The Best Copper Skillets

We chose this beautiful, solidly made French steel-lined pan as our top pick for its roomy cooking surface and open, flared sides with rounded interior corners, all ideal in a classic skillet. It cooked responsively and well, giving us “perfect results” with caramel, nicely browned chicken with pan sauce, and bubbly mac and cheese. In our infrared tests, it heated exceptionally evenly across its surface. We found it a bit heavy to handle, like all the steel-lined copper pans in the lineup.

Spacious, comparatively lightweight, and responsive, with remarkably even heating and excellent browning, this pan was a pleasure to cook in. It is five-ply, with a 1-millimeter core of copper, sandwiched first by layers of aluminum and then layers of stainless steel (a strip of the outer layers of aluminum and steel just above the base of the pan is cut away to display the copper core). Unlike most copper skillets, it’s induction compatible because the outermost layer of steel is ferromagnetic. It was the top performer in our infrared test of the evenness of its heat across its cooking surface. Minor quibbles: We sometimes sloshed ingredients over its extra-flared sides, but we appreciated that the open shape aided evaporation, helping food brown rather than steam. The helper handle became hot on the stovetop, but the stainless-steel main handle did not. Its cooking performance slightly outpaces its tri-ply sibling, the All-Clad D3 Stainless 12" Fry Pan with Lid, but it costs roughly twice as much.

A pretty skillet, this model felt surprisingly petite and lightweight compared with others in the lineup. We sometimes lost a few ingredients over the sides when stirring, and its cooking surface seemed slightly cramped, but every recipe we tested managed to fit, and the pan cooked evenly and responsively. It contains a single 1-millimeter layer of copper at its core, sandwiched between layers of aluminum and then steel on the top and bottom, with a strip of copper on the exterior sides as a visual reminder of its presence. Flat interior rivets made cleaning a bit easier. The exterior bottom layer of steel is induction compatible. The company also makes a 12.5-inch version, which is more expensive.

This beautifully constructed pan heated evenly and browned exceptionally well. We loved its matte (the company calls it “satin”) surface inside and out, which made it easier to maintain than shiny surfaces on other pans. Its copper exterior also retained a deep reddish color, unlike other pans in the lineup whose patina became more faded and mottled with equivalent use. The pan’s squared rather than rounded edges made it a bit harder to sweep a spatula around it. Tiny handle rivets on the interior didn’t trap food residue and were easy to keep clean.

Handsome, expensive, and roomy, this pan had the thickest copper layer and thinnest steel layer of the pans we tested. It was highly responsive and provided very uniform browning, and it had a large cooking surface. However, it also felt extra-heavy, making it awkward to maneuver.

This pan’s bowl-like shape, with high sides and a small cooking surface, made it feel cramped compared with other skillets we tested, but it was just big enough to hold a full batch of macaroni and cheese or two chicken breasts. Food browned nicely. The pan’s slightly textured surface was a bit harder to scrub clean than others, and three raised rivets trapped food.

This thick 11-inch pan felt both solid and quite heavy. It was slower to heat than other pans in the lineup, but once it was hot, it began browning a bit too fast, leaving the breading on our chicken breasts somewhat tough and dry. Otherwise, it cooked food well and fairly evenly. Its chunky, shiny stainless-steel handle mostly stayed cool on the stovetop, but its too-smooth texture made it slide in our hand when we were holding it up to scrape out browned butter. The pan’s bowl-like shape and high sides made it slightly awkward when reaching under food with a spatula.