Excelsteel 8 Quart 18/10 Stainless Steel 4 Piece Muti-Cookware Set With Encapsulated Basegoodus

I bought this to compare it to the Calphalon pasta cooker and steamer. Calphalon Contemporary Stainless 8-Quart Pot with Glass Lid and 2 Inserts

Both have an insert with holes for pasta and another insert that sits above it for steaming. You can use either or both with the stock pot. Thin spaghetti may escape through the holes of the pasta inserts.

Both have the same defect that you need to put in two quarts of water to reach the bottom of the pasta cooker.

The Excelsteel is superior in that there is a vent in the glass top. One reviewer of the Calphalon said her top exploded, although I have had no such problem in many years of use.

However, the Excelsteel steamer is too shallow. It is only 2 1/2 inches deep. The Calphalon steamer is four inches deep. Sometimes I want to steam a lot of... Read more

This pan is nice heavy duty (18/10 Stainless Steel) pan which I am very pleased with. The 4-Piece set has a large basket is great for pasta, potatoes, brussels sprouts and other vegetable you might fix a larger amount. The smaller basket works great for steaming squash and spinach. I almost never use it without one of the baskets installed. I think this pan with the encapsulated base makes this set much better than similar sets that are not this quality of stainless steel of base. Liked it so much, I bought one for my mom and she loves it too.

I was a little disappointed by the quality of the product. The pot is thin and not heavy weighted as I expected. Not even the base is a heavy weight.