Anyone Use All-Clad Copper Core

Carolina Q

Ayuh, I should have known...

SciAggie

Carolina Q said:

HeavyG said:

If one wants/needs a pan that can respond like copper then just buy a real solid copper pan that is either tinned or, nowadays, lined with a very thin layer of stainless.

I have a few Mauviel solid copper pieces (some tinned, some with the thin stainless liner). All are VERY thick (2.5 mm copper) and have cast iron handles. They weigh so much that I almost never use them! Also a pain to clean.

Neither a problem with the All Clad copper core. Not enough copper to be that heavy, and not exposed to make cleaning an issue.

I wouldn't spend the extra cash. My All Clad pieces are D3 (I think) and are my favorite (out of Le Creuset, Mauviel and antique cast iron).

I'd love to have one piece of Mauviel though - just for nostalgia and beauty. I'd probably get a 2.5-3 quart saute pan with the lid. I know it would be a pain to clean. My copper pot for carnitas is also. Someday I need to stop doing things the hard way...

caliking

Someone pointed out in a recent thread, that the D3 pans have a straight edge/rim, whereas the D5 pans have a curved lip, so its easier to pour things out of the pan. Also, the D5 lids have a beefier handle that stays cooler. 

nolaegghead

We have a bunch of copper pots and pans... Kind of a PITA to polish, but not too bad.  And worth it when they hang in your kitchen. Bartender's Friend is your friend.

paqman

Here’s what the Costco Kirkland signature pot looks like

J_Que

IMHO the All-Clad copper core line is one of the best in the world. And made in America. (Right here in PA.) Buy them one or two at a time as seconds 50-60% off. I’ve bought them one at a time over the last 10 years and they all work on induction. Anyone that can’t see the difference between this line and others I would suggest a they try a flower test and let us know the results. 

CTMike

HeavyG said:

CTMike said:

caliking said:

CTMike said:

caliking said:

I don’t know what the functional difference between the D5 and copper core would be, so I also don’t know what justifies the price difference. 

I’ve bought some pieces off of eBay, and have been happy with them. This stuff is practically indestructible. 

From what I can tell, both CC and D5 are 5-ply pans - the center layer is steel in the D5 and Copper in the CC. The functional difference being that the copper will react to temperature changes more quickly than the steel layer in the D5 - so the pan will be quicker to heat up and cool down. 

The difference in price is significant. I haven't cooked with copper core pans, but would it be noticeable? The 2-3 sec difference between Thermapen and Thermopop comes to mind. 

Looking at the thermal conductivity of the two metals, I’m thinking it should be noticeable. Type 304 SS (typically what’s used in cookware) is even lower - around 14 BTU/hr ft degree F).

What is the thickness of the one layer out of the five that is made from copper?

I doubt that there is enough copper mass in  those pans to make any real difference in performance.

Copper definitely will heat more evenly and will heat up and cool down more quickly but those advantages are really diminished/negated by the properties of all the other metal layers involved.

If one wants/needs a pan that can respond like copper then just buy a real solid copper pan that is either tinned or, nowadays, lined with a very thin layer of stainless.

Looking at this photo of the pan rim, you can see that the copper layer is the thickest of the 5 at just under 1 mm. The other 4 layers total to about 1.4 mm from what I can gather. 

I looked in to a full copper set, but since copper is such a soft metal I wanted something more durable but has the responsiveness of copper. These seem to fit that bill. 

SciAggie

@J_Que  Ok, I’ll bite - what’s a flower test?

HeavyG

SciAggie said:

@J_Que  Ok, I’ll bite - what’s a flower test?

Guessing they meant "flour test".

Spread a thin layer of flour over the interior bottom of the pot and then put it on the burner. After a few the flour will brown more darkly in areas of greater heat. If the pan is heating evenly then there will be more uniform coloring of the layer of flour.

Similar to using slices of bread or biscuits spread along a grill grate to find where the hot spots are.

If they did actually mean "flower test" then I have no idea.

Botch

This is just too cool!  
 
Yesterday I was going to point out that Silver actually has a much greater thermal conductivity than copper, and maybe you could make a super-even (albeit super-expen$ive) pan with a layer of silver.  I remembered that the melting point of Ag is quite low, maybe too low for cookware but I was on my laptop and couldn't get to Wikipedia.  Then I forgot about it.
 
Then, today, this is the very first video on my EweTube, that French guy Alex has a pan made for him in Istanbul: copper with a silver lining!  (no pun intended).  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ddRK_jG6E
 
The melting point they mention in the videos is Celcius, so safe for stovetops.  The pan he got is gorgeous, and a link to the company is included (will be drooling over there after I post this).  They also discussed the advantages of rapid heat conduction, as we had above.  
 
I've not been to Istanbul, but I did get to spend about 4 days near Ankara, including the weekend where we did a lot of shopping.  I found a cookware place and bought myself a small saucepan, also copper with (probably a tin) liner, and a brass handle.  Someone warned me it may be just decorative, and lined with solder so I've never cooked with it, don't need any more lead in my diet.  Now, I'm wondering.  
I did wander into a leather goods store, and found a bomber jacket I wanted.  The owner looked me up and down, without any tape, and wrote down some measurements and told me to return the next day (!) for my custom-made jacket.  It fit perfectly, easily the best coat I've ever owned.    

CTMike

Botch said:

This is just too cool!  
 
Yesterday I was going to point out that Silver actually has a much greater thermal conductivity than copper, and maybe you could make a super-even (albeit super-expen$ive) pan with a layer of silver.  I remembered that the melting point of Ag is quite low, maybe too low for cookware but I was on my laptop and couldn't get to Wikipedia.  Then I forgot about it.
 
Then, today, this is the very first video on my EweTube, that French guy Alex has a pan made for him in Istanbul: copper with a silver lining!  (no pun intended).  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ddRK_jG6E
 
The melting point they mention in the videos is Celcius, so safe for stovetops.  The pan he got is gorgeous, and a link to the company is included (will be drooling over there after I post this).  They also discussed the advantages of rapid heat conduction, as we had above.  
 
I've not been to Istanbul, but I did get to spend about 4 days near Ankara, including the weekend where we did a lot of shopping.  I found a cookware place and bought myself a small saucepan, also copper with (probably a tin) liner, and a brass handle.  Someone warned me it may be just decorative, and lined with solder so I've never cooked with it, don't need any more lead in my diet.  Now, I'm wondering.  
I did wander into a leather goods store, and found a bomber jacket I wanted.  The owner looked me up and down, without any tape, and wrote down some measurements and told me to return the next day (!) for my custom-made jacket.  It fit perfectly, easily the best coat I've ever owned.    

Why be so cheap and go for a silver lined pan - be a baller and splurge for solid silver:

https://duparquet.com/products/solid-silver-cookware

ColtsFan

CTMike said:

Botch said:

This is just too cool!  
 
Yesterday I was going to point out that Silver actually has a much greater thermal conductivity than copper, and maybe you could make a super-even (albeit super-expen$ive) pan with a layer of silver.  I remembered that the melting point of Ag is quite low, maybe too low for cookware but I was on my laptop and couldn't get to Wikipedia.  Then I forgot about it.
 
Then, today, this is the very first video on my EweTube, that French guy Alex has a pan made for him in Istanbul: copper with a silver lining!  (no pun intended).  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ddRK_jG6E
 
The melting point they mention in the videos is Celcius, so safe for stovetops.  The pan he got is gorgeous, and a link to the company is included (will be drooling over there after I post this).  They also discussed the advantages of rapid heat conduction, as we had above.  
 
I've not been to Istanbul, but I did get to spend about 4 days near Ankara, including the weekend where we did a lot of shopping.  I found a cookware place and bought myself a small saucepan, also copper with (probably a tin) liner, and a brass handle.  Someone warned me it may be just decorative, and lined with solder so I've never cooked with it, don't need any more lead in my diet.  Now, I'm wondering.  
I did wander into a leather goods store, and found a bomber jacket I wanted.  The owner looked me up and down, without any tape, and wrote down some measurements and told me to return the next day (!) for my custom-made jacket.  It fit perfectly, easily the best coat I've ever owned.    

Why be so cheap and go for a silver lined pan - be a baller and splurge for solid silver:

https://duparquet.com/products/solid-silver-cookware

$5500 for a 11.5” fryer 👀

HeavyG

ColtsFan said:

CTMike said:

Botch said:

This is just too cool!  
 
Yesterday I was going to point out that Silver actually has a much greater thermal conductivity than copper, and maybe you could make a super-even (albeit super-expen$ive) pan with a layer of silver.  I remembered that the melting point of Ag is quite low, maybe too low for cookware but I was on my laptop and couldn't get to Wikipedia.  Then I forgot about it.
 
Then, today, this is the very first video on my EweTube, that French guy Alex has a pan made for him in Istanbul: copper with a silver lining!  (no pun intended).  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ddRK_jG6E
 
The melting point they mention in the videos is Celcius, so safe for stovetops.  The pan he got is gorgeous, and a link to the company is included (will be drooling over there after I post this).  They also discussed the advantages of rapid heat conduction, as we had above.  
 
I've not been to Istanbul, but I did get to spend about 4 days near Ankara, including the weekend where we did a lot of shopping.  I found a cookware place and bought myself a small saucepan, also copper with (probably a tin) liner, and a brass handle.  Someone warned me it may be just decorative, and lined with solder so I've never cooked with it, don't need any more lead in my diet.  Now, I'm wondering.  
I did wander into a leather goods store, and found a bomber jacket I wanted.  The owner looked me up and down, without any tape, and wrote down some measurements and told me to return the next day (!) for my custom-made jacket.  It fit perfectly, easily the best coat I've ever owned.    

Why be so cheap and go for a silver lined pan - be a baller and splurge for solid silver:

https://duparquet.com/products/solid-silver-cookware

$5500 for a 11.5” fryer 👀

$14,000 for the 12.5" saute pan. Wonder how many they've sold.

CTMike

I’m sure there’s plenty of people with more money than brains who have purchased this stuff. 

Botch

CTMike said:
Why be so cheap and go for a silver lined pan - be a baller and splurge for solid silver:

https://duparquet.com/products/solid-silver-cookware

When he says things like this:
 

Return on investment.  Lastly, as you may know, the market price for silver changes on a daily basis.  A few years ago, the price for silver spiked over 3x the market price today.  So, solid silver cookware is certainly an investment in precious metals.  If the price of silver should triple in the future, the value of your pans will absolutely increase as well. 

...things that make you go "Hmm"...

Botch

 
The flour test mentioned above got me curious.  
 
I have an 8" All-Clad sauté pan "Copper-Clad" (iirc) and a 12" All-Clad frypan which I believe has a layer of sammiched aluminum in it.  So I dusted both with flour and heated 'em up on my "simmer" burner, which just has a 2.5" diameter ring of gas jets.  
 
Here's the Copper-Clad, it looked like the flour browned in the center first, and then slowly creeped out to the edge of the pan, no discernible "ring burner" pattern that I could see.
 

 
Here's the 12", it did the same thing.  There looks to be a bigger difference between the center and the edge, but remember this pan is 50% bigger, but the same size burner, so we can't go by that visually.  
 

 
(hope this shows up on your monitors, it does on mine).  So, inconclusive results.  An IR camera with video would be a better way to test this, methinks.  
 
My sauté pan, looking at the top edge, only has copper on the outside, and the layer appears to be about 1/6 as thick as the inner silver-colored metal, and I don't know if it's just steel or an aluminum/steel sammich (based on its weight, and my hunch, I'm guessing aluminum/steel).  
 
Only one thing to do: save up my nickels for the solid silver.    

paqman

CTMike said:

I’m sure there’s plenty of people with more money than brains who have purchased this stuff. 

🤣😂😂

scdaf

CTMike said:

I’m sure there’s plenty of people with more money than brains who have purchased this stuff. 

Interesting comment on a Big Green Egg forum...

Ozzie_Isaac

CTMike said:

Botch said:

This is just too cool!  
 
Yesterday I was going to point out that Silver actually has a much greater thermal conductivity than copper, and maybe you could make a super-even (albeit super-expen$ive) pan with a layer of silver.  I remembered that the melting point of Ag is quite low, maybe too low for cookware but I was on my laptop and couldn't get to Wikipedia.  Then I forgot about it.
 
Then, today, this is the very first video on my EweTube, that French guy Alex has a pan made for him in Istanbul: copper with a silver lining!  (no pun intended).  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ddRK_jG6E
 
The melting point they mention in the videos is Celcius, so safe for stovetops.  The pan he got is gorgeous, and a link to the company is included (will be drooling over there after I post this).  They also discussed the advantages of rapid heat conduction, as we had above.  
 
I've not been to Istanbul, but I did get to spend about 4 days near Ankara, including the weekend where we did a lot of shopping.  I found a cookware place and bought myself a small saucepan, also copper with (probably a tin) liner, and a brass handle.  Someone warned me it may be just decorative, and lined with solder so I've never cooked with it, don't need any more lead in my diet.  Now, I'm wondering.  
I did wander into a leather goods store, and found a bomber jacket I wanted.  The owner looked me up and down, without any tape, and wrote down some measurements and told me to return the next day (!) for my custom-made jacket.  It fit perfectly, easily the best coat I've ever owned.    

Why be so cheap and go for a silver lined pan - be a baller and splurge for solid silver:

https://duparquet.com/products/solid-silver-cookware

To bad they have false claims about their product.  Silver is not the most thermal conductive element.  Carbon, in the form of diamond, is actually the most thermally conductive element.  Silver is the most electrically conductive element, but we arr talking cooking pans not speaker cables.

Botch

Ozzie_Isaac said:
Silver is not the most thermal conductive element.  Carbon, in the form of diamond, is actually the most thermally conductive element.  Silver is the most electrically conductive element, but we arr talking cooking pans not speaker cables.

Cooking pans = speaker cables.    
Have you looked into the thermal conductivity of graphene, kind've a two-dimensional version of diamond (both forms of carbon, along with graphite, which also has some fascinating electrical/insulation properties)?  Being a car detailing geek, I know that a selling point of the new graphene coatings is being able to apply it in direct sunlight; the remaining water drops can't "burn" water solutes into the paint, via lensing effect, because the graphene coating thermally conducts the heat away from the drop, or so the selling point goes (I have no idea).  
And a frypan-shaped chunk of diamond?  Heh.    

paqman

Ozzie_Isaac said:

CTMike said:

Botch said:

This is just too cool!  
 
Yesterday I was going to point out that Silver actually has a much greater thermal conductivity than copper, and maybe you could make a super-even (albeit super-expen$ive) pan with a layer of silver.  I remembered that the melting point of Ag is quite low, maybe too low for cookware but I was on my laptop and couldn't get to Wikipedia.  Then I forgot about it.
 
Then, today, this is the very first video on my EweTube, that French guy Alex has a pan made for him in Istanbul: copper with a silver lining!  (no pun intended).  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ddRK_jG6E
 
The melting point they mention in the videos is Celcius, so safe for stovetops.  The pan he got is gorgeous, and a link to the company is included (will be drooling over there after I post this).  They also discussed the advantages of rapid heat conduction, as we had above.  
 
I've not been to Istanbul, but I did get to spend about 4 days near Ankara, including the weekend where we did a lot of shopping.  I found a cookware place and bought myself a small saucepan, also copper with (probably a tin) liner, and a brass handle.  Someone warned me it may be just decorative, and lined with solder so I've never cooked with it, don't need any more lead in my diet.  Now, I'm wondering.  
I did wander into a leather goods store, and found a bomber jacket I wanted.  The owner looked me up and down, without any tape, and wrote down some measurements and told me to return the next day (!) for my custom-made jacket.  It fit perfectly, easily the best coat I've ever owned.    

Why be so cheap and go for a silver lined pan - be a baller and splurge for solid silver:

https://duparquet.com/products/solid-silver-cookware

To bad they have false claims about their product.  Silver is not the most thermal conductive element.  Carbon, in the form of diamond, is actually the most thermally conductive element.  Silver is the most electrically conductive element, but we arr talking cooking pans not speaker cables.

Are you suggesting they should start selling pans made of diamonds?  😂

jtcBoynton

caliking said:

@CTMike I'm not questioning that copper is a better conductor. Just asking whether that translates to noticeably faster heating of pans when cooking, with the intention of saving you some $$

The primary benefit is not rapid heating but transmitting heat to the sides of the pot for even heating. 

CTMike

Brown Santa arrived today:

Botch

  
 
(damn rich married guys...)  

HeavyG

Botch said:

  
 
(damn rich married guys...)  

Says the rich single guy that just dropped a phat stack on a killer stove top and range hood bling.

Teefus

caliking said:

Someone pointed out in a recent thread, that the D3 pans have a straight edge/rim, whereas the D5 pans have a curved lip, so its easier to pour things out of the pan. Also, the D5 lids have a beefier handle that stays cooler. 

I would disagree. My D3 Skillet and Sauté pans both have a nice curved rim. The sauce pan is straight cut, but it’s a sauce pan. 

Botch

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

  
 
(damn rich married guys...)  

Says the rich single guy that just dropped a phat stack on a killer stove top and range hood bling.

...and eating $0.19 ramen until, mebbe, March 2023.