Talk to me about copper cookware

[ericpmoss]

Friggin' gorgeous pans.

No kidding. Those are far more artful than the Atelier du Cuivre. I still like the hidden rivets, but man, that hammered finish is stellar.

[spopepro]

Ok, so having used the stuff for a little while here are my thoughts:

-holy shit this stuff is heavy. Some of it is the thick copper, some of it is the cast bronze handles, but it is a workout to move.

-Heat changes happen relatively quickly, but the mass means that it heats up kind of slow. I think my aluminum pan reaches heat more quickly, but once the pan is hot, it's almost instant for temp changes.

-Silver is more non-stick than I though. I've twice cooked eggs in it. Once was a flat omelet that didn't stick at all (!), and I did a big scramble of mushrooms, negi, parsley, and eggs and that stuck a little. But it was still really easy to clean. The floured and pan fried fish didn't stick at all.

-Almost all food makes the silver a little cloudy, but only eggs seem to really make dark tarnish. I haven't cooked a ton of onions which might also do the same, but it makes sense, eggs have lots of sulfur. But it does tarnish a little slower than I anticipated.

-Polishing is not a problem. The mauviel copperbril works beautifully. The blitz silver polish I have also is perfect.

So, I'm happy. I probably want one more piece, a larger saucepan. I'm debating whether to get another one from Soy, or if a stainless lined version is a better call for a pan that will likely see longer cooktimes with more reactive foods.

[caleb]

So, I'm happy. I probably want one more piece, a larger saucepan.

Is the one in your earlier picture a 16cm, or 20cm?

[spopepro]

Is the one in your earlier picture a 16cm, or 20cm?

16cm saucepan and 28cm saute.

[Coppercook62]

Sorry i am late to party. I use 2.5 mm copper with cast iron handles. I have like 30 pieces i think. My mother bought me a starter set for a graduation present. Then she opened a cooking store and i used to trade her for wholesale price for the pots and pans for payment in cooking classes i did. The pans where twice as expensive as they are today. I Have one piece i never use, a wok.
As far as cleaning goes 1 part vinegar, 1 part flour and 1 part coarse salt. Lot of elbow grease

[Coppercook62]

[caleb]

Hey Coppercook,

I ask you in particular because clearly you're working on a different level than most of us: What are your most used pieces of copper cookware? If you could only have one or two pieces of copper, with the rest being stainless or steel, what would your choices for copper be?

[Coppercook62]

If i had to have 2 pieces
1 fry pan 10 inch
1 sauce pot 2 quart
I would defiently get the 2.5 mm copper with cast iron handles. It is very heavy and durable.
Things i have noticed over the years is that if you heat it properly, not adding food to cold pan, nothing sticks. It heats so even and well. I think its ideal for home cook because the home stove is like 12000 btu's and comercial is 22000. So having a pan that holds its tempature at home is ideal.
It is not hard to keep clean if you polish once a week.

[spopepro]

If i had to have 2 pieces 1 fry pan 10 inch 1 sauce pot 2 quart I would defiently get the 2.5 mm copper with cast iron handles. It is very heavy and durable. Things i have noticed over the years is that if you heat it properly, not adding food to cold pan, nothing sticks. It heats so even and well. I think its ideal for home cook because the home stove is like 12000 btu's and comercial is 22000. So having a pan that holds its tempature at home is ideal. It is not hard to keep clean if you polish once a week.

Yep. I like my 28cm sauté, but it is probably too big and heavy. It is a little hard to handle at times. I've now cut down to: 16cm copper saucepan (1.8L), 28cm copper sauté, 10" cast iron frypan, 4q enameled cast iron casserole, big stock pot. Like I mentioned, I think a ~3.5L saucepan might be in my future, but the 5 pieces I have cover just about everything.

With pretty much only copper and cast iron in my kitchen now I also wonder if the trend of people wanting "pro" 25k btu ranges is related to the proliferation of thick stainless cookware. I have a crappy range, but rarely turn burners to their highest setting unless I'm boiling water. It's obvious that more efficient cookware is much easier to use with much less powerful equipment.

[dogrange]

Yep. I like my 28cm sauté, but it is probably too big and heavy. It is a little hard to handle at times. I've now cut down to: 16cm copper saucepan (1.8L), 28cm copper sauté, 10" cast iron frypan, 4q enameled cast iron casserole, big stock pot. Like I mentioned, I think a ~3.5L saucepan might be in my future, but the 5 pieces I have cover just about everything.

With pretty much only copper and cast iron in my kitchen now I also wonder if the trend of people wanting "pro" 25k btu ranges is related to the proliferation of thick stainless cookware. I have a crappy range, but rarely turn burners to their highest setting unless I'm boiling water. It's obvious that more efficient cookware is much easier to use with much less powerful equipment.

Interesting comment. My wife and I also have pretty much only copper and cast iron. We just redid our kitchen. I wanted to go with the "pro style" stove with the 25k burner because I was so sick of our old kenmore thing not being able to get the pans hot enough for my liking, and they were slow to heat up too. My wife wanted instead the Wolf range that is pretty much the high-end standard around here, but is not "pro" in that it only has 15k rated sealed burners. Wife, of course, won that one. Now that we've had it for a couple months, I have consistently had to dial my burner settings WAY back as this thing will get the cast iron and copper super hot (or too hot) very quickly - too hot for my cooking skills, very quickly. In light of this, I have no residual desire for the "pro" range.

[ericpmoss]

The crepe pan from Soy in Turkey showed up today. We'll see if it lives up to its tattoo. ;)

crepe-pan.jpg

[Too Tall]

Crepe / DOSA pan right?

GORGEOUS

[ericpmoss]

Crepe / DOSA pan right?

GORGEOUS

It's the 30cm crepe pan. My apartment's lighting and my photography don't come close to showing how pretty it is. spopepro's photography was *much* better. This weekend I'll try it out and report. One funny thing... I paid the extra zillion $ for DHL shipping in a wooden crate. The crate is well-made. The pan comes in a heavy plastic bag and bubble wrap. But... the pan wasn't held in place in the crate, and it arrived with the bronze handle sticking out from where it pried open the crate. It still looked fine, so no panic in this case. I recommend asking they stabilize it if you choose the crate. Otherwise save the $ and get it in the normal box.

[spopepro]

It's the 30cm crepe pan. My apartment's lighting and my photography don't come close to showing how pretty it is. spopepro's photography was *much* better. This weekend I'll try it out and report. One funny thing... I paid the extra zillion $ for DHL shipping in a wooden crate. The crate is well-made. The pan comes in a heavy plastic bag and bubble wrap. But... the pan wasn't held in place in the crate, and it arrived with the bronze handle sticking out from where it pried open the crate. It still looked fine, so no panic in this case. I recommend asking they stabilize it if you choose the crate. Otherwise save the $ and get it in the normal box.

All of their shipping leaves much to be desired. My DHL cardboard box was two cut up boxes taped together in a rhomboidal catastrophe. But the pans did survive.

And yes, they are embarrassingly pretty pans that photos do not do justice. Congrats on the crepe, did you get it in tin or silver?

[caleb]

Recently, after some inspiration from this thread, a 20cm Matfer saucepot showed up on the doorstep. It's simmering some black beans on the stove right now.

My initial impressions are that even if this stuff is no better functionally than whatever pot is for sale at the restaurant supply store for $7.99, the aesthetics alone would be worth the price differential. The copper and iron combo really does look and feel that amazing.

I'm now in the process of turning, coughing, and ordering up an 11" saute.

[Too Tall]

Awesome. Some after reports on these pans appreciated.
Is this an N+1 situation?
Will there be used haute cookware in the classifieds?

[Shinomaster]

The story goes: I was intrigued by the mention of the atlier du cuivre silver lined stuff. Silver conducts heat even better than copper, is mostly non-reactive, and should be much more durable than tin. I was trying to do research to find out what the details were about silver as a cooking surface (spoiler: there is almost no credible information out there) and I came across another company making silver lined copper cookware... in Turkey. Now, as a musician, I have a ton of respect for the copper alloy works in Istanbul and the company seems to use knowledgeable labor and pay them well. I liked the hammered finish, the sculpting of the cast bronze handle and the slightly flared edge. The company is Soy Turkiye: Soy Türkiye, High Quality Copper Culinary Equipment Kuku sazbi is the plan for tonight.

Those are gorgeous. My mom has a bunch of old Turkish copper pans but they are all tinned. They tend to be pretty lightweight with non traditional shapes ( for us westerners).

[Shinomaster]

Action shot. Notice all the butter.

[ericpmoss]

All of their shipping leaves much to be desired. My DHL cardboard box was two cut up boxes taped together in a rhomboidal catastrophe. But the pans did survive.

And yes, they are embarrassingly pretty pans that photos do not do justice. Congrats on the crepe, did you get it in tin or silver?

Silver, as I figured that one should go whole hog whenever possible. I botched my first crepes suzette on it tonight -- not the pan's fault, as I couldn't wait for the batter to chill an hour. Nonetheless, it tasted great, and the heat transfer is fantastically even. It sounds weird, but it browns butter better than anything else I have. Why that should be is a mystery, unless it's that there aren't hot spots that overcook some butter while the rest just sits.

NB: next time I'll follow the recipe:

[Derek Raymond]

^ La première est pour le chien