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I've got a recipe I've been meaning on trying for sauce that indicates using an assumably ceramic dutch oven. Will I be in any dangerous territory if I use a stainless steel pot instead? I know not to use a reactive pot for tomatoes, just not sure if there are any other considerations?

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Yes and no.

Stainless steel is not "reactive"; generally that term refers to cast iron, aluminium, or copper cookware. So from that perspective you can swap it.

However, a recipe which expects a ceramic or enameled cast iron dutch oven probably is calibrated for cookware that has a high thermal mass and slow heating for its contents. So if your stainless-steel pot has thin walls & bottom, you will need to adjust heat levels and cooking times, and stir more often to prevent burning.

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  • I've got a cooking time of 3 hours for this sauce recipe, Are there additional measures I can take beyond low heat and frequent stirring to reduce the chance of burning the bottom of the pot here?
    – SomethingSomething
    Nov 4, 2019 at 21:15
  • 1
    Oven or stovetop?
    – FuzzyChef
    Nov 4, 2019 at 21:27
  • 2
    If your stove top won't go low enough to prevent burning, you can use the oven...or a heat diffuser for your burner.
    – moscafj
    Nov 4, 2019 at 23:09
  • 2
    +1 for heat diffuser. The poor-man's slow cooker, worth its weight in gold.
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 5, 2019 at 8:47
  • 1
    If using an oven make sure there aren't any plastics which will melt!
    – GdD
    Nov 5, 2019 at 9:43

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