Whether you’re a professional chef or somebody who just likes to putter around when they cook in their kitchen, you’ll probably agree that copper pots and pans are some of the most beautiful and useful pots and pans to have in your kitchen.
Today I’d like to talk about several different options you have when it comes to stainless steel copper pans and cookware sets in general. I’d also like to talk about some of the brands that are available and some of the different prices you can expect to find so that hopefully you’ll have a pretty good idea which copper cookware set (or individual piece) is right for you.
First of All, What Are They?
Copper pots are usually formed by a thick layer of copper and a very thin inner layer of tin. The tine gives it a more even heating distribution. These days many pots and pans are made out of very thin copper with stainless steel on the inside instead of tin and typically these last longer than the more traditional copper pans.
The more popular versions that many people have today are copper bottom pots and pans and these are slightly different than whole pots made of copper.
What brands are available?
There aren’t as many companies that produce true copper pans as you might expect, the more popular ones include:
- Mauviel Copper
- Matfer
- Revere
- T-Fal
Mauviel is the industry gold standard, no pun intended. These pieces are incredibly high quality but also insanely high-priced. For instance one single 1.3 quart sauce pan cost about $210 and you can expect to pay around that much for just about any other piece as well.
If those kind of prices scare the bejeebers out of you, like they do me, then I suggest you take a look at Revere and their various Revereware sets that are very nicely priced. You’re not going to find an entire copper set, but rather copper bottomed pots and pans which I think is what most people are looking for when you come right down to it.
A 7 piece Copper clad cookware set from Revere cost around $70 and a 10 piece Copper bottom set from them costs about $150 and you can find these in most major department stores or just about anywhere online including the Revere website or Amazon.
When it comes to Revere, the older models seem to hold up a little better than the newer ones because they started using thinner metal recently. So if you have the chance to choose between old or new, I suggest going with old and you may even try eBay to find a used set, as odd as that may seem!
When it comes to these things, thickness really does matter because heat conductivity is important when cooking with hammered copper or even copper bottomed pans. And as with all stainless steel cookware, be sure to wash them by hand even if the package says that they are dishwasher safe.
So there you have a better idea what to expect with Copper Pots and Pans. They truly are some of the most beautiful pieces of cookware in the kitchen and that’s why they have so many five out of 5 stars ratings online! If you don’t have a set already, I highly suggest you pick one up just as soon as possible.
