Talk to me about copper cookware

[ericpmoss]

I had mine done by these guys (who at the time had a shop in Lima OH do it): https://shop.brooklyncoppercookware.com/

The quality seemed good, and the pot came back polished top-to-bottom. Not cheap, but no place is.

[ericpmoss]

Two new (to me) carbon steel pan makers. One in the Pacific Northwest (US): Blu Skillet Ironware and one in Australia: http://www.solidteknics.com/. They both look great and have youtube video reviews.

[caleb]

Two new (to me) carbon steel pan makers. One in the Pacific Northwest (US): Blu Skillet Ironware and one in Australia: http://www.solidteknics.com/. They both look great and have youtube video reviews.

The Blu won Test Kitchen's cost-no-object category:

The Aus-Ion 11" Sauteuse is intriguing: Amazon.com: AUS-ION Sauteuse Bombee Pan, 11" (28cm), 1% Made in Sydney, 2mm Australian Iron, Professional Grade Cookware: Kitchen & Dining

[kingpin75s]

Mauviel.jpg
Mauviel 250c in action.

[ericpmoss]

So the BluSkillet 10" French skillet arrived. It's pretty. It's heavy. It's pretty heavy. Gotta go buy some fresh eggs.

Come to think of it, that $ could have bought a few nice tires. I'll do my hail Marys after an omelet.

[caleb]

I recently had a 28cm Matfer rondeau shipped to my wife.

Matfer Rondeau by 1ctg, on Flickr

Apparently she liked it so much she broke it in my making Haute Hamburger Helper.

[11.4]

The Blu's are very heavy. I have a couple and they are heavy, have a fairly small flat bottom and shallow sides, and the handles are quite high so you have your elbows or wrists higher in the air to deal with them (not a problem if you're tall but for short cooks it's a bit less gainly). I don't think that Cook's review actually rated them tops -- it just closed its review saying that it was a great pan, but it had that to say about the Matfer and indirectly about the De Buyer as well. Having bought a couple, I'd buy more. But it's frustrating trying to get them.

As for the Aus-Ion's, I've had a couple. Be aware that they have changed the surface. It used to be so smooth that people complained the seasoning would scrape off too easily, so they did what looks like a bead blasting. The blasted finish holds seasoning better but isn't quite as slick. The behavior is quite different so I'd suggest you try one and be sure you know which one you're getting. Amazon won't tell you, but you can go straight to the importer for the same price. The sauteuse is a superb pan and I haven't found anything else quite like it in a high quality steel pan; you can find many equivalents in copper. For sautéing mushrooms, it's superb -- you can use a small amount of butter and move the mushrooms up on the sides while you prep others. The shape makes temperature highly controllable. However, it doesn't work well for sautéing a steak or something else where you want a flatter surface. But of all the Aus-Ion pans, this is the one I'd get.

Still, all told, while the Blu's have a special look to them, for day in, day out cooking, I'd go with the De Buyer's. They're simply the best and you won't be hesitant to bring one up to a boil with water inside if it gets crusted, or even doing a complete clean and restarting the seasoning.

[caleb]

I'd gladly toss anything else I own to get more of the Atelier silver or stainless lined copper.

Any longer-term review on the Atelier du Cuivre stuff? I need a frying pan, and their 26cm looks looks like it might work.



Also, where did you get yours? Their website appears a bit rudimentary, and the translation appears to be for women's clothing: Atelier

[ericpmoss]

Yeah, their website has sucked from day 1, but at least one person there speaks English and can fill in the gaps. I emailed them (now they have some portal for contacting), and they helped put together my order, including engraving and so forth.

My longer term review:

(1) The tin-lined pans work fine, but seem to need re-tinning after a short while. Could be user error.

(2) The stainless ("Inox") lined sauce pans are super awesome in every regard other than lacking a pouring lip. I gladly put up with the (frankly undetectable) last bit of heat conductivity compared to tin-lined. I'd only get a stainless lined skillet for searing and deglazing, not frying eggs/pancakes -- other surfaces are better for that.

(3) the silver-lined fryers are tougher than tin-lined, for sure, but still really require a seasoning layer to build up. Once that's done, they are just as good as a BluSkillet results-wise, the trade-offs being: the Atelier pan is WAY lighter and offers a detachable handle so you can fit it in the oven; the Atelier pan has no rivet in the interior (yay); the Altelier pan's lining is susceptible to damage, but if you build seasoning up carefully and don't hammer off fond with a chisel, it's gonna be safe; the Atelier pan heats faster and cools faster so you can have a bit more chance of saving something that's getting too brown; the BluSkillet looks 100x better with its seasoning -- maybe even better than when new.

[caleb]

That's all really helpful, Eric. Thanks.

I'm in a bit of a conundrum. This pan will primarily be used by my wife given that it'll live in Minnesota, and she's not comfortable with anything that is seasoned and shouldn't be washed with soap. I think her Presbyterian upbringing demands that she use soap to wash away the oil, germs, dirt, and sin. BTW, she could care less about what pan is in the cupboard, and if left to her own devices would probably just buy a teflon-coated one from the baking aisle in the grocery store.

Although it goes against most of my inclinations about cookware, I'm actually thinking of getting one with a non-Teflon (and other bad stuff) nonstick coating. Something like Mauviel's M'Cook nonstick: Mauviel M'Cook Onyx Nonstick Fry Pan | Williams Sonoma

I like how the M'Cook stuff I've used has cooked. Even if the nonstick coating only lasts five years, and it doesn't kill us in the process, maybe it would be worth it.

[abbeyQ]

Coated non stick pans are semi-consumable regardless of who makes them in my experience.

[dgaddis]

The Best Nonstick Pans Are the Cheap Ones | Serious Eats

SeriousEats agrees with Jason.

[caleb]

Yeah, their website has sucked from day 1, but at least one person there speaks English and can fill in the gaps. I emailed them (now they have some portal for contacting), and they helped put together my order, including engraving and so forth.

Thanks. I emailed them this morning about getting a 26cm frying pan to start. If shipping isn't crazy, I'll probably give it a try.

My only real concern is that I think I've bought a pan, and a copper bathtub shows up. Which might not be all bad.

[ericpmoss]

After several false starts that made a mess of the pan, I finally got the seasoning ok. I barely coat it with grapeseed oil, heat it up on the burner to the point where the oil just starts smoking, and wipe off excess. Then with it still on the burner, I wipe on another light coat and wipe it off as I see it starting to pool or smoke. After 20 minutes of this I start to see a light golden layer barely form.

My prior mess was because I put it in the oven on 500F, coated the pan, and let it go. Doing that, the oil formed little islands that burned on dark and durable.

Anyway, now I can use 1/2tsp safflower oil and a 1tsp pat of butter for a 3 egg omelet, and the pan is so slick I can't turn the omelet in the pan -- it just slides away. Too slick for my skills, to be honest.

[caleb]

Yeah, their website has sucked from day 1, but at least one person there speaks English and can fill in the gaps. I emailed them (now they have some portal for contacting), and they helped put together my order, including engraving and so forth.

Any chance you still have the email address you used? I've tried both the email they have on their website and the one on Facebook without any response.

[ericpmoss]

Here's the address I used last June: atelierducuivre@wanadoo.fr and a hail mary which I believe worked a few years ago, at least: atelierducuivre@orange.fr

[caleb]

Thanks, I haven't tried the first one yet, so I'll give it a shot!

[ericpmoss]

I hope it works. I see from their site (which has proper item descriptions in French, but not in English) that they added a pouring lip to at least one of their saucepans, but only the tin-lined one. I'm guessing they had trouble bending the copper+stainless sandwich without tearing the thin stainless layer. Too bad, as the stainless-lined copper is perfect for morning oatmeal or cooking sugar and jams that dribble.

[spopepro]

Any update on contacting atelier du cuivre? I'm thinking a saucepan with the removable handle is in my future... if I can actually buy one.

[ericpmoss]

Assuming it's hit and miss, I'd send the same request 4 ways:

atelierducuivre@wanadoo.fr
atelierducuivre@orange.fr
Contact us - Atelier and fill out the form
Atelier du Cuivre - Home | Facebook and click on "Send Message"