First post here as a Chowhound refugee. Not that I posted much on Chowhound, but I certainly enjoyed reading all of the conversations and information there over the (many) years.
I’m wondering if anyone here has used the Hestan Copperbond and could comment on it? Exact information/specs seems to be a little hard to find; i.e. exact thickness of the copper core. From what I’ve found, it seems it’s probably around 1.5mm to 1.7mm. It’s obviously a direct competitor to All-Clad Copper Core, which I haven’t used either, but the overall thickness of the Hestan is thicker than the All-Clad.
A local home/kitchen shop has the 3.5qt sauteuse on sale, and with a gift card, I could get the piece for around $250 (regular price is $550). I’m just curious if anyone has any experience or if there’s any sage advice from the gurus around here. Thanks!
I’ve not used Hestan “copperbond,” but I have a 28 mm Hestan nanobond fry pan that’s terrific. I also have an All Clad coppercore 2 qt. saucier that may be my favorite pan.
All Clad relies on layers of aluminum and copper for balance, so may not be directly comparable to Hestan.
Sorry, but I too am among the ranks of those unfamiliar with it. I looked it up and thought it looked quite good. However, at that price point, unless I had induction, I’d consider other options seriously, including the thrill of the hunt for thick (3-3.5 mm) tinned copper.
I was at a kitchen shop that sold All-Clad.
The girl was new and didn’t know much about cookware.
So maybe you can answer the question for me.
I have All-Clad mini gratins that are SS.
I think that maybe all of their oven ware are SS (soup ramekins, mini oval bakers) including their roasters.
I saw a pot with a copper ring around it are those the bonded ones?
So pots that don’t have the copper ring are plain SS?
The pot with the decorative copper ring is coppercore. It has five layers: top and bottom are SS, two layers of aluminum, and one layer of copper at the core. The d3 has top and bottom SS, and aluminum in the middle.
The ones you were looking at may have been mostly d3.
Very few of what can be described as All-Clad pans are straight SS–most are either clad of some variety or aluminum. The copper band you saw is an inner clad layer that is the CopperCore line’s distinguishing feature . The band is “bent backward” onto the pan exterior; it’s a deceptive indicator of how thin that copper layer really is. Copperbond is a 5-ply construction, which usually also means there isn’t much copper.
Look at your gratins’ edges with a magnifying glass. Do you see any layers, or does the edge look the same? Unless the walls are thicker than a penny, they’re probably just SS.
