The 4 Best Copper Cookware Sets, According to Our Tests

Our Favorite Copper Cookware Set

The Hestan CopperBond 10-Piece Cookware Set stood out thanks to its lightweight design and heat reactivity. The Williams Sonoma Thermo-Clad Copper 10-Piece Cookware Set was a close runner-up, with similarly even cooking and the same striking shiny look.

Our Copper Cookware Set Tests

We chose a total of nine copper cookware sets to examine side-by-side for this story. We started with extensive measurements of and notes on size, weight, general design, and assortment of items, then moved on to the tests themselves.

• Mobility Test: We added a cup of dry beans to each set's sauté pan, then used the handle to lift the pan and toss the beans around as you would while sauté. We rated weight balance, ergonomic properties, and overall comfort of the handles, and noted how well the sloped sides of the pans kept beans from escaping.
• Heat Retention Test: We tested the responsiveness to heating and temperature change by boiling a quart of water in the largest included stockpot or Dutch oven over high heat. We recorded the time it took to reach a full boil, then turned the burner off and recorded the time it took for the water temperature to lower to 180°F.
  
• Browning Test: We pounded chicken breasts to about a quarter-inch thick, then cooked them in an appropriately sized pan in 2 tablespoons of oil for 3 minutes per side. We observed the level of browning and evenness of cooking, noting any hot or cool spots, and repeated the test with a second chicken breast to evaluate consistency.
• Cleaning Test: After cooking the chicken, we recorded the amount of time needed for the pans to cool to room temperature, then washed them following the manufacturers' instructions. We noted which ones were easiest to wipe clean and which stuck to burnt-on bits, as well as design elements like handle rivets that interfered with cleaning. We also examined the pans after cleaning for any damage, corrosion, or tarnishing.

After completing our other tests, we revealed the retail prices of the pans to consider value. At the time of testing, the sets ranged from $299 to $2,000, with an average of $1,283.

Following our initial tests, we sent the sets home with Food & Wine staff to integrate into their regular cooking routines. We checked back in after 1, 3, and 6 months to see how each set held up over time and if we ran into any new problems. This story includes insights from both short- and long-term testing.

Factors to Consider

Material

Yes, all copper cookware contains copper, a metal that's exceptionally good at conducting heat in addition to being shiny and beautiful. But pots and pans are rarely made of pure copper, which is very expensive, fairly soft, and cools down as quickly as it heats up. Most brands stack layers of copper, aluminum, and steel in different ways to combine their characteristics. Steel helps with heat retention, while aluminum reduces weight and cost. Unfortunately, there's no one perfect set of materials for every cook; what's best for you depends on what you like to cook and how you use your stove.

Design 

Design covers a lot of aspects of cookware: size, shape, weight, handle comfort and placement, and more. Most sets include multiple sizes of shallow skillet/frying pan, but depending on how big your household is you might want a small and a medium rather than a medium and a large. It's the same situation with deeper pots: A set will usually include two or three of these, but different brands' include varying sizes. A set with an 8-quart stockpot could appeal to a cook who makes big batches of soup, but for others, smaller saucepans are more practical.

We found in testing that handles made a big difference in the "feel" of cookware. Longer handles with proper balance and a grippy texture help to lift and move heavy pans with ease. Some brands claim to have heatproof handles, but we didn't find any that truly stayed cool enough to touch with bare hands. You’ll need a kitchen towel or oven mitt no matter what.

Since you're buying a whole set of cookware at once, you'll also want to pay attention to which pieces are in the set. The item counts for cookware sets include lids and accessories, so you need to look at the specifics — more pots and pans is probably better than more lids.

Care and Cleaning

Copper cookware is pretty fussy. It's almost never dishwasher-safe, and if that’s a dealbreaker for you, your money might be better spent elsewhere. Copper pots and pans are bright and shiny when new, but the material quickly fades and develops a patina when exposed to heat and liquids. This isn't harmful to cooking or to the material itself — in fact, many copper lovers value the patinated look — but if you want to retain the shine, it's a lot of work. You'll need a commercial copper polish (lemon juice or vinegar and salt can work in a pinch) and plenty of elbow grease to keep the outside looking shiny.

Oil spatters and scorches can also cause discoloration in copper cookware, and many manufacturers advise sticking to medium heat at the highest to avoid this, even for sautéing or searing. Cleaning off sticky burnt-on oil was one of the most challenging parts of maintenance in our testing, especially in pans with large rounded rivets attached to the handles. There are lots of crevices to collect gunk, and it's also difficult to reach them. There were a few models with flat rivets that made this much easier.

Temperature Limits

Copper pots and pans are designed for the stovetop, and most can handle at least some oven temperatures, but be sure to check the maximum temperature allowed for your set. Above this point, the material can warp and get permanently damages. Some of the sets we tested are safe up to 600°F, which covers all but the hottest of broilers, while others can't handle over 400°F.

Other Copper Cookware Sets We Tested

Strong Contenders

BergHOFF Vintage Copper Tri-Ply 10Pc Cookware Set, Hammered ($835 at Wayfair)

This BergHOFF set is visually appealing and performed well in our testing except for one area: The skillet was extremely challenging to clean after our searing tests, which decreased our overall score.

Mauviel Copper Triply M’3 S 7-Piece Cookware Set ($1,370 at Williams Sonoma)

With Mauviel's smaller set, the stockpot took considerably longer to heat than many we tested. The sauté pan also got way too hot, resulting in burnt oil that took more effort to clean than we deemed appropriate.

What Didn't Make the List

We’d love to recommend every set we tested, but there were some clear candidates for not making the list. Out of nine initial sets, we picked our top four, and two more were strong contenders. The final three were sets that just had too much working against them. One set was actually a favorite but, unfortunately, has been discontinued since testing. Another was lined with tin instead of stainless steel, and we noticed pitting right away, making those pans a mediocre value. Finally, the last set we tested was supremely unbalanced and heated far too erratically for use to give it our seal of approval.

Our Expertise

Greg Baker is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and food writer with four decades of experience in the food industry. His writing has appeared in Food & Wine, Tasting Table, Serious Eats, and other publications.