---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Always start out with a larger pot than…"
description: "\"Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.\" — Julia Child"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/julia-child-1522_cooking_always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than_2600692.jpg"
---

#  Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you…

![“Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.” quote by Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/julia-child-1522_cooking_always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than_2600692.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/julia-child-1522_cooking_always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than_2600692.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/julia-child-1522_cooking_always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than_2600692.jpg)

> “Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.”

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Start with a larger pot than you think you need to avoid overflow and ensure proper cooking.

**In simple terms:** Use a bigger pot than expected.

Key Takeaway

Plan for extra capacity.

Themes

cooking preparation practicality

Mood

practical advisory

Type

instructional culinary

When to use this quote

- kitchen planning
- large gatherings
- recipe scaling

Key Concepts

portion control heat distribution

Questions to Reflect On

- When is a larger pot unnecessary?
- How to gauge right size?

A Different Perspective

May waste resources if too large.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cooking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooking/) [Funny kitchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny-kitchen-69253/) [Kitchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitchen/) [Larger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/larger/) [Larger Pot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/larger-pot-1943313/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Pot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pot/) [Pot Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pot-think-400026/) [Start](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start/) [Start Larger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start-larger-1943314/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/)

## Related quotes

> [...no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/no-one-is-born-a-great-cook-one-learns-by-doing/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [I like stirring the pot - I think it's part of my duty, to shake people up a bit - make them look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-like-stirring-the-pot-i-think-it-s-part-of-my-duty-to-shake-people/)

[Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/)

> [Cooking is about passion, so it may look slightly temperamental in a way that it's too assertive to the naked eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-ramsay/cooking-is-about-passion-so-it-may-look-slightly-temperamental-in-a/)

[Gordon Ramsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-ramsay/)

> [Cooking requires confident guesswork and improvisation-- experimentation and substitution, dealing with failure and uncertainty in a creative way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/cooking-requires-confident-guesswork-and-improvisation/)

[Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/)

> [Their kitchen is their shrine, the cook their priest, the table their altar, and their belly their god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-buck/their-kitchen-is-their-shrine-the-cook-their-priest-the-table-their/)

[Charles Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-buck/)

> [Before Julia Child there was only onion dip.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-branch/before-julia-child-there-was-only-onion-dip/)

[Susan Branch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-branch/)

> [“I think if Jesus would have been alive today, he would have been all about the pot. I think he would have really grooved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-moriarty/i-think-if-jesus-would-have-been-alive-today-he-would-have-been-all/)

[Laura Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-moriarty/)

> [I think at a certain point we a little bit forgot that it was a pot show. I think I said something to Harry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-kaplan/i-think-at-a-certain-point-we-a-little-bit-forgot-that-it-was-a-pot/)

[Deborah Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-kaplan/)

> [People see the way I play and the balls I pot and then sometimes think 'how does he miss?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-trump/people-see-the-way-i-play-and-the-balls-i-pot-and-then-sometimes/)

[Judd Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-trump/)

> [I do like to smoke pot. I think it's good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crosby/i-do-like-to-smoke-pot-i-think-it-s-good/)

[David Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crosby/)

> [People do always try to smoke pot with me. But I think some of those people are cops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-rogan/people-do-always-try-to-smoke-pot-with-me-but-i-think-some-of-those/)

[Joe Rogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-rogan/)

> [I started doing pot jokes, and I noticed that audiences invariably love pot jokes. Even people who don't smoke pot think it's a funny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-benson/i-started-doing-pot-jokes-and-i-noticed-that-audiences-invariably/)

[Doug Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-benson/)

> [Since my act is a goofy reflection of what's going on in my life, I started doing pot jokes, and I noticed that audiences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-benson/since-my-act-is-a-goofy-reflection-of-what-s-going-on-in-my-life-i/)

[Doug Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-benson/)

> [I'm against unanswerable concentrations of power, whether that be government or private industry or religious figures - anybody who is not accountable to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-suarez/i-m-against-unanswerable-concentrations-of-power-whether-that-be/)

[Daniel Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-suarez/)

> [I always loved as a kid reading 'Spider-Man,' and the 'Fantastic Four' would show up... it was all about that larger universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-reed/i-always-loved-as-a-kid-reading-spider-man-and-the-fantastic-four/)

[Peyton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-reed/)

## More by Julia Child

> [I had my first French meal and I never got over it. It was just marvelous. We had oysters and a lovely dry white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/i-had-my-first-french-meal-and-i-never-got-over-it-it-was-just/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [If you are going to flip something, you must have the courage of your convictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/if-you-are-going-to-flip-something-you-must-have-the-courage-of-your/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [My father was in real estate, banking, and land management. As family life, it was very conventional, happy, and comfortable. We weren't wealthy, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/my-father-was-in-real-estate-banking-and-land-management-as-family/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [I never feel lonely in the kitchen. Food is very friendly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/i-never-feel-lonely-in-the-kitchen-food-is-very-friendly/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [We are so bemused by our own petard, that we are unable to look at things objectively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/we-are-so-bemused-by-our-own-petard-that-we-are-unable-to-look-at/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [If you're buying tomatoes pick them up and smell them-they should have a lovely perfume. They need to be kept at fifty degrees or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/if-you-re-buying-tomatoes-pick-them-up-and-smell-them-they-should/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [The perfect dressing is essential to the perfect salad, and I see no reason whatsoever for using a bottled dressing, which may have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/the-perfect-dressing-is-essential-to-the-perfect-salad-and-i-see-no/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [I think one of the terrible things today is that people have this deathly fear of food: fear of eggs, say, or fear of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/i-think-one-of-the-terrible-things-today-is-that-people-have-this/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [“Standing up through the Citroen's open sunroof, my six-foot-three-inch, red-cheeked sister pointed a long, trembling finger at the perpetrator and with maximum indignation yelled:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/standing-up-through-the-citroen-s-open-sunroof-my-six-foot-three-inch/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/the-only-real-stumbling-block-is-fear-of-failure-in-cooking-you-ve/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [In the 1960s, you could eat anything you wanted, and of course, people were smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, and there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/in-the-1960s-you-could-eat-anything-you-wanted-and-of-course-people/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [I was kind of an innocent hayseed from a middle-class, utterly nonintellectual background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/i-was-kind-of-an-innocent-hayseed-from-a-middle-class-utterly/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [There are only four great arts: music, painting, sculpture, and ornamental pastry- architecture being perhaps the least banal derivative of the latter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/there-are-only-four-great-arts-music-painting-sculpture-and/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [“It was fun, although we felt like pawns, or prawns, in the maelstrom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/it-was-fun-although-we-felt-like-pawns-or-prawns-in-the-maelstrom/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

> [Many of the delicious soups you eat in French homes and little restaurants are made just this way, with a leek-and-potato base to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/many-of-the-delicious-soups-you-eat-in-french-homes-and-little/)

[Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

[Explore all 230 Julia Child quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/)

## More Cooking quotes

> [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/)

[Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/)

> [I enjoy cooking, but stick to modern dishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-enjoy-cooking-but-stick-to-modern-dishes/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/)

[Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/)

> [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“In the back of the fridge I checked out some stewed apples destined to fester. I examined them closely and reckoned they had only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-brown/in-the-back-of-the-fridge-i-checked-out-some-stewed-apples-destined/)

[Helen Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-brown/)

> [My Mom always cooked healthy. Greek food lends itself to cooking healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-cora/my-mom-always-cooked-healthy-greek-food-lends-itself-to-cooking/)

[Cat Cora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-cora/)

> [Cooking brings me so much joy. I love everything, down to the execution of the plate to picking out fresh ingredients at the market.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-budig/cooking-brings-me-so-much-joy-i-love-everything-down-to-the-execution/)

[Kathryn Budig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-budig/)

> [Recipes don't work unless you use your heart!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-jones/recipes-don-t-work-unless-you-use-your-heart/)

[Dylan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-jones/)

> [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/)

[Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/)

> [I have a great time cooking and eating Thai green chicken curry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-kumar/i-have-a-great-time-cooking-and-eating-thai-green-chicken-curry/)

[Akshay Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-kumar/)

> [There are times when born hollandaise heads, as well as nouveaux turbot freaks and recherche escargotphiles alike crave the saignet abundance of a New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gael-greene/there-are-times-when-born-hollandaise-heads-as-well-as-nouveaux/)

[Gael Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gael-greene/)

> [Speaking of trust, ever since I wrote this book, 'Liespotting,' no one wants to meet me in person anymore - no, no, no, no,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-meyer/speaking-of-trust-ever-since-i-wrote-this-book-liespotting-no-one/)

[Pamela Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-meyer/)

> [Balance is key in cooking - you want a little acid, a little sweet, a little savory - the flavors should be harmonious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-simmons/balance-is-key-in-cooking-you-want-a-little-acid-a-little-sweet-a/)

[Gail Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-simmons/)

> [A combination of the qualities of the scholar, the master cook, the painter, the gastronomer, the sportsman and the pantologist, assisted by the skill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ellwanger/a-combination-of-the-qualities-of-the-scholar-the-master-cook-the/)

[George Ellwanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ellwanger/)

[Browse all 2,937 Cooking quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooking/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Julia Child"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than-what-you-think-you-need/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Cooking"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than-what-you-think-you-need/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/julia-child-1522_cooking_always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than_2600692.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/julia-child-1522_cooking_always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than_2600692.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/julia-child-1522_cooking_always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than_2600692.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.” — Julia Child",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Julia Child",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Always start out with a larger...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than-what-you-think-you-need/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/always-start-out-with-a-larger-pot-than-what-you-think-you-need/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
