[masraum]

And the quality of the pot seem to have a lot to do with how well it cooks. We've got some Demeyere stainless (Atlantis and Proline). Also, when we first got this place, and were maintaining 2 residences, the kids gave us a few of their old REALLY cheap pots (like "as seen on TV" type stuff).

I just tested an equal amount of water (about a pint) set to boil in a Demeyere and on of the cheap sauce pots. The Demeyere was at a full rolling boil in 2 mins with no indication of a hotspot on the bottom of the pot (the whole bottom was boiling, not just a ring in the center). The cheap pots which are enameled thin aluminum with a thin ferrous steel disk on the bottom didn't boil until 4 minutes and had a noticeable hot spot (the boiling started in a spot about half the diameter of the pot).

We've got some old cast iron and also some LeCrueset enameled cast iron, but I think all of that is in storage, unfortunately, so I can't test those. I assume they should work similar to the Demeyere.