Cuisinart 650-26CP Chef's Classic 5-Quart Chili Pot with Cover Nonstick-Hard-Anodized, Black

I absolutely love this chili pot! I purchased it back in July 2024 and have used it countless times since. I’ve used it for chili, lentils, rice with chicken, and so many other delicious recipes. The size is perfect—I’ve easily cooked rice and chicken for a group of six with no problem. The glass lid is sturdy and feels heavy-duty, and the pot itself hasn’t scratched at all, even with regular use. The quality really impressed me, and I ended up falling in love with the Cuisinart brand—I’ve since purchased several other pots and pans from them. If you’re looking for a versatile, durable, and generously sized pot, I highly recommend this one!

I had a Caphalon pot that I loved and ruined it. Looking for a replacement and this pot is so much better. It seemed flimsy to me in comparison at first but now I love it because it is so light to handle and nothing sticks. Handles stay cool too. Easy to clean too. I use it for practically everything now.

Great all-around size. Non-stick. Use on low-medium heat. Hand-wash.

The pan looks very nice and is lightweight, which I like - not a fan of heavy cast iron stuff, for instance. We are following directions and not using high heat, only medium and below, which works fine. We never use metal utensils. For washing, we use nothing more aggressive than a microfiber cloth designed for non-stick cookware. But in the right light, we are seeing random scratches showing up on the inside pan bottom. They don't look like the type of scratches you's get from using the wrong cleaning pad or utensil. I'm not sure what is making them. But I'm concerned about how long the coating will last. Right now it works really well and is easy to clean. But I can't give the pan five stars, because of the scratches.

Perfect size for chili, soups or sauteing. I find I use it often! It's lighter weight than most Dutch ovens & the double handles are more secure for me than using a heavy frying pan. Cleans up easily too.

This pot is more hefty than I envisioned when ordering. I’ve use this pot and I like it! Pot is made with decent material to evenly heat up. I know it’s not designed to grill chicken breasts. But I did and it cooked the breasts with a decent caramelizing. Now…this is a stew/soup /pasta pot as a rule. But because of the thickness of the aluminum…pit heated up well. I’m a very good cook use to cooking with fry pans to sear my steaks and chicken etc. but I was already using my 12 inch fry pan and needed to grill the chicken breasts for fajitas…I was impressed! But don’t throw away your fry pan. I approve of this pot!

Out of this collection, I have the 5 qt, 3 qt and the large fry pan with 2 handles. These pans are great. I'm a hard cook on pans, I cook over high heat constantly. My first 3 qt and fry pan lasted me 3 1/2 yrs and I just recently bought them again. If you are a average cook, these pans will last you much longer. I don't baby my pans, I tend to abuse them, therefore I have to replace pans more often. The great thing about this 5 qt pan is the wider base and lower sides. So many 5 qt pans are high sided and have a smaller base. This is a great pan to fry bacon in, the higher than "fry pan" sides will catch more splatter. Excellent glass lids w/ this collection of pans. If you want them to stay black, don't wash in the dishwasher. Over time a "white haze" will develop and the black will turn a grayish color. Update...11/28/14...ok, this pan is about 2 yrs old, the non stick feature started fading, nothing to peel off though, just happens when used and scratched somewhat. I burnt oil in it yesterday, gunky mess. So instead of cleaning it for the next 20 mins, I'm purchasing another one since foods were beginning to stick. Remember, I abuse my pans, they don't rule my life, if taken better care of and not used daily, you'll get a long life out of this pan.

I find some sticking happens with this pan. I have used another brand in previous years and gave this a try. I would call this somewhat nonstick and I only purchased it in October last year. I used it yesterday and it happened again.