In general, the notion of more plies makes zero sense to me. It means more layers of not particularly heat dispersing stainless inside. I would think the optimal clad would be a thicker heat conductive metal like aluminum between thin layers of stainless. Five plies sounds like more, just like an amp that goes to eleven.
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Iâve owned this one for over a decade and can recommend it without any reservations.
It isnât cheap. But itâs a wonderful pot that will last a lifetime. I use it 2-3 times a week for soup, stock, boiling pasta etc. They also make a 6qt version if you mostly cook smaller quantities, but 8qt is a very versatile size.
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Those words have never crossed my mind either.
I did buy a relatively inexpensive 16qt disc bottom stockpot ($50 or so) at HomeGoods that I use for boiling corned beef twice a year. Works very well for its intended purpose, and I suppose I could use it for stock too. But what would I do with all that stock?
Freeze the stock?
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Before Thanksgiving I roasted 5 lbs of turkey wing flats and vegetables, then made and strained wonderful stock to use for gravy. Made 5 quarts, gave one to my neighbor, she made soup. I have one quart left and a frozen Butterball that Iâll make for Easter.
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I currently have 7 quarts of chicken stock in the freezer. Itâs such a great base for soups of any kind.
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And it is superb for pan sauces and braises.
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$300 for a stock pot strikes me as utterly ridiculous; in fact, $100 would be extravagant. Youâre not shoppingâjust spending.
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We started here within a week of each other, so you may not have seen it, but fairly early after starting here, my old French door fridge gave up the ghost (or at least its compressor did).
Around that time, I made a comment lamenting the fact that I had over 70 quart bags of frozen stocks of all sorts, and decided to downsize⌠to 36. Some of them were 10 years old and one was over 15 years. I made discard decisions some based on which had gotten air in the bag (and then pulled ice crystals out) and some on dates, but also on what I use more often (I had been making pork stock but donât use it much). One of the oldest that I kept was really as good as when I originally made it.
So⌠make lots of stock⌠freeze it⌠lose track of it under other stuff⌠throw a bunch out when the freezer dies.
Guess I should start a club called Stock Hoarders Anonymous.
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Your mileage may vary
I love love love my 3 All Clad skillets. I have had them since my friend closed his kitchen shop around 2015.
I have been using a Farberware sauce pan since 1997, an Ikea cast iron skillet since 1997, and 2 Cuisinart sauce pans since 2001.
Whatâs $50 or $200 or $300 on a pot that you might use 5 times a week for 20 years, when one nice steak dinner at a restaurant costs $100 CAD/$72 USD per person, including tax and tip? Of course, sometimes people find All Clad pots and pans at yard sales, estate sales or thrift shops, or acquire hand-me-downs.
I have been using a 40 year old hand-me âdown stock pot that is a Canadian brand, Regal.
I decided against buying a stockpot right now, and ended up buying a 3 ply 2 quart All Clad Saucier.
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I heard good things of Made In and also Vollrath. Both are a bit more industrial/professional, and a bit less polish.
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I try to go through my chest freezer every 3-6 months. New stuff goes on the bottom, older stuff on top, re-work the inventory spreadsheet and plan meals accordingly.
Iâve also tried to keep a system, fish and frozen vegetables on the right side, pork and the small amount of red meat I have in the center, finally Turkey & chicken on the right. It helps a little. Anything miscellaneous goes on the fish & veggie side.
Maybe you could keep all of the stock stacked on one side of the freezer, newest at the bottom and oldest at the top (easy to get to)??
The absolute oldest items & leftovers go into the freezer above the fridge for easy access. (more immediate meal planning).
I also need to empty & manually defrost my chest freezer once a year, so that helps me keep everything rotating and nothing gets too old.
I did pick up an âemergency freezerâ at Goodwill (that lives in the garage). I think it was like $20-$30, it was just really dirty. I did spend quite a while cleaning it, but it works perfectly. So if my big chest freezer goes down, Iâll be able to shove about 95% of the contents in the âemergency freezerâ.
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It is expensive, but I used it as a Dutch oven before I got larger ECI items. And itâs practically indestructible.
Some people spend money on cars, clothes and fancy vacations. I spend it in my kitchen.
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I usually keep a quart or two each, in pint containers, of chicken and vegetable in the freezer . Fish/shellfish, beef, and pork are only made when needed. Fish or shellfish stock are very seldom needed. I like to poach in court bouillon. Pork is used chiefly (exclusively) for ramen. Chicken is used almost exclusively for tortilla soup. Vegetable is useful for pretty much everything. Beef is used for braised beef dishes (although a vegetable stock heavy on mushroom ends, tomato navels, and onion ends works well, too), onion soup, demiglace, and not much else. As for turkey stock, which seems very popular, I am not a fan. The long simmer varies a lot with different stocks. Shortest are vegetable and fish/shellfish. Longest and hardest to nail is ramen broth.
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Sure I could freeze it. But that would leave little room for much else in my small freezer 
And using pejorative language about spending money on cookware when posting on a cookware forum strikes me as incongruous.
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I would be in a constant state of frustration if someone swapped my 8 qt stockpot for anything smaller.
I have an average size freezer-top fridge. And I will always find room for stock.
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That was supposed to be on the leftâŚ
My brain and I have not been friends today.
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My brain and I are currently not on speaking terms 
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