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I've had 'em in a couple places we have stayed, and I don't get it. Why not just dump the noodles into an all-purpose colander instead of having an extra vessel that needs to be sized to fit the parent pot?
I get it for professional kitchens because they don't want to have to heat a new batch of water over and over for every order, but for a home cook I'm baffled as to why anyone would need a pasta insert. What am I missing?
I've never used a pasta insert for pasta but I do use the one in my 12 qt stock pot when I'm cooking down chicken for stock. I put the chicken in the insert and simmer, then I just pull the insert out and don't have to worry about any little bones in my stock. It would probably be useful for precooking lasagna noodles or jumbo shells to stuff but that just means something else to wash for me.
If you make deep fried foods, an insert can keep the food submerged in the oil/fat, for more even cooking and a reduction in cooking time and some of the spatter.
Steaming vegetables makes sense, it would be perfect for that. Stock it wouldn't save me a step, I'm not a cheese-cloth extremist but I do at least run it through a fine mesh strainer.
I've never used a pasta insert for pasta but I do use the one in my 12 qt stock pot when I'm cooking down chicken for stock. I put the chicken in the insert and simmer, then I just pull the insert out and don't have to worry about any little bones in my stock. It would probably be useful for precooking lasagna noodles or jumbo shells to stuff but that just means something else to wash for me.
If you used a colander instead, wouldn't that need washing?
If you used a colander instead, wouldn't that need washing?
Well, yeah, but you have to wash the insert too.
I can see the use of it for steaming things (water level below the bottom of the insert), boiling things you don't want to break up when you get them out of the water (like potatoes for mashing), pasta of course. I also note someone pointed out you could use it in deep fat frying to hold things down in the oil. I so rarely deep fry anything that it's not a concern for me. There's a tiny improvement in storage efficiency as the insert stores inside its pot whereas a colander takes up its own storage space.
I have one pot with this (though it's more of a wide flat pot, so I'd call it a steamer insert rather than the typical tall skinny pot and insert sold "for pasta") and it's OK. Owning this pot didn't change my life or anything. It's helpful sometimes.
I'm just saying that regardless of whether you use a colander or an insert, it's something else to clean. So it's not a point in favor of or strike against either.
I've never used a pasta insert for pasta but I do use the one in my 12 qt stock pot when I'm cooking down chicken for stock. I put the chicken in the insert and simmer, then I just pull the insert out and don't have to worry about any little bones in my stock. It would probably be useful for precooking lasagna noodles or jumbo shells to stuff but that just means something else to wash for me.
THAT is smart! And almost makes me wanna buy one of these things.
On a side note, my mother poured poured spaghetti from the pot into a collander. One time, something went amiss, and the hot water poured all over her hands. Medical visits were required for some seriously painful burns. I don't remember, but I'll bet she bought an insert as soon as the blisters healed.
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