Brooklyn Copper Cookware

If you’re looking into copper cookware, you obviously know a thing or two about cooking, and you know that these are the best money can buy. Brooklyn Copper Cookware (BCC) makes all of its pieces by hand, and each item is unique.

Now made in four different states, BCC’s home is in Brooklyn, New York, down the street from Bruno Waldo Co., a great coppersmith pot maker from the American heyday. After a rocky start working with Hammersmith in 2009, Brooklyn Copper Cookware soared to fame in 2011 following a glowing New York Times piece. Within hours their entire uncompleted inventory was sold out. 

Following continued heavy PR coverage (including a feature on Season 2, Episode 2 of New York Originals), website crashes and tooling failures, their backorders soon piled up. In 2013, they split with Hammersmith, refunded all backorders, and took their website down. 

Clearly understanding the huge demand for copper cookware, BCC took a break to reevaluate, move production to Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin and relaunch in 2017, where they’ve continued to grow and become more successful each year. 

Every single product on their site is spun using heavy copper and wipe-laid by hand using pure tin. You know you’re getting quality when it takes a small team of coppersmiths steeped in centuries of tradition between 8-11 hours to build one single vessel.

As you’re reading through this, you might be thinking, “I would never have thought so much attention could go into a set of pots and pans.” We understand that, but this is the reason why these materials are so revered in the culinary community.

The only components they use in their manufacturing are copper, tin, and iron. Everything is unalloyed and organic, so you never have to worry about compromising the health and safety of your ingredients, either.

Featured Brooklyn Copper Cookware Made in the USA

Saucepans: By far Brooklyn Copper Cookware’s bestseller, their copper saucepans truly are the workhorse of the kitchen. With three options to choose from (1,2 and 3-quart), these handmade saucepans with custom Stork cast-iron handles can distribute heat evenly, ensuring consistent and continuous currents in your pan that won’t let anything overcook, undercook, or settle out. A true mark of excellence in any batterie de cuisine. 

Sauté pans: These classic, multi-functional sauté pans come in two sizes, 9.5″, and 11″. Perfect for braising, browning, and rapid reductions, these tin-lined handcrafted copper pans distribute heat evenly and rapidly and release cooking creations quickly. The cast iron Stork pan handle and handle on the opposite side gives you complete control from the stovetop to the table. They also work perfectly with modern American range tops. 

Casserole pots: No matter if it’s for a dinner of two or the entire family, the Brooklyn Copper Cookware casserole pots have you covered. With options of 3 quart, 6 quart, and 10 quart, you’ll be able to cook any of your favorite ‘low and slow’ recipes in these. You have full cooking control thanks to its pure, heavy copper and tin construction, meaning there are no hot spots, just even heat distribution. Whether it’s searing, deglazing, or simmering, these casserole pots are perfect for cooking family favorites like chili, jambalaya, Coq au Vin, or ragout and concentrating flavors faster. 

Manufacturing Notes

After realizing that the cookware they enjoyed using the most was no longer made in the US, Brooklyn Copper Cookware set themselves quite the challenge – to create the finest, highest-quality cooking tools made entirely in the US. 

Every element of BCC’s products has been seriously considered. From the two years of working with renowned Brooklyn iron designer, Barbara Stork to create the iron fittings, to months of perfecting the formula that displaces the most oxygen to allow the tin and copper to meld together in the best way. 

Their cookware is made just from three materials: copper, tin, and iron, all elements in the Periodic Table, meaning its pure metal, unalloyed and organic. BCC’s commitment to sustainability is evident, with their cookware typically containing between 40-75% recycled pure copper. This means their products can be continuously restored and therefore last centuries. It also takes much less energy to make copper pots in comparison to aluminum and stainless steel. 

Working to Julia Child’s 1961 description of the perfect cooking pot, Brooklyn Copper Cookware decided early on to make all of its products by hand. They believe that machines wouldn’t bring the careful attention they sought and wouldn’t create a tool for sustaining life. Working with American ironsmiths, coppersmiths, rivet makers, and tinsmiths ensures it goes from their expert hands to yours. 

Choosing to handmake their products means that they limit the number of pieces they make and sometimes there can be waits for its stock to come back in. It also means that they sell in a limited way too – to the consumer direct, meaning you can’t buy their products in-store. However, this ensures they can offer competitive pricing, whilst creating a product that’s entirely made in the USA.