Mauviel Copper Cookware-Achieve Culinary Excellence Through Superior Control

Mauviel is an artisanal line of cookware, respected by professional chefs, foodies and amateur cooks alike. The company has 170+ years of experience and craftsmanship behind its name. Mauviel is a family business, at home in Villedieu Les Poeles--the copper cookware manufacturing center for the world since the time of the Crusades. 

Mauviel's top of the line pans can make an average cook's food better and a superior chef's food exceptional--with the proper understanding of how the copper serves the process. 

For appearances, nothing looks more warm and inviting, sends a first class culinary message, than an array of copper pans.

Mauviel uses thick copper in its pan construction, a sign of quality workmanship. Copper is the component you want in a pan if you are creating foods that require precise temperature control. Copper is ten times more conductive than stainless steel. Copper conducts heat better than any other metal available in cookware.

The benefits of copper: Even heat from all sides and top to bottom. Copper yields even temperatures with no hot spots. This gives you a consistent food product, with even cooking occurring throughout. And for the chef, copper gives superior control over the intensity and duration of heat.

The many lines can get a bit confusing.

Cuprinox pans come with a 2 to 2.5 mm thickness of copper on the exterior, bronze handles or varnished cast iron handles, and a stainless interior.

Cuprinox Style pans come with a 2 mm copper thickness, cast stainless steel handles, and a stainless lining.

Cuprinox Gourmet's Choice pans have 2 mm copper exteriors, varnished cast iron or bronze handles and stainless interiors.

Cuprinox Pour La Table items have 1.2 to 2 mm thickness copper (making them the lightest of all Mauviel copper pans), stainless interiors, and varnished bronze handles.

Cupretam Pour La Table pans come with 1.2 to 2 mm copper exteriors and bronze or cast iron handles.

Finally, Mauviel has a line of pastry- and chocolate-making tools, pans and accessories with a lighter copper construction and tin wash interiors. These are made for easier handling, for service at the table and are distinguished by their marvelous shine.

A good saucepan need never leave the stove. Perfect for every chore, Mauviel saucepans are the saucepan to own. Whether you need to create a simple soup, reduce a sauce, melt butter or prepare individual portions, the copper saucepans provide you all the heat you need, applied directly to the food.

When that critical point comes that can make or break a preparation and you pull the pan from the heat, copper allows that heat to begin to dissipate immediately. You can bring an ingredient to the edge without toppling over and ruining your masterpiece.

To keep food from contact with the copper, Mauviel uses a tin wash or stainless steel lining on many of its pieces. This is beneficial because copper can react with some foods. With lined pans, there is no metallic taste imparted to food. The lining also makes cleaning the pans easier. The company uses an older process, unlike the newer electrolytic process many companies use, to apply the lining.

Mauviel has a copper frying pan made for high heat cooking and searing. The sloped sides help you move food without spilling. A wide, flat bottom gives you a large surface area to brown many items at once. A good 3 to 5 quart saute pan is a definite must in the kitchen.

The height of the sides of a pan influence the work you can do with it. Taller sides on a saucepan are great for working with a liquid or any sauce. Shorter sides may be easier to get into with a whisk. Straight sides are the classic style. Splayed sides (such as in a saute pan) can help encourage evaporation. They are made to cook off liquid for reducing sauces. They also reduce the spitting and food mess than can accompany regular cooking.

Copper pans are exceptionally responsive, giving you a high level of functionality with less chance of overcooking--even while a dish is resting.

Mauviel lids are thick and they seal tightly, trapping nutrients, moisture and flavor in the pan with your food. Thick lids allow you to apply heat from the top (in addition to the sides and bottom of the pan).

The liquids from your ingredients is not lost to the air, but rains back down into the dish, accomplishing a sort of self-basting action. Locking in flavors can give you better control of seasoning. You can also use less seasoning overall (saving money and reducing sodium).

Mauviel uses rolled edges which make it possible to pour without drips or spills, so you can transfer sauces or drizzle a dish with control, maintaining the beauty of your food's appearance and saving yourself a sloppy work area or extensive cleanup.

Mauviel includes a number of helpful finishing touches: highly polished exteriors, finial top handles.

Roasting pans are made with their handles set high and well above the pan, giving you a better grip--especially with oven mitts--and keeping your hands away from the heat. Stockpot handles aim outward, allowing you a better grip on a heavily laden pan.

Some handles are made from varnished cast iron to better stay cool as you work. Other handles are made of bronze or sturdy cast stainless steel. The length of the handle is important for the best leverage, especially when handling a crepe pan or skillet (where you may need to keep food moving or perform repetitive tricks and flips with the food inside).

Stainless steel or copper rivets securely fasten the handles to the pan. Ergonomic handle design makes manipulation easier on your body. The rounded bases of select pans can better accommodate a whisk.

Stainless interiors diffuse the heat conducted by the copper throughout the surface of the pan. Stainless steel is another very responsive metal, excellent at conducting heat. The quick dispersement of heat will allow you to interrupt the cooking process at the crucial moment.

Mauviel pans are oven safe, allowing you to finish your components in the oven or hold them them there to warm.

Start with a brand new, full set of pans or replace your old, failing pans one by one--save money and hand-pick each piece for your collection.

Copper pans make a great gift for any wedding, birthday or holiday--a gift that will really give back to the recipient. They will grow with you as you mature as a cook.

Mauviel has more than the basic kitchen cookware essentials. The company also creates accessories, serving items, mixing bowls and specialty cookware designed for specific tasks.

A mini cocotte is a tiny French oven, fantastic for generating interest in service, enchanting a child. The potato steamer garners visual interest and is the perfect size and construction for cooking potatoes and other vegetables.

The .3 quart saucepan can double as a ladle, allowing you to reach deep into pans, work across a large cooking surface. The saucepan is designed for use in creating flambe, but the shape and size of the handle make it helpful as an accessory in working with sauces or glazes.

Mauviel makes an exceptional wok, one capable of delivering the high heat that Asian stir frys require.

Double boilers are meant to provide a steady, but very slow system of heat for delicate items. Heat is applied to a water bath (bain-marie) below the pot holding the ingredients. Cheeses and chocolate respond very well to this method of preparation.

Mauviel often includes multiple porcelain inserts for its double boilers, allowing you to switch out the liner if you are preparing multiple batches or two different ingredients.

Mauviel cookware is something you can be proud to pass along, through your family. Unlike a department store version, a single pan should last far more than just one owner's lifetime. The added expense is justified when you consider that you will not have to buy a new pan every year as the old one warps, flakes and fails.

Owning copper cookware need not require labor-intensive upkeep. You can have a polished gem or allow the pans to tarnish to an antique patina. To restore the original luster needs only a few minutes, a couple of simple tricks and basic household products.

*Hand washing of copper pans is recommended.*

Copper pans allow you to develop better taste, texture and appearance in all your meals. Bon Appétit!