I purchased a number of Mauviel Cuprinox pieces from Williams Sonoma in the late 1990's.
If I'm not mistaken, the line was, at that point, different than it is today. The pots available from W S had brass handles and were 2mm (maybe 2.5 mm?) thick. No pots were offered with stainless handles at that time...it was as if the bronze handles were somehow more "appealing" or "attractive."
There were, at that time, only two versions of the Mauviel Cuprinox cookware available. If I'm not mistaken, the lower line, which was 1.6mm or 1.5mm thick had cast iron handles...I remember reading this in the literature that came with each piece that I bought.
I think that I still have some of the literature from that time...I'll take a look to confirm this. All I know is that the pots that I purchased, that, incidentally, have bronze handles, are all consistent in the thickness of the copper layer and I believe that it's at least 2mm.
But, again, there weren't as many lines of the Cuprinox available.
--ccc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
boar_d_laze 
Mauviel makes four lines of stainless lined copper. The differences are the thicknesses of the copper and handle materials. Cuprinox is 2.5mm with cast iron; Cuprinox Style is 2.0mm with stainless, Couprinox Gourmet is 2.0mm with cast iron; and Cuprinox Pour Le Table iranges from 1.2mm to 2.0mm with most pieces at 1.6mm, the handles are brass.
Williams Sonoma sells Cuprinox Pour Le Table. Pour Le Table is Mauviel's least expensive stainless/copper line.
The whole performance/value question depends on a wide variety of factors. I don't have enough experience with the different Mauviels to compare their performance to one another. Mauviel claims the thicker pans outperform the thinner and I have no reason to doubt. On the other hand, they don't say by how much.
All Clad copper is a different beast altogether. The copper surface is so thin on All Clad, even thinner than Mauviel Pour Le Table, that although you get the appearance and price of copper, you don't get any real gain from a performance standpoint. There are other manufacturers as good as Mauviel. For instance, Matfer Bourgeat and Franck (Belgian).
Copper is the most efficient of the several common metals used for pans. Compared to a high quality multi-ply pan, a Cuisinart or a lesser All Clad for instance, the performance gains are minimal and not worth the price. (Many people, copper pan owners in particular, disagree.)
Nothing can beat copper for it's "stove to table" beauty. That may put All Clad copper back in the running. Whatever its faults, it certainly looks the part.
Other good performers are multi-ply with stainless inserts, cast iron, carbon steel, and anodic aluminum. All of them spread the heat about as evenly as copper-plys. Cast iron is heavy compared to the others. But otherwise, the main performance gain with copper is "responsivness," and that's a lot more on the cool-down side than heat up. In my opinion, copper just isn't worth the tariff unless you're buying for appearance or you're the type of person who must have the best.
Hpe this helps,
BDL
