The difference between the Coppers!

If you are a professional chef or a serious at-home chef you can appreciate a pan’s ability to heat up quickly and to cool down when removed from its heat source. Copper is the most sensitive composition of cookware and you can notice it’s responsiveness when preparing entrees that are delicate. That brings me to the real reason for this post… the difference between copper pans. The benefit to copper is that because of its responsiveness to heat, the entire thickness of the copper pan heats more uniformly; allowing it to respond to changes in heat more quickly, saving you from burning something when all you wanted was that perfect sear. For that perfect sear it is generally accepted that the thickness of a copper pan should be between 2mm and 2.5mm, this allows for the most even cooking temperature throughout the pan. Anything above 2.5mm is unnecessarily thick, and greatly increase the cost of the pan. Mauviel discontinued their 3mm thickness pans because it was retailing at around $1500! Copper pans originally came with tin lining because it is a great heat conductor, however it is also much more vulnerable to scratching and cannot be heated over 437 degrees Fahrenheit. Both Mauviel and DeBuyer Copper pans’ cooking surface are lined with a thin layer of Stainless Steel. The benefits of Stainless-Steel is that it allows for a higher cooking temperature, durability and the ease of cleaning.

Finally, the All Clad Copper Core line, this line features a 5-ply construction with a copper center. This design ensures that the pan has the quick response properties of copper but with Copper Core’s 18/10 stainless-steel lined exterior, it offers superior stick resistance, easy maintenance and non-reactivity with food. The Stainless-Steel exterior also allows for the All Clad Copper Core line to be used on all surfaces, including induction.