The Best Copper Cookware
Copper is the best heat conductor of any practical cookware material. It responds to changes in burner heat in seconds rather than minutes, which is why every professional sauce kitchen in France stocks copper saucepans. A tin-lined copper saucepan heats evenly wall to wall, responds instantly to temperature adjustment, and produces sauces that a stainless or aluminum pan cannot. It is the most demanding cookware to maintain and the most rewarding to cook with.
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How to Choose
Tin lining is the traditional interior for copper cookware and the correct one: tin is non-reactive, has excellent release properties, and can be re-tinned when it wears through. Stainless-lined copper is more durable but slightly less responsive. Copper thickness matters: 2.5mm is the minimum for even heat distribution; 3mm is the standard for professional copper. Riveted iron handles are traditional; they get hot in the oven but stay cooler on the stovetop than stainless. Buy the best copper you can afford and use it every day.
Mauviel M'heritage Copper Saucepan 1.9qt
Mauviel has been making copper cookware in Villedieu-les-Poeles, Normandy since 1830. The M'heritage series is 2.5mm copper with a stainless steel interior and a cast iron handle. It is the production line that equipped French professional kitchens for most of the 20th century. The saucepan heats evenly, responds instantly to heat changes, and produces sauces that show the difference between good equipment and adequate equipment.
Mauviel since 1830. Two hundred years of continuous copper production in the same Norman town that has made copper cookware since the Middle Ages.
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Falk Copper Saute Pan 2.3mm
Falk Culinair makes copper cookware in Mons, Belgium from 2.3mm copper with a stainless bonded interior. The stainless lining is bonded by rolling, not plating -- it will not delaminate. The saute pan has straight sides that allow vertical stirring and a flat bottom that makes full contact with induction and electric burners as well as gas. Falk is the best-value professional copper available in the American market.
The bonded stainless interior does not wear through like tin and does not require re-tinning. For daily use, this is the more practical choice.
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Ruffoni Historia Hammered Copper Stockpot
Ruffoni in Omegna, Italy makes hammered copper cookware in the same tradition as the copper pots that hung in Italian country kitchens for centuries. The Historia line has a hammered exterior, a tin interior, and iron handles. The stockpot is sized for pasta, soup, and stock production. The hammered finish is not decorative -- it was used to increase the surface area of the copper and improve heat transfer.
A hammered copper surface is the traditional finish for a reason: increased surface area means marginally better heat transfer and a finish that hides wear.
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