Hi Julianne, the pot pictured in the blog (with the white bottom) is the type of shallow, wide saucepan you want to use for making dry caramel. As mentioned in the article, a light interior makes it easier to read the progress of caramelization, but the pot itself can be made of stainless steel, aluminum or enameled cast iron. A heavy-bottomed pot will feel noticeably heavier than similar pots of the same size, and will have a visibly thicker bottom. When making wet caramel you typically want a deeper, heavy-bottomed pot. I use a stainless steel pressure cooker bottom (without the lid) when I make Mom's Caramels. When making wet caramels whether or not you stir after the mixture boils depends a lot on if the recipe includes an invert sugar, like corn syrup. Invert sugars help prevent recrystalization, so you don't have to worry quite so much about this, and stirring can help provide more even caramelization. If no invert sugar is added to the recipe, agitating the mixture by stirring can cause crystals to form on the side of the pot and can lead to a grainy result. 

• Reply