How to Choose a Soup Pot For the Best Soup Recipes

It is important to buy a good quality soup pot if you want to make the best soup recipes. Soup pots are versatile and you can also use them for braising meat, making broth and cooking pasta. Whether you want to make a pumpkin soup recipe or a braised meat stew, using a good pot is essential to your success.

The shape and size of a soup pot are important factors. Soup pots range from four to twenty quarts in capacity, and then you have commercial ones, which can be enormous. A soup pot tends to be smaller than a stock pot because you usually make less soup at once than with stock, but buying one pot, which is good for making soup or stock, is a good investment, because you will not have to buy two pots.

Tips for Choosing Soup Pots

Choose something between six and twelve quarts because this makes the pot versatile enough for many uses. Soup pots normally have deep straight sides, a round base, and a lid. You can use something smaller and wider, such as a big saucepan, for making soup.

A thick, heavy base is very important because a thin bottom might result in burnt soup. Soup can take a long time to cook so the pot will be on the stove for perhaps hours at a time. Copper, cast iron, steel, and aluminum are soup pot material choices and there are pros and cons to each one.

It is important to choose a soup making pot with a strong, securely attached handle. Rivets or heavy screws should be used to attach the handle to the pot. The handles should also be comfortable and big enough to get your fingers through.

Recipe for Split Pea and Ham Soup

This is a great recipe to make in a big pot. The combination of ham, split peas, spinach, vegetables, and herbs is magic and this is a hearty, rich, and flavorful soup, which is perfect for lunch or dinner. This recipe serves ten people.

What you will need:

1 lb rinsed, dried green split peas
5 cups water
2 diced celery ribs
2 fresh or smoked ham hocks
1 cup slivered spinach leaves
1 minced clove garlic
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 finely chopped sprigs fresh parsley
2 finely chopped carrots
1 finely chopped onion
5 cups chicken broth
1 sliced leek (white part only)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and black pepper, to taste

How to make it:

Stir together the chicken broth and water in a big soup pot, then bring the mixture to a boil. Add the split peas, ham hocks, celery, thyme and half the parsley. Turn down the heat and simmer the soup for forty five minutes with the lid partially covering the pot.

Stir it every ten minutes. Melt the butter in a skillet over a moderate to high heat, and then saute the leek, garlic, onion, and carrots until soft. Transfer the vegetables into the soup pot. Add the spinach and simmer the soup, partially covered again, for half an hour.

Turn the heat off and take out the ham hocks. Take the meat off the bones and discard the bones as well as any fatty bits. Return the chopped meat to the pot. Adjust the seasoning, add the rest of the parsley, and serve hot.

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Cookware Sets - What Is The Best Type Of Cookware And How To Choose It?

There are many types of cookware sets to choose from. There are all kinds of gourmet cookware sets hard anodized, stainless steel, enamel, non stick and cast iron just to name a few. The selection is so large that it could be overwhelming.

I consider myself somewhat of an amateur chef. I learned alot by watching many of the gourmet cooking shows that are on television. I also subscribe to several gourmet-cooking magazines. Plus it also helps when your bother in-law is professional chef.

I purchased my first gourmet cookware set many years ago. I bought this set because it was one of the most highly rated sets and very popular at that time. I also could use the cooking utensils that I already had. I didn't have to worry about scratching it like you do with a non stick set. I figured this would be the only cookware I would ever need and I would just add to it as needed. However, over time, I found this not to be the case and this would not be the only set I would ever have.

I found that the best cookware to choose really depends on the dish or meal that you are going to prepare.
As an example, if you're preparing a low fat meal you would most likely use a non stick skillet to cut down on the amount of fat in the dishes you prepare. If you were making meals that started off with sautéing or browning first and then finished the cooking in the oven, I would use cookware that was oven safe and could go from the cooktop burner right into the oven. This also saves time on clean up because you're using less pots and pans when you cook this way.

When grilling or preparing meals outdoors I prefer something very durable like cast iron. It is also my skillet of choice when making fried chicken. A lot of people would shy away from cast iron because it had to be pre-seasoned before you could being cooking with it. However nowadays many manufacturers of cast iron cookware sell it already pre-seasoned and ready to use. Cast iron is probably one of the oldest cookware sets around. Many grandmothers and great grandmothers had this type of cookware for a lifetime.

In Summary: After many years, it has been my experience that there really is no one "do all" set of cookware. In my opinion it really depends on the type of meal you are preparing and the type of cooking you are doing.

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How To Choose The Perfect Bread Maker

Bread makers are extremely popular. The average person can make delicious, homemade bread quite easily with a bread maker. Even with the ease of a bread machine, you must still use caution when adding the ingredients, even if you use a mix. You can make a variety of shapes and sizes of loaf with a bread machine. Many people use a bread machine to simply mix the ingredients then bake the loaf in a traditional oven. Sizes range from one pound to two pounds or more, and you will most likely choose between a square or round loaf pan.

Some bread makers will have a preheat cycle to heat the ingredients before baking. If you want your bread to rise properly, choose a bread maker that does not heat before time to bake the bread. Bread makers will generally have separate settings for different types of bread. There may be settings for wheat or French bread, and you will be able to choose the doneness of the bread such as a light, medium, or dark setting. There will also normally be a regular or rapid bake cycle. It is desirable to have a window in the top or side of the bread machine to allow you to see the progress of your bread while it is baking.

There are a variety of options from which to choose in bread makers, so you may first want to consider how much space you have to store your new machine. Bread makers come in a variety of sizes, so choose one that you can store easily. You should choose the capacity of the bread maker based upon how big your family is and how much bread they eat. You can choose a bread maker with a delay timer which will allow you to place the mix in the bread maker before you leave home each day and the bread will be ready when you return. If you want your bread maker to prepare the dough but not cook it, you will need to find a bread maker with this feature. Choose a bread maker that will alert you when it is time to add additional ingredients such as fruit or nuts. You will also want a "keep warm" feature in case you are gone when the bread is finished. Look for crust control features and special setting for fruits, nuts, cheese, and vegetables.

Study the warranty very carefully to make sure you will be able to get service and replacement parts if necessary. Keep in mind that if your family consumes a small amount of bread now, once you purchase your new bread maker that consumption is likely to increase dramatically. Choose a slightly larger size that you anticipate needing. Remember that the keep warm feature is great, but if you leave the loaf in the bread maker for an extended period of time it may become soggy and flat. A bread maker is a wonderful addition to your home. Nothing compares to the smell of freshly baked bread from your very own kitchen.

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Healthy Gourmet Cookware - How to Choose the Right Healthy Cookware For Your Kitchen

When people think of healthy gourmet cookware the first thing that comes to mine is it has to be nonstick, which does drastically cut down on the amount of oil and fat that you need to use when cooking.

But how the food is being cooked is only one aspect of what is classified as healthy cookware. Other factors that need to be considered that are also within your control is the quality of the pots and pans you choose.

Also choosing the right cookware for the job is important to. For instance a cast iron skillet is a great choice when browning meats, but is a poor choice when cooking with acidic foods like tomatoes. Cast iron and also carbon steel will react to these types of acidic foods and will definitely alter the taste of the food you are preparing.

This does not mean that other types of cookware could not be classified as healthy cookware. Some good choices to consider would be stainless steel, glass and even enamel coated cast iron. Healthy Gourmet Cookware is made to be durable. It is constructed out of the finest materials. You don't need to spend a lot of money when looking for this type of cookware.

However what makes it healthy is not necessarily just the cookware you chose but also the cooking process and controlling the amount of fat that goes into the dish.

So if you want to prepare healthy meals for yourself and family it really comes down to two important points to remember. Choosing the right type of cookware and controlling the quality of ingredients and amount of fat.

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