Using Copper Clad Cookware on electric smoothtop?

7 years ago

I live in Canada, so prices here more than the United States but today purchased 12pc Paderno Canadian Professional 12 piece Copper Clad cookware set on sale @ Canadian Tire for $599 regular price $2000.

But when reading manual for my GE Profile electric smoothtop, it states Copper cookware not useable but on the box it states works with Electric, Gas, Ceramic and Halogen...

So which is correct? Also only question besides that , can you boil water at high with these or am limited to Med/High ( 5 or 6 on dial ) ?

Still have to sauce pan's from Paderno that are induction ready for portable induction unit.

Will the copper clad pots help in getting better simmer results on the smoothtop? With the other Paderno pots I have , it seems that when I turn dial to 1 or 2 after boiling, does not go to simmer but continues to boil .

Dan

Featured Answer

jwvideo

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

The problems with copper pans on smoothtop radiant electric cooking surfaces -- and the reasons manufacturers say not to use it with glasstop stoves --- also have been the same as with bare (uncoated or un-annodized) aluminum pans. Those metals are relatively soft. Sliding them across the glasstop can leave scuff marks and other residues. Those sometimes look like scratches but are really more like stains or deposits. Supposedly, if you go after those marks right after they happen, glasstop cleaners like Cerambryte will polish off the the staining. IIRC, GE product manuals used to to have (and maybe still have) warnings that caution that aluminum and copper pots will leave permanent stains if allowed to continue overheating after boiling dry dry on radiant electric glasstop burners. Maybe the manuals for the latest models just tell people to skip cookware with copper, bare aluminum, glass or ceramic surfaces?

Kevinande's point about warping is another concern. Depending on how the pan is made and treated by the cook, copper "clad "pans, copper coated thin pans, and bare aluminum pans all can warp rather easily. When their bases warp, they no longer will maintain full contact with the radiant burner surface. The result is that those warped pans heat unevenly. They can warp even more while also maybe burning your food. Warping is less of a concern with "clad pans" unless they are very thin like old Revereware which was basically copper coated steel rather than clad in layers.

On your question about boiling on high heat with those pans, that should not be a problem as long as you've got plenty of liquid in the pan. That liquid keeps the pan from getting much above the boiling temperature of the liquid. Warping more commonly occurs when using very high heat on an empty pan. I know folks who regularly blast fry pans with lead-melting temperatures before adding anything to to the pan to sear. Some of them regularly find find their less thick steel and aluminum pans have warped from that kind of treatment.

You might check the Chowhound kitchenware froum as I recall several threads about warping pans over the last few years. I've never used any Paderno clad pans, so somebody else will have to fill you in on where they stand in the continuum of thin and easily warped to thick and warp resistant.

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Comments (7)

kevinande
7 years ago
As I understand it the biggest issue that people have with copper and smooth-top stove tops is that copper is so malleable, it can warp easy. In addition it can easily scratch the surface of the stove. Warped pans do not very good cooking vessels on a smooth-top range due to uneven heat distribution.

I can not speak to many of your question, but just based on the properties of the metal, cooper will heat and cool quickly. How quickly really depends on the available power of the stove in question. I would imagine you could boil water on any setting you desire so long as their is enough water in the pan to prevent warping. That said I would be cautious about using the maximum settings with this cookware.
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wekick
7 years ago
This is the “why“ from GE.

”Copper Bottom pans are also good, but they can leave residues on the cooktop that appear as scratches. These can be removed if cleaned immediately, but do not let a copper bottom pan boil dry. An overheated copper pot will leave a residue that will permanently stain the cooktop.”

https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=16259

Agree with asking about the properties of this pan over on Chowhound.

https://www.chowhound.com/cookware
miatadan roy thanked wekick
miatadan roy
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for the replies.

If you look at the photo I uploaded on first post, you can see Paderno states the pots are 3 layer clad construction. Outer layer copper, middle layer aluminum and interior layer stainless steel. They do not mention thickness of layers like Mauviel does.

Tried experiment to see how long to boil water at medium high, took 14 minutes ( without lid )

I never slide pots in general but hoping in general if I careful to stick to med-high settings, will not have the warping issues. I do use Cerama Bryte on regular basis. Stove is 10 years old now, no scratches , marks, or stains on glass top and some company when they see stove asked if it is brand new. You can see from this photo condition of glass top and the actual Paderno sauce pan's I am referring too.

Dan
kevinande
7 years ago
I am so spoiled lol. I would probably die if I had to wait 14 minutes in a pan that size to boil. My induction unit would make short work of that in about 4 minutes if it was full and about 2 half way. At any rate just be careful with them. You do keep a nice stove top, hate for you to ruin it with the new pans.
miatadan roy
Original Author
7 years ago
Decided to return set. I only took out 1 sauce pan to test boiling water and did not try any cooking. So it was easy to put the single pot and lid back into original box and kept the plastic bags that the lid and pot were wrapped in.

As a compromise ordered some All-Clad Copper Core sauce pans so at least I have option of induction in the future. Since I only ever use 2 sauce pans total, ordering 2 pieces I actual use comes out to less money than the complete Paderno set.

Dan
sushipup2
4 years ago
"Alex Wilson" is a necrospammer.