De Buyer Prima Matera: are these prices real?!!

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Fans of good quality massive copper pots will pay these prices... gladly. The thermal conductivity of copper is much better than iron or stainless steel. While I don't have such pots (for obvious reasons) they seem to have features no other cookware can offer. (Until the next high-tech material, probably :) ). Buy maybe its a prestige thing also... I got some great pans with copper inlays for a fracture of these prices.
 
miggus said:
Fans of good quality massive copper pots will pay these prices... gladly. The thermal conductivity of copper is stellar, much, much better than iron or stainless steel. While I don't have such pots (for obvious reasons), there's no doubt that such pots do have their place, since they do have features no other cookware can offer. (Until the next high-tech material, probably :) )
Click to expand...

Well, I know that copper is desirable, but wow! £336 for a 20cm saucepan!!!

@Lars, I think even senior management and executive board members would flinch at these prices :O)

To stock up a kitchen with this gear would cost several thousand... probably approaching what most would spend on the entire kitchen!
 
Material cost would also come in to it. Copper ain't exactly a cheaper material so if they have more than just a thin layer of copper that will also dictate.
 
They don't look as nice as Bourgeat or Falk to me and they're more expensive and thinner by .5 mm on the bottom. So the sides of the pans might even be thinner than the bottom.

Quality copper is really nice to work with and I would have some at home if it weren't so pricey...says the man with a serious knife addiction.
 
We had a full kitchen of this stuff at TRU. It was bought in 1998 though. It was nice to work with, VERY heavy and a ***** to polish once a week (our job). I would much rather use cheap heavier cast iron to be honest because the best part of the coppers was how they held heat, not how fast they heat up.
 
As part of a major kitchen remodel 15 years ago, my wife and I bought 6 pieces of Falk cookware. Very thick copper with stainless steel lining. Not our only cookware, we also have a few cast iron pans and woks, but for anything where you'd normally cook on a s.s. surface they're wonderful to cook on. I don't ever polish them. The outside of the pans look pretty funky by now, but the interior s.s. looks like new. They're impossible to dent or damage, so they'll outlast me; basically lifetime purchases. The cost isn't too bad if you think of it that way.

The one downside is that they're heavy compared to what most people use for a sauce pan, saute pan, or stock pot. It's like using cast iron for every pan in the kitchen, as far as weight. But the ease of cooking and sheer durability of the stuff makes it worth hauling back and forth to the sink.
 
Those are the ones with the stainless steel bottoms. They are not fully copper. Prices for this series has always been high, which I guess is for the people who have an induction cooktop but want the aesthetics of copper. There are not many products on the market like this, so they charge high prices.

If you want full copper, get Mauviel at E. Dehillerin or Falk (though I think I recall reading something about how the stainless lining of Falk can get some pitting).
 
I have a large copper pan with stainless lining inside from Falk since about 2 years and love it. It was not exactly cheap either, but much cheaper than deBuyer. Actually - the only point for deBuyer would be induction, but am not sure how much sense copper pan makes on induction since you will get an even and very fast heat in your pan anyhow.

The pans that are really worth a look are Soy Turkiye (they have a webpage, but sell via etsy). Those are silver lined copper - or (wait for it) - pure silver pans. Those look fantastic :) At some point I will buy a pan from them (not the pure silver one though ;) )
 
malexthekid said:
Material cost would also come in to it. Copper ain't exactly a cheaper material so if they have more than just a thin layer of copper that will also dictate.
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Material cost isn't the reason. Copper is fairly inexpensive at around $3 per pound. According to the site a 20cm pan is right around 2.3lbs. Even if it was sold copper the material cost would be under $10.
 
TheVincenzo said:
Material cost isn't the reason. Copper is fairly inexpensive at around $3 per pound. According to the site a 20cm pan is right around 2.3lbs. Even if it was sold copper the material cost would be under $10.
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The reason this stuff is expensive, however, seems to be that it combines copper with Induction heat capacity.

This is something regular copper cannot do, because of the physics of copper vs induction.. So for multi-modal kitchens (ie, pro/businesses) there is a extra value to this step. For your average punter, not so much.

As for the raw materials, Copper is toxic and needs to be bonded to a non-toxic food layer. That is non-trivial task, bonding it to stainless interior. Normal 2.5-3.2mm copper is very expensive stuff. Adding stainless layer makes it more expensive.

Bonding a 3rd layer for induction bases again another layer of cost and complexity for manufacturing.
 
Ah... so it's the induction/copper combo that is special.

I took a look at the De Buyer site (http://www.debuyer.com/en/products/induction-prima-matera-0)


Induction PRIMA MATERA

Copper for exceptional cooking combined with a stainless steel interior for easy cleaning.
Elegance in the Kitchen, Buffets and on the Table.
90% copper - 10% stainless steel - 2 mm thickness across the bottom and the skirt of a single block: perfect heating circuit throughout the vessel, uniform and quick heat diffusion. Ideal for delicate cooking, for sauces and generally for reduction cooking.
Polished finish.
For all cooktops.
Riveted and ergonomic French-style long handle and side handles in cast stainless steel.


They also have a video clip - looks like some of the price is down to the labour cost of polishing!

[video=youtube;0YzJwquWcEU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YzJwquWcEU[/video]
 
Devon_Steven said:
Ah... so it's the induction/copper combo that is special.

I took a look at the De Buyer site (http://www.debuyer.com/en/products/induction-prima-matera-0)


Induction PRIMA MATERA

Copper for exceptional cooking combined with a stainless steel interior for easy cleaning.
Elegance in the Kitchen, Buffets and on the Table.
90% copper - 10% stainless steel - 2 mm thickness across the bottom and the skirt of a single block: perfect heating circuit throughout the vessel, uniform and quick heat diffusion. Ideal for delicate cooking, for sauces and generally for reduction cooking.
Polished finish.
For all cooktops.
Riveted and ergonomic French-style long handle and side handles in cast stainless steel.


They also have a video clip - looks like some of the price is down to the labour cost of polishing!

[video=youtube;0YzJwquWcEU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YzJwquWcEU[/video]
Click to expand...

And now i need the whole set.....
 
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