>>> BlackFriday Demeyere Atlantis 8.5 Quart Deep Stockpot with Lid
Product Features
- 8-1/2-quart stockpot made with stainless steel and 7-layer base for optimal heat distribution
- Stay-cool cast stainless-steel welded handles; no rivets where food can stick
- Heavy tight-fitting lid and drip-free rim for easy pouring
- Dishwasher safe; oven safe to 600 degrees F; for all cooktops including induction; made in Belgium
- 30-year warranty against defects; diameter of base measures 9.4 inches
You buy copper pans for heat transfer speed and the benefits of its resulting responsiveness to changes in heat. You buy other pans like Demeyere because they are easier to care for.
Ease of care is important to me but so is performance. I wanted to find out for sure if the heat transfer differences were very substantial so I bought a Falk 10.5 quart 11" stock pot and a Demeyere Atlantis 8.5 quart 9" stock pot. (Falk is 2.5mm brushed copper coated with a .008" thick stainless (not tin) lining. They are equivalent to high-end Mauviel or Bourgeat in technical respects except that they have a brushed finish rather than a mirror polish.)
Starting with a room-temperature stove (in both tests) on a 15k BTU gas burner on high-heat I timed how long it took to bring *equal* amounts of cold water (same temperature) to a rolling boil. Why a mundane test like boiling water? Because it's an ideal test of the pans' ability to transfer heat rapidly and efficiently. A pan that boils faster is also going to be more adept at quickly handling subtle temperature changes when melting sugar or carmelizing a mound of onions and garlic. A pan that boils water faster is also more energy efficient which benefits you by not having to introduce as much heat into the kitchen to accomplish the same cooking task (and consequently to use energy to remove that heat with an air condition during summer months).
The Demeyere took 26 minutes to reach a rolling boil.
The Falk took 19.5 minutes to reach a rolling boil (about 25% faster).
The Falk was extremely responsive to temperature changes. Cutting the heat ceased the boiling within 5-10 seconds.
The Demeyere responded to a heat cut in 8-15 seconds or longer. Restoring the heat resulted in similar lags in returning the pots to full boil. Copper was certainly the more nimble and you could see how a responsive it would be for sautéing or cutting the heat in the event the pan got too hot.
The only real shortcoming in that particular test was that I was comparing an 11" pan to a 9" pan. The broader surface area of the Falk would certainly cause it to absorb more heat and boil water faster. So I also compared an 11" Falk fry pan and an 11" Demeyere fry pan boiling approximately 4 cups of cold water on a cold stove in both cases.
Again the Falk won the contest boiling water approximately 4 minutes faster than the Demeyere fry pan all things being equal. This size-for-size comparison was as fair as I could make it. If you're looking for cooking responsiveness and rapid boiling copper's the only game in town.
I ended up keeping the Falk pans and returning the Demeyeres to Sur la Table. For me the ability to sauté on lower heat; boil water faster; or quickly "rescue" food that's getting too hot (by cutting the heat and obtaining a rapid cool-down) outweighed the benefits of being able to throw the pan in the dishwasher.
The Demeyeres are wonderful pans - beautiful and easy to care for. If you have an induction stove I'd go with them because copper would require an ugly (and hot) iron lug to be placed underneath the pan. If you have gas copper is certainly a more nimble metal when it comes to heat responsiveness. The Falks I bought cleaned nicely with Bar Keeper's Friend.
The Demeyere has a brighter silver finish on the inside which I found shows tiny hairline scratches caused by Bar Keeper's Friend (or the green Scotchbrite pad) - whereas the Falk's stainless interior was immune to such scratching.
Both brands are heavy but Falk is heaviest - some people complain about the weight of copper pans but I think it's just whining to complain about a 5-8lb weight of a pan (it's not that heavy once you get used to it).
