Calphalon All-Purpose 8-Quart Insert

I would also like to recommend the steamer insert found here as an add-on to complement your cooking experience!


Essential for Cooking Pasta al Dente   December 31, 2000
Michela (Seattle, WA, USA)
32 out of 32 found this review helpful

The Calphalon "All-Purpose" Insert that fits the Calphalon 8-quart stockpot (either hard-anodozed aluminum or Commercial nonstick) is an essential piece of cookware if you love pasta. Once you have made any kind of pasta (spaghetti, linguine, penne rigate, orecchiette) in this insert and pot (sometimes sold together in a slightly wider shape called a pasta pentola), you will never want to cook pasta any other way.

You put the insert in the pot, fill it about 3/4 full with water, put on the lid, and let the water come to a full rolling boil (it won't take long). Then remove the lid and add your pasta (I keep a little chart handy that has the cooking time for each variety, but you can always look on the box or package--make sure you buy semolina pasta imported from Italy, if possible). Add some sea salt (1 tsp.) if you wish. I also add a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, too. Give the pasta one or two stirs--14-inch stainless steel tongs work the best. It will come back to a boil, and then you start the timing. One or two minutes before you think it is done, lift up a strand or two from the pot (I use the serrated side of my large Wusthof bread knife for this, or I use a long-handled slotted spoon for smaller pasta.) Taste it. You want the pasta to be cooked "al dente" (lit., "firm to the tooth"). If it tastes almost done, then lift the insert slowly and carefully from the pot, letting the steaming water run back into the pot. After the water has completely drained, then shake the pasta a bit in the strainer. Do not rinse the pasta. Pour it out onto a large platter. Add one or two spoonfuls of the water from the pasta (which you have not thrown out yet), and then sauce it. You will love the pasta al dente! I have taught many non-cooks to make pasta with this insert (and the stockpot), and they are successful on the first try! Buon appetito!