Before You Buy Big: The Best 20 Quart Stock Pot

Twenty quarts is five gallons, and five gallons is a lot of pot for a home kitchen. In a restaurant, a pot this size sits on a low stock range and gets filled by a hose. At home, it has to fit on your stove, under your hood and in your sink, and then you have to lift it. Before you buy one, it helps to know what you are taking on.

The payoff is real. A big stock pot handles a big batch of tamales, a party batch of pozole, a crawfish boil on the patio burner, or a year’s worth of stock. This guide is for that bigger size. For a pot you would use every week, our best stock pot guide centers on more practical sizes.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a restaurant kitchen looks for in a 20 quart stock pot, product specifications and listing information, which we name where we use it.

Quick verdict: which 20 quart stock pot to buy

The other picks cover measuring marks, a restaurant supply pot, a nickel-free steel and a pot with published dimensions.

Five big stock pots side by side

Five of the eight, one for each kind of cook. All eight hold about 20 quarts and are reviewed below.

Product images from Amazon. Specifications are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best 20 quart stock pot

Each of these is sold as a 20-quart pot, although size fields vary a little, and we note it when they do. None is a case pack.

How to choose a 20-quart pot for a home kitchen

At this size, the pot’s fit in your kitchen matters as much as the pot itself. Measure first.

Measure your burner, hood and sink

Start with the numbers on Bakken-Swiss’s listing as a rough guide to the size class: about 15.75 inches across the handles, 12.45 inches wide and 11.65 inches tall. Measure the space between your stove and the hood, and allow extra for a lid and a spoon. Check your largest burner against the base, as a small burner struggles to heat a pot this wide. Then see whether the pot fits under your sink faucet and in your basin. If it won’t, you will need to fill it in place with a smaller pitcher.

The weight when it is full

The U.S. Geological Survey’s water density table works out to about 8.3 pounds a gallon, so 5 gallons of water weighs close to 42 pounds before you add the pot or the food. Don’t plan on carrying that across a kitchen. Ladle it out, or use a helper. Check your range manual for any weight limit, especially on a glass top, and don’t slide a full pot across glass.

Stainless or aluminum

Stainless is non-reactive and works with tomatoes, tomatillos and lime, as long as it is a decent grade like 18/10 or 18/8. Aluminum heats more efficiently and is what many restaurants use for water-based jobs, but it doesn’t work on induction without a magnetic base. KitchenAid notes that aluminum and copper typically need a magnetic base to work on that kind of stove.

The base

Water and thin soups forgive a simple base. Thick beans, chile sauces and a pot crowded with hominy don’t, and they will scorch if the heat gathers in one spot. Look for a layered aluminum disc or tri-ply bottom, such as those on the Tramontina, Cooks Standard and HOMICHEF. If your burner is small, the same base also helps spread what heat there is.

Lid and handles

A glass lid lets you watch the pot without letting steam out. A steel one won’t break if it is dropped. Look for riveted handles you can grip with oven mitts on, because you will need both hands. Winco’s aluminum pot doesn’t come with a lid, so add one to your order.

How we picked these eight stock pots

We looked for single pots sold as 20 quarts, new and in stock, usable on a home stove, from identifiable makers, with at most two Amazon-first brands (HOMICHEF and Bakken-Swiss). We avoided our best stock pot picks, including the Vollrath and Update International 20-quart pots, and left out pots with low-stock warnings, like the Winco tri-ply. We then compared stated materials, base, lid, stove and warranty details.

We have not cooked in these pots, and we don’t claim to have. A search for an independent test of 20-quart pots found retail listings rather than a review we could rely on, so these picks rest on listing and maker details. We looked up each brand in the CPSC recall database and found no recall of any stock pot on this page.

Big stock pot questions, answered

Is a 20 quart stock pot too big for a home kitchen?

For weekly use, usually yes. It is hard to lift and store, and a smaller pot suits regular soups. It is worth owning if you make tamales, big stocks, boils or party food a few times a year.

What is a good large stock pot for batch cooking?

Choose a stainless pot with a layered base if you make thick food, and aluminum for water-based jobs on gas. The Tramontina is the best all-around choice here.

How many servings does 20 quarts hold?

Twenty quarts is 80 cups. In practice, you never fill a pot to the rim, so plan on about three-quarters full, or roughly 60 cups. That is around 40 bowls of soup or pozole, depending on your bowl size.

Can I use a 20-quart stock pot on an outdoor burner?

Yes, for stainless steel or aluminum, as long as your pot sits stably on the stand. Keep it on a level, non-flammable surface, outdoors and away from buildings. Our lobster pot guide also covers big-boil gear.

Will a 20-quart pot work on induction?

Many of the stainless pots here say so. Aluminum alone won’t. If a listing doesn’t say, KitchenAid’s magnet test works: if a magnet sticks firmly to the base, the pot is compatible.

Our final pick for the big batch

Start with the Tramontina Gourmet if you want one big pot to last. If tamales are the reason you are buying it, read what tamales are and how they are made, then set up a rack in the pot and start spreading masa.

And if all those tamales sound like a lot of work, see the menu at Julia’s or call to order.