Copper cookware .. Hoan from France

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

web-collage

Senior Cook
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
116
Location
SW Colorado
Has anyone an opinion of Hoan copper cookware made in France? I just picked up a used 2 qt sauce pan with lid. Tin lined. It looks about 2 mm of copper and is generally in good shape. I have lots of other cookware, but want to add a few copper pieces.
 
Never heard of Hoan copper. I would buy a 2mm french copper pot w/lid if the price was right, especially if it had a CI handle. Price must be right, interior good, or cheap enough to have retinned. Retinning is $5/running inch (L + H) + shipping. For a 1 quart pot that is about $50.
 
ebay bargain

Purchase on ebay, low price. Tin looks good. 2 qt is good size for testing out a sauce or ... Maybe the seller is reading the brand wrong.
 
Pot cost $30. Handles are brass loop handles. Can't be sure of the copper thickness until it arrives and can be measured. Here is a picture.
 

Attachments

  • hoan pan 2.jpg
    hoan pan 2.jpg
    90.8 KB · Views: 366
The Haun made in France pot arrived. Nice size and shape. The copper is 1.5 mm and the pot and lid need re-tinning. Probably had laquer finish that was not completely removed before cooking and has left some dark spots. Mirror finish partly un-mirrored from cleaning. Maybe good for liquid cooking like chicken soup but due to the 1.5 copper probably not good for a heavy braise like oxtail stew. I've written to Rocky Mountain to see if they think it's worth re-tinning.
 
Unless you have copper showing, there is no need to re tin. Tin will darken with use, and dark spots would be normal. I have a pot that just arrived from Rocky Mountain Retinning. After a couple uses, the lid is showing dark color. Especially on a lid, no harm done. The liquid hitting a lid is mostly steam. It is acids that will interact with copper.

1.5 MM is worth retinning. I personally prefer lighter copper in skillets as they are easier to toss.

Incidentally, RMR has a set of 4 3 mm saucepans in four sizes for around $350 w/lids. These have cast iron handles, including the lids, and are hand hammered. Peter assembles them from a bunch of parts he obtained a few years ago, and then tins on premises. These are among my best pots. Check his site.
 
Wearing my spectacles, I can see a small spot of copper showing through the tin on the bottom of the pot and the lid shows copper all around the edges (from wear, not design). I don't mind having it re-tinned, just wanted to be sure the 1.5 mm copper was worth it. Perhaps I should have it polished too.

I like the pot; there is just something nice about the proportions and lift. Although the handles are brass, they are made like cast iron -- that texture and look.

Yes, I have been looking at that set of saucepans at Rocky Mountain. The old fashioned lids are nice too. What do you cook in them?
 
The sauce pans are my most used pans, out of the 25 or so copper pans and skillets that I have. I use them for everything from boiling water for morning coffee to sauces, boiling small lots of vegetables to making hunmingbird food. Anything up to 2 quarts of liquid heat quickly, and temperature control is easy.

I wouldn't worry about any copper showing in those small amounts. You are going to get another year out of them. The lid should be all right as it mostly drops steam.

Retinning at most shops includes polishing.
 
Well, good. I'll cook something in that pot today. I will probably buy the set from Rocky Mountain but not yet. In June I'll visit a city that has Williams Sonoma and I would like to see and handle some Mauviel. It looks great on their web site. W-S does not show any tin-lined pieces on theirs. I also wrote to deHillerin in Paris for a quote on some pieces. So we shall see.

I thought the re-tinning would include polishing, but Rocky Mountain gives an additional rate for polishing ($2.50 per inch).
 
Well, good. I'll cook something in that pot today. I will probably buy the set from Rocky Mountain but not yet. In June I'll visit a city that has Williams Sonoma and I would like to see and handle some Mauviel. It looks great on their web site. W-S does not show any tin-lined pieces on theirs. I also wrote to deHillerin in Paris for a quote on some pieces. So we shall see.

I thought the re-tinning would include polishing, but Rocky Mountain gives an additional rate for polishing ($2.50 per inch).
E Dehellerin is a retailer and not a manufacturer of copper cookware. Most people believe that Maviel currently produces Dehellerin copper cookware. They have been in business a long time. I have a piece of Dehellerin that was made in the 1870's. Since they are a retailer, I don't know of an outlet in the US. Shipping to the US is expensive.

The price quoted by Rocky Mountain for retinning includes polishing. The $2.50 you saw on the site is a price for polishing only.

Also note that Rocky Mountain measures inches as length x height. Some other tinners measure length + height + height. If you are price shopping, be sure you are comparing apples to apples.
 
Yes, I knew DeHellerin was a retailer. I was in France two years ago and wish I had gone there. Their on-line prices are a lot lower than anything in the US, so I'll see what the shipping adds to it.

I will use Rocky Mountain for re-tinning. I cooked in that pot yesterday and something wonderful happened. I'm at 7000' and techniques that work at sea level just don't work here. VERY difficult to get a real simmer because water boils at lower temp (135 is what I've heard) and all the liquid boils away, requiring constant replenishment unless you want to throw a quart of liquid in and let the food swim around. But yesterday I browned two boneless porkchops and cooked them with onion and two potatoes in 1/2 cup beer. Instead of drying, a wonderful juicy sauce was produced and no more liquid needed. I did put the pan on a cast iron heat diffuser, trying for a low simmer, but it was unusual to get such moist cooking. So, I suppose it was the pan.
 
I've found a few used copper pieces with the DeHillerin mark. Have they always sold items manufactured by someone else but with their mark? Gosh, I envy that 1870s piece!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom