How should effective water depth be evaluated when buying a lifting noodle cooker?

Judge effective water depth by whether noodles stay fully submerged, how fast the boil recovers, and whether there is enough circulation space, not by the nominal total pot depth on the spec sheet. On site, fill to the normal operating level, then cook several consecutive batches using the actual lifting basket loaded with a standard portion. Log the water level and reboil time before and after each batch; that gives you a repeatable working depth. A deep pot still loses temperature and causes sticking if the surface sits too close to the overflow, so record water volume, flame setting and batch interval on the acceptance sheet for later comparison across branches.