heat. Medium heat works really well with this pot.

This pot is really well-designed. Just the right general-purpose size, shape and materials. Suited for ramen soups, Thai curries, fish frying, bacon and eggs, and much more. Neat, slim, flattened handles make handing a doddle. Heats up quickly placed on induction cooktop. Highly recommended!

This is a great pot for cooking any item.