Tom, "John, are you using the white bags? I'd be concerned about the dyes and chemicals in the other colors.... " Good point. Heres what they (Greenbag Inc) say... "Is made from non-toxic, non-corrosive materials and safe color-fast dyes". I'm interested in these for several reasons, drainage, cooling and cost. I know they drain well, I don't think you could ever fill one with a garden hose. The upside down tomato bag I tried last spring stayed cool and it was black. The ones from Publix are a buck and I hear W mart's are cheaper. So I'll give it a try. john

I often cook rice or beans in a light weight stainless steel bowl with a folded band of aluminum foil under it to lift bowl when food cooked. Water is added to the bottom of the pot, a rack inserted, and foil covers bowl and contents. If the rice bean calls for 2 cups water to one cup rice or beans, I add that to bowl before covering it with foil. I also season bowl before doing this. Reason - I am a 2 person family. If I want to cook rice or beans for one meal, I cannot cook this small amount in my 6 quart Presto cooker. Cooking it in a bowl means I can still cook my rice or beans in 7 to 15 minutes, remove the stainless bowl and present for serving, and dump and rinse out the Presto in half a minute. No chances of drying out or burning small quantities of food on the bottom of my Presto. This higher and better use of a pressure cooker comes from Miss Vickie. Her cookbook on pressure cooking is wonderful. Her advise is given freely and well thought out also (on her website). Just my observations based on implementation. Jim in So Calif

I see this thread is kind of old now, but besides all the personal opinions, does anybody know how to get that nice brown skin when using an oven bag? When I make the turkey, the night before I take a few sticks of butter, a whole yellow onion and some spices and cook them all together. Then I take that and place it into a food processor until it becomes one homogenous mixture of sorts, then I place that into a large freezer bag and flatten it out in the fridge. I got this idea from Paula Dean. The next day when you are getting your turkey ready you use your fingers to gently separate the skin from the meat, and you slide in the hardened butter mixture in between the skin and the meat. This method works incredibly well for an oven bag or not, as it infuses the meat with a delicious flavor. For people wary of the bag, the thing is fantastic! The meat comes out delicious and moist. It takes 4 hours as opposed to 8 hours to cook the turkey and needs no basting or any other fuss. I just wish it got that picture perfect browning to it, but we usually slice it up anyways so it isn't that big of a deal, but would like to hear any suggestions on how to attain this? I was thinking that maybe I should try cutting back the plastic for the last 20 or 30 minutes? I am just worried about drying the meat out :/

rhome410 - Wow! I didn't even know Le Creuset made a 13.25 qt pot. Here's the thing - it's going to be so heavy when filled that even I would shy away from using it. And then there's the expense. For that kind of money, you would be better off with the All-Clad Stainless 12-Quart Stock Pot ($326.88 on Amazon). It gets top marks from Cooks Illustrated in part because "The aluminum core runs up the side of the pot". Since I personally won't be spending over $300 on a stock pot any time soon, I have a couple of other recommendations: 1. I'm not aware of another stock pot like All-Clad that go all the way up the sides, but Cooks Illustrated next highest rated is the Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless 12-Quart Stock Pot which gets very high marks, is ever so much more manageable than the Le Creuset and only costs around $60. Because it has a wide base, it will help a little with the bottom sides not burning, but you're still going to have to watch them carefully. 2. For heavier braising and thick soups/stews, for myself, I bought the the Mario Batali Braiser Oval 9 Qt enamel on cast iron pot. Cooks Illustrated rates these Mario Batali pots nearly as highly as Le Creuset and they're about half the price. They don't make a round one that size, but the shallower part of the oval is still 11" and provides for reasonably even burner coverage on my range (although if I remember correctly you actually have a more high powered range at home than I do). Hope this helps. plllog - great advice (along with everyone else) on "fish stick/chicken strip" making. The rounded sides on your your Le Creuset soup pot work better for at least 2 reasons: 1. A pan with 90 degree sides allows heat to enter from both the bottom and the side so, in effect, the food in the corner is getting up to twice as much heat - even more for a perfectly square or rectangular baking pan taking heat on 3 sides (ever noticed how the corners of brownies are quick to burn). 2. Rounded sides allow for more complete and efficient stirring therefore also reducing burning. These two reasons are probably why most pots are actually round/rounded in the first place. You'll note that practically all good casserole dishes (made for long cooking without stirring) are round/rounded on all edges. Interestingly, this can be even more important for microwave cooking.