Copper pots from the Andes save cooking time and energy. - photos by Avia Ustanny

Copper pots usually used in French cuisine were items which drew the eyes to the booth manned by the Andes at the recent Interior Decorating Expo at the Hilton hotel in Kingston.

According to the store representative, copper, apart from being much prettier than the average aluminium pot, also heats much faster and cooks better than its aluminium counterpart. Copper, she noted, takes half the time of many other cookware and also saves energy.

Research claims that copper is the best practical conductor of heat for cooking. Professionals love it because of its quick reaction time. It also cooks better because of its uniform conductivity, as it surrounds your food with heat.

The copper pots form the Andes were directly imported from Portugal.

The primary advantage of copper is that it requires only low to moderate heat to obtain the best results, and its conductivity makes it especially responsive to almost every cooking need.

Copper has about 10 times the heat conductivity of stainless and glass, and twice that of aluminium. Its primary disadvantage being that it is reactive to acidic foods, it is usually lined with another metal, the most common and practical of which is tin, that, unlike stainless steel or nickel, is readily refurbishable.

Caring for copper

Stainless and nickel linings in French copper are very durable, by comparison to tin linings, and also very expensive.

If you use wooden or other 'soft' non-scratching utensils, and watch the heat under your tin-lined copper, the lining will last for years and years before it needs refurbishing.

It's not absolutely necessary that you keep the copper bright and shiny; just keep it clean. It is best to avoid cooking acidic foods in copper that is not coated. If a lot of copper is showing, retinning is recommended.

Partial information source: http://fantes.com/copper_cookware.htm