This is a guide for functional cookware only, not for decorator items.

Copper has a well deserved reputation for being the best cookware available, and it is. Heavy gauge pieces spread heat so evenly, rapidly and well that the need for a designer cooktop is essentially eliminated. Copper pans are so responsive to heat changes that you will not want to use anything else to make sauces after you get used to them. The ability to spread heat all the way up the sides of a stock pot keeps copper in first place there, in spite of the growing expense. Good Copper is not the best choice for everything but it is the best performer for many, probably for most uses. However, there are some things to consider. Proper copper cookware is care intensive, very expensive and very heavy.

Care: In summer it may need polishing once every two or three weeks. Since cookware, unlike decorator items, should not be lacquered or waxed, the level of care is a consideration. For proper cooking it should be polished to avoid hot spots caused by uneven tarnishing. My favourite products are Twinkle (becoming hard to get) and Wright's Copper cream but they actually require a bit of knowledge and skill to get the best results.

Proper Thickness: Good copper cookware is 3.0 to 4.0 mm thick, though there are some good pieces at 2.5 mm. The greater thickness insures even heat distribution as well as rapid distribution. Sadly, it also insures that the piece will be very heavy.

Handles: Copper comes with three types of handles; brass, bronze and cast iron. Brass handles are often found on pieces intended for home use for decorative reasons. Bronze and cast iron handles dominate the professional market. From a practical point of view, cast iron conducts heat extremely slowly compared to bronze and brass. One can make several omelets and still move a cast iron handled pan bare handed. That is not true of the other handles. Obviously, all of these handles are oven safe. Any type of handle should be extremely well secured with rivets.

Lining: Copper commonly comes with either stainless steel or tin linings. Less commonly, nickel and silver lined pieces can be found. Here is a quick run down on the advantages and problems with each.

Stainless: The most durable lining and can be used on any type of stovetop except induction hub (though it may work poorly, even there). Stainless also requires no ongoing maintenance and metal implements can be used with it. The problem is that it is the worst conductor of heat and reduces the advantages of copper. Food also tends to stick to the brushed type of finish used in copper, even after the food should have released. From a performance point of view, stainless pulls copper back toward its competitors and reduces its advantage, especially since the competitors have become so much better.

Tin: The oldest type of lining, it is a better conductor of heat than stainless and keeps copper's performance advantage intact. However, it cannot be used on an induction hub or even on an old fashioned electric coil element. Nor can it be dry heated or even heated above 400 degrees safely. Tin's melting point is so low that the lining will melt. Tin is also a bit delicate and the use of metal wisks, spatulas and spoons is guaranteed to send you to the tinsmith for re-tinning rather quickly. Tinsmiths are getting scarce . . . and expensive.

Nickel: Combines some of the cooking qualities of tin and the durability of stainless. Nickel pieces were easily found in the 1970s and early 1980s but are quite scarce now because of cost. Stainless took over the nickel share of the market.

Silver: Far and away the best lining for cooking (it isn't even close . . . silver is actually superiour to copper in heat conductivity) it is also fabulously expensive. Like copper, it requires constant care but has greater durability than tin. I do not know of any pieces currently available new in the US. Used/estate pieces do crop up occasionally though usually for a lot of money. On the plus side, there is an old canard that a silver lined pan conducts heat so well you can make dinner with a candle. (Not true but you get the point.)

Weight: My stepmother once made a comment as she picked up a large copper windsor pan I have. After a gasp, she simply said that it was no wonder so many chefs were men. It is an issue. A medium large 4mm stock pot can weigh 40 - 50 pounds empty; a large saute pan filled with chicken pieces can weigh 20 pounds easily. No matter what your intentions are when you purchase the piece, if you can use it only with great difficulty you will stop using it.

Copper is not the best material for every purpose. The kitchen still needs some non-stick saute and omelet pans, a dutch oven and the essential cast-iron skillet, but copper is still without equal as a stock pot, saute pan, soup pot and sauce pan. Just as copper is not suited to every purpose, it is not suited to every user. If you are unwilling or unable to care for it properly you will not get the best results and if you are not strong enough to use it or have difficulty handling it, you will not use it. Technology has narrowed the gap and the performance of other materials with a copper core is much better than it was only 20 years ago. Copper lined with stainless steel is still better, but not by its former margin. Tin lined copper is still notably better if you can live with the limitations. Silver lined copper remains on a pedestal far above anything else, both in performance and price.

Happy shopping!