ALL-CLAD STAINLESS 8 QUART MULTIPURPOSE POT WITH STEAMER BASKET

All-Clad Metalcrafters was founded in 1967 in Canonsburg, western Pennsylvania, an area famous as the birthplace of the American steel and aluminum industries.  Unmatched in metal fabrication technology, the area is known as the home of some of the world’s most skilled metal workers.

The company originally was a manufacturer of bonded metals, including coinage for the U.S. Mint, avionics and ballistics.  It moved to cookware purely by accident in 1971, after its founder, metallurgist John Ulam, made a pan for his personal use. 

Using All-Clad’s patented “roll bonding” process by which metals are sandwiched together, Ulam formed a cooking vessel.  The company name is derived from the bonding process, which is applied not only on the bottom but extends all the way up the sides of each product.

A favorite of celebrity chefs, All-Clad stainless cookware is widely available.  My multipurpose pot came from Williams Sonoma, which has both retail outlets and an online store.   The multipurpose pot can be used to make stocks, soups and stews, to boil or steam lobsters and other shellfish, to blanch vegetables, or to boil corn or potatoes.   I use it mainly for pasta.