Copper is an excellent heat conductor. Because of this, it’s often used in pots and pans. At the same time, it oxidizes rather easily. You’ve probably noticed this before when your copper clad cookware starts to turn orange or tarnish. Here’s how to protect it and keep your pots and pans looking as shiny as the day you bought them.
Check Your Cookware for Scratches or Wear
Scratches in the pan can cause chromium and nickel to leak out of it and, since most copper cookware is coated (at least on the inside) with stainless steel (which is made with chromium and nickel), you’ll need to be mindful of pitting and scratches. You don’t want to use abrasives on this material if it’s already damaged because you could further undermine its integrity.
If you do see damage, bite the bullet and ditch it – get new All Clad® Copper Core Cookware Set from this website, www.bedbathandbeyond.com. That’s all that can really be done here.
Break Out the Ingredients
You’ll need a combination of salt, flour and vinegar. Mix one part salt, one part all-purpose flour, and just enough white vinegar to make a paste. Once the paste is thick, stop adding the vinegar. You don’t want soup.
Clean the Pan
Take a soft cloth and rub a generous amount of the paste right into the pot or pan. If your pans are really tarnished, you may need to use a little elbow grease, but you should notice an immediate improvement. Dark spots will take a bit more work to remove.
You may use a soft brush if you need more scrubbing power, but don’t use a hard bristle brush and don’t scour the pan. You will create intractable scratches. You should be left with a pot or pan that’s nice and shiny with no swirls or odd marks from the cleaning.
Sometimes, it helps to rub the paste in and let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes. This will let the vinegar do its thing. Once the stain comes out, rinse and dry.
Rinse Well and Dry
Rinse the pan off and use a towel to dry it. Make sure you use a highly absorbent towel here – no messing around. You don’t want water spots all over your freshly-cleaned pan. If you do get water spots, they can be cleaned with a little coarse salt and a soft cloth.
For The Tough Tarnish
If this method doesn’t work, you might need to bring out the big guns. Mauviel’s Copperbrill cleaning paste is specially formulated to clean copper. It comes with a hefty price tag at $34, which is a little pricey for some. But, this cleaning agent is no joke. If you can’t get it clean with this stuff, it’s toast.
The company has been making copper cookware, and cleaning agents for its cookware, since 1830, so they know what they’re doing.
Finally, as a word of caution: never put your copper cookware into the dishwasher. Something that manufacturers routinely neglect to mention is that copper pits and oxidized more easily when you expose it to the harsh pounding of chemicals and water inside your machine. Hand-wash and it should last you a long time.
Robert Briley is a self-confessed cooking fanatic. Always looking for great ways to entertain in the kitchen, he likes to share what he discovers. You can read his illuminating posts on many of today’s top websites and blogs.
I’ll need to try this. I have some really old copper bottom pots that have seen better days.
I totally need to do this w/my pans. Thanks for the idea.
These are some wonderful tips on keeping your copper cookware clean. Thanks for sharing!