Copper pots...need help. Are these worth buying or not. I know nothing of copper pots.

rimjaja
Too much copper causes a variety of health problems. I wouldn't do it.

We (hubby & I are both Dr's) use a giant cast-iron fry pan and ceramic lined cookware for the rest. The ceramic cookware is Wearever Brand purchased at amazon.

I wouldn't use them all the time of course and they would be re-tinned. I think I'm only going to retin half of them and keep the others as decoration in the kitchen. I'll polish them up first though.

I googled the ceramic lined pans and those look nice. I found a red frying pan that I just might have to get to try it out. I have so many different pans but like I tell my husband I can never have enough pots, pans or cooking accessories as I call them.

Wearever is a good brand. I have some vintage Wearever that I got second hand, best pots in my collection.

rickymouse
reply to post by Zippidee

 

Our selection of pots and pans is from rummage and estate sales mostly or inherited. It takes many years of searching to come up with a good set that way. One estate sale I got five high quality stainless pots and pans and a stainless cranking noodle maker for 12 bucks. I would have paid twenty for the noodle maker alone.

edit on 24-9-2013 by rickymouse because: (no reason given)

OH I love second hand stores, estate sales and garage sales for cookware! I have some really nice cookware that if I purchased new I wouldn't have been able to afford it.

One of my favorite finds is this:
Vulcania Clay Pot
I got it for about $8 bucks at a thrift store. When I got home I looked up the marking on the bottom and fell over when I saw how much it cost new vs what i paid. I was soooo friggin excited. I use this alot as well. I like to make stroganoff in it and slow cook it in the oven.

I also got a Marcato Atlas pasta maker set for $7 bucks!! I use that a lot and when we went apt hunting I brought the attachment to make sure it fit on the counters lol They thought i was nuts I'm sure.

My mother in law gave me her set of Belgique stainless steel pans and those I use quite often. They are great! They were dirty and she was gonna TOSS them!! She said she always burned things and couldn't keep them clean. It says on the bottom, low heat lol and I cleaned them up nicely with a Magic Eraser.

So yea second hand is the best because you find all the old stuff which imo was made better than stuff today. A lot of the top companies are no longer the same company they were. They have the name but that is where it ends.

Tylerdurden1
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

answers.yahoo.com...

Some prices.

www.google.com...=how+much+do+copper+cookware+cost

edit on 24-9-2013 by Tylerdurden1 because: (no reason given)

Your link just goes to google's homepage.

As for the first one I like cooking with various types of pots and pans. I find that each one works better with certain foods or sauces. I like stainless steel for somethings and with others I prefer non stick or cast iron. I will more than likely use the copper pots for sauces and sautéing but I will have to look into cooking with copper pots first before I use them.

Thanks

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Crap sorry about the google.

reply to post by Tylerdurden1


It's cool

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Maybe you could barter with him.
Do you really want display pans, after all.
IF he can resell them for $300, maybe he would be willing to cut you a deal: you send him two pans...one you get retinned, the other he gets to keep to resell?


Those are awesome pans, I'd definitely buy them for $125.

DontTreadOnMe
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

Maybe you could barter with him.
Do you really want display pans, after all.
IF he can resell them for $300, maybe he would be willing to cut you a deal: you send him two pans...one you get retinned, the other he gets to keep to resell?


Those are awesome pans, I'd definitely buy them for $125.

That is a great idea!! She has 8 and I only want to use 4 of them but all 8 for $125 is a great deal. They are still for sale, she hasn't sold them. I will wait a week and see if she will take $100. I mean they aren't usable right now and $100 for decorative pans isn't bad. I will ask the guy at the tinning place if he would do that. Trade 4 to tin the other 4. He would DEFINITELY benefit.

Thanks!!

I cook for a living. You rarely see copper pots in a commercial kitchen. The only time I have personally seen one it was used for heating up sugar for pulling, caramel, and what not. Very even heating so it worked well, however they must be clean and not tarnished or they will not heat evenly. I personally use analon at home. Good stuff, a little spendy but I will never have to buy another set.

Why not just do the retinning yourself. I doesn't look to be that hard you just need a torch and some tin. Doesn't look to be that much different from soldering.

inbound
I cook for a living. You rarely see copper pots in a commercial kitchen. The only time I have personally seen one it was used for heating up sugar for pulling, caramel, and what not. Very even heating so it worked well, however they must be clean and not tarnished or they will not heat evenly. I personally use analon at home. Good stuff, a little spendy but I will never have to buy another set.

Do you work in a restaurant? What kind?

I have told to cook for a living or have a small bakery but I just wouldn't enjoy it if it were work every day. I enjoy cooking but I dont think it would be the same if I did it for work.

I wouldn't use these pans as is, no way! I'd have them retinned first. I definitely wouldn't use them all the time but for some things I'd like them.

I looked up Analon and I dont' really see how different it is to other pans I have. Is it non stick? What is the benefits of it? I am looking for a new non stick frying pan though, would this analon be good? I have a T Fal pan that got scratched when the hubby used a fork on it. He is no longer allowed to use metal utensils in the kitchen

reply to post by buster2010


Not hard?!! :O

No offense but this is not something any one should just do. It's dangerous and who carries a torch around unless they actually use one all the time. I would rather pay someone to do it right than burn my house down

Thanks though for the video. It's cool to see how it's done but I won't be attempting this myself at all!

mblahnikluver

inbound
I cook for a living. You rarely see copper pots in a commercial kitchen. The only time I have personally seen one it was used for heating up sugar for pulling, caramel, and what not. Very even heating so it worked well, however they must be clean and not tarnished or they will not heat evenly. I personally use analon at home. Good stuff, a little spendy but I will never have to buy another set.

Do you work in a restaurant? What kind?

I have told to cook for a living or have a small bakery but I just wouldn't enjoy it if it were work every day. I enjoy cooking but I dont think it would be the same if I did it for work.

I wouldn't use these pans as is, no way! I'd have them retinned first. I definitely wouldn't use them all the time but for some things I'd like them.

I looked up Analon and I dont' really see how different it is to other pans I have. Is it non stick? What is the benefits of it? I am looking for a new non stick frying pan though, would this analon be good? I have a T Fal pan that got scratched when the hubby used a fork on it. He is no longer allowed to use metal utensils in the kitchen

I cook in a seafood themed restaurant in se louisiana. As far as doing it for a living, its not for everyone. Long hours, hot kitchens(the one im in now averages 115-125 in the summer), crazy people,etc. I dont cook as much at home anymore, except for when I have a few days off in a row. The analons I have are very thick, just as thick as cast iron. They are pretty much the same as a cast iron pot with a non stick coating. Very even heating and retention.
www.bedbathandbeyond.com...

This is the set I have. The price has come down quite a bit since I bought mine in 06. I believe I paid almost a grand for them. I had some family members (now deceased) that were lifelong cooks and they all used magnalite at home. They make a good pot.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I think you got a steal. I love copper. The price of copper has gone way up over the last few years. French & Italian copper cookware are prized anyway, not that I'm an expert. Williams Sonoma features expensive Italian copperware in their catalogs, especially during the holidays.

I would prefer vintage copper to the stuff made now. I think it might be heavier & better made.

Of course, I can't see these up close, but I think they will polish up beautifully. Try Wenol or Maas.

This is my absolute first post. This might sound nuts, but I happened across your post while googling copper pots/pans and was curious to see what you were looking at.

I've never heard of ATS in my life, and having looked around, decided to join, although I must admit I might have anyway just to give you my two cents on your find. While I don't know all that much about a lot of things, I do think I'm expert, or near it, in some. Kitchen stuff? That's one.

Please tell me you bought them. Even with retinning, $800 would only buy you one new, proper-sized stock pot. Three stockpots, if they weren't all that large, or a medium-sized Dutch oven and another piece...that is, if the copper is of decent thickness (say, 2.0 mm or more). Even if it's only 1.5 mm, that's something I would happily buy and re-tin. And please dear god don't ever think you can do a skilled trade just because a video makes it look easy. That tin lining has to be laid down very, very, evenly. No beginner can approach those skills (let alone buying the tin and equipment to do it) without supervision and a lot of practice.

Okay. The reason why you can't use copper cookware in a professional kitchen is because tin has a very low melting point--under 500 F. Restaurant burners start at 7500 BTUs and go upward. You're at 500F in about 10 seconds. However, good old-fashioned bakers probably still have some copper bowls around (unlined) for beating egg whites.

Cooking with copper pots is a pleasure like kneading bread. It can connect you to many generations of earlier cooks, all lovingly preparing good food to share with other diners or just quietly alone. (Alone, in my case, generally includes a cat, or a few. ) Tin binds perfectly to copper, and won't separate from it as stainless will eventually. The latter pot will only be of use for decoration, but the tin-lined one can be retinned and handed down, or sold, or given to a friend. Doing it your way, getting an old one and bringing it back to useful life is delightful. Someone else's hands worked with those lovely pots!

Make sure you never, ever, preheat it (heat it up empty). That really shouldn't be done with any pot unless you're searing a steak in cast iron, or sometimes stainless (I wouldn't, but some do.). You'll never be cooking on high anyway with them, even filled. You'll learn how to modulate the heat very quickly, I'm sure.

It's presumptuous of me to jump into this place feet first like this, but I was so hoping to find out if you'd gone with the idea. I hope, then, that you someday see this post.

Now I'm off to check out the rest of this extremely curious--and curiosity-raising--place. How on earth did I pass by ATS?? And having left a set of boards about five years ago I'd been active on for many years, I'm ready to jump into something like this. Hope to see you again, soon.

hard to say. You'd be helping her about a bit at least.