The Pros and Cons of Copper Cookware

Pros

• It cooks incredibly evenly. Copper’s ultimate strength is its excellent conductivity. It heats quickly and spreads evenly, all the way to the edges of the pan without hot spots.
  
  So, it’s apt to cook anything that needs immediate heat blast—thick steak searing, jump sautéing or recipes that needs to reach a specific consistency.
• It cooks delicate recipes excellently. Since it’s thermal responsive is super agile, it heats up and cools down fast very quickly. Efficiently, it’s good at to handle delicate protein and sugar, like fish and seafood, as well as specific sauces and patisseries, like chocolate, caramel and jam.
  
  So, not only for culinary experts, copper tools are favored by pâtissiers and confectioners.
• It has some positive effects. By harness the reactive of copper property, bare copper ions help delivering jobs more effectively; it helps stabilizing the protein in egg white—lets producing better foamy meringues (found in this paper) and preserving the color of vegetables and fruits.
  
  That’s why some specialties, like beating bowls, jam pans or Zabaglione pot, are unlined.
• It’s antibacterial. Naturally, bacteria are rapidly killed on copper surfaces by copper ions.
• It’s durable. Since copper isn’t easy to corrode and deteriorate overtime, buying copper stuffs is considered as a long investment that can last to your next generations. Still, if you don’t want to bare an extra re-tinning or re-silvering cost later, choose stainless-steel or nickel lining.
• It’s environmental-friendly. Copper is very durable and can be reused and 100% recyclable. After appropriate restored, vintage copper pots and pans can be used well like brand-new ones.
  
  It’s estimated that 80% of copper ever extracted since ancient times is still in use in some form today.
• It looks undeniably beautiful. Whether on the stove or on the banquet table, there’s no denying the attraction of shining copper pots and pans. The richness and quality of these tools readily appeal visually. Many people enjoy cooking with their gleaming collections, as well as showing them proudly.

Cons

• It’s expensive. The price of copper cookware is by far expensive than all of the other metals. Whether you’re looking for an individual pot, a specialty or a full set, you’ll need to spend anywhere from $300 to thousands.
  
  In case of tin- and silver-lining, this expense doesn’t include the relining in every 10-20 years of use, which costs nearly half of a new pan.
• It doesn’t retain heat well. As its strength is agility of thermal transfer, copper is poor at retaining heat. Accordingly, it’s not good at for simmering and braising tasks.
• It’s not versatile. Copper is ideal for some certain recipes that require specific adept techniques but not for every tasks. Say, it’s not a universal workhorse for everyday basis, unless you’ll use these skills every day.
  
  Also, while these tools are sturdy enough for firmly placing on the cooktop and oven, they might be too heavy for some home cooks.
• It can’t endure high temperature. In case of tin-lined cookware, it can’t survive over 425°F as tin surface will be prone to damage and scratch. This can be limited some cooking techniques.
• It’s reactive and toxic. Copper can react with acids like vinegar, lemons and tomatoes, which can be harmfully leached copper into food and often gains an unpleasant metallic taste. So, most copper tools are lined.
• It needs thorough care. Copper tools must be polished frequently, even when not in use, to prevent them from corroding and tarnishing. Unlike most cookware these days that can be simply put in the dishwasher, copper requires your effort to wash by hand, buff tarnished spots, polish with vinegar, dry thoroughly and poke some grease to prevent oxidizing. Re-tinning is an extra tax.
• It’s not induction compatible. Unless using an induction converter disc that needs some tricky undertaking and by far lessens the heat transfer efficiency, most copper cookware can’t work with induction stoves.
  
  Everything has an exception — the de Buyer Matera is that rare case that is induction-ready.