Copper cookware in South Africa

What copper does that steel cannot

Copper conducts heat roughly twenty times better than stainless steel and about twice as well as aluminium. In a pan that means the metal reaches the food almost as fast as the flame reaches the metal, and it stops almost as fast when you turn the heat down.

That responsiveness is the entire argument. A reduction that would split in a slow pan holds in a fast one, because you can actually stop it. Everything else people say about copper follows from this.

The four thicknesses, and which you need

Mauviel works copper in 1.5 mm, 2 mm and 2.6 mm, plus the six-ply M’6 S. The gauge is not a quality ladder — it is a choice about mass. 1.5 mm (M’150) is responsive and light enough to lift full. 2 mm (M’200) holds its temperature when cold stock goes in, which matters on a professional hob. 2.6 mm hand-hammered tinned copper (M’Tradition) is the oldest recipe in the catalogue.

For most South African home kitchens on gas, 1.5 mm is the right answer and the cheaper one.

Lined or unlined

Copper reacts with acid, so a cooking pan is lined — historically with tin, now usually with stainless steel. Stainless-lined copper needs no maintenance and lasts indefinitely. Tinned copper can be re-tinned when the lining eventually wears, which is why hundred-year-old pans are still in service.

Sugar and jam pans are deliberately unlined, because nothing must come between the flame and the syrup, and they are used for nothing else.

What it costs, and what it costs to own

Copper is expensive because copper is expensive — the metal itself is a commodity and a 24 cm saucepan contains a lot of it. What you are not paying for again is replacement. Handles are riveted rather than welded so they can be replaced, tinned pans can be re-lined, and the guarantee against manufacturing defect runs for life.

Prices on this site include VAT and are set in rand. Nothing is a grey import; every piece is bought from the factory in Normandy.

Who should not buy copper

If you cook on induction, most copper will not work at all — copper is not magnetic. Only M’6 S, which carries a magnetic steel layer, will. If you want to put pans in a dishwasher, buy multi-ply stainless instead. Copper wants a hand wash and an occasional polish, and it will patina if you let it.