Cookware Reviews

I have had this pan for almost a year now and I have been very impressed with its performance. It was my first piece of All Clad and I bought it because I wanted a copper pan with the maintenance ease of stainless steel. I was a bit skeptical that it would have the same temperature response that a regular copper pan has, but I'm pleased to report that it does. I can take liquids from a roiling boil down to a non-boil and back again literally instantaneously by turning the burner knob (I have a gas stove) -- the pan is that responsive. Also, the heat is conducted uniformly all the way up the sides -- you can put your finger along the top edge of the exposed copper sandwich and feel the heat transferred immediately when you turn on the burner. Since it is so responsive, you generally need to use a lower heat setting than with a regular aluminum/stainless pan or food will burn. This pan is a joy to cook with -- the shape is like a flat bottomed mixing bowl and is great for rice pilaf, lentils, and small sautes. It is well balanced and light weight enough to do real saute cooking where you toss and flip the ingredients in the pan -- and the higher sides prevent the food from inadvertently escaping. It is relatively easy to clean, although rice and lentils will leave a residue which requires Bar Keepers Friend cleanser to completely remove. Also, the exposed copper will become tarnished from heat and steam, but it is easy to clean with the cleanser. Overall, I am extremely pleased with this purchase and would recommend the Copper Core line to anyone wanting the performance of copper cookware.

Love the stainless All-Clad line, and I have many pieces. I am not happy with the tea kettle. The "stay cool" handle gets very hot and if you want to use the whistle feature, you need to pull the piping hot whistle from the pour spout in order to pour out the water and put it back in after each use. Not worth the money.

The description states that this teakettle has a stay-cool handle which it definitely does not. The All-Clad cookware has the most amazingly cool handles so I expected the same. The maximum fill line for water is 1/3 down from the top, making the kettle a larger size than it needs to be for the recommended capacity. The balance point when pouring is not optimum and the handle flexes with the weight of the kettle and water. The whistle needs to be removed by hand when pouring then reinserted afterwards. The spring detent is stiff and makes this operation potentially risky. On the positive side, it does boil water rapidly, the whistle sounds good, and the spout doesn't drip.