After that, I stopped at the grocery on the way home, as it was time to start with the stock-making again. I had unearthed one last quart of chicken stock from the depths of the freezer (at some point it had rolled under the basket) but that's not nearly enough with holidays and winter coming on. Especially in cooler weather, we eat soup several times a week, and for that I need stock. This time I wanted to try making chicken stock in the 12 quart stockpot, instead of the 22 quart--I need the monster for beef bones when we do the butchering, but the pot is a PITA to handle on the stove. Due to the design of the stove, I can't really center it on the large burner. Not to mention not being able to lift it when it's even half-full.
So...with chickens being so much smaller--and having all those little tiny bones that need to be filtered out carefully--the 12 quart was, I hoped, going to solve several problems, including fitting into the fridge. I also hoped it would go faster. The monster pot is stainless steel with an aluminum core on the bottom--helps keep the temp more even than my old all-steel pot. The 12-quart is multilayer all the way, so I thought it might hold the heat better and maintain an even more even temp.
And that's what happened. It came up to boil quickly, and settled to a good simmer when I turned it down. I have four 2-cup portions of chopped cooked chicken in individual bags in the freezer, and enough in the fridge to make chicken salad for sandwiches tomorrow, plus the stock (which still needs a bit more reducing before I package it. . Being able to make stock in one day, instead of two, and with a pot I can lift and carry more easily, will allow me to make it more often.