How to Clean Copper Pots and Pans…
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Well, now I’ve gone and done it…I unexpectedly started a new collection. I blame it all on my friend Bambi. She flew into Atlanta from Tampa, and as soon as I picked her up at the airport – we hit the ground running. We spent the day having a wonderful lunch, catching up and antique and thrift shopping.
For some reason on this particular day I kept picking up copper pots and saucepans. I’ve never had any copper pieces before and for some inexplicable reason my inner Julia Child reared it’s pretty head. And I had Bambi egging me on to buy them 🙂 I wasn’t even sure if they were real copper, old or new…it didn’t matter, I just knew that I wanted them.
A few days later I had some free time to do research on copper – proper cleaning methods and cooking dos and don’ts.
I did learn that on three of my pieces there is a hallmark with the name Copral made in Portugal. The other pieces are not marked anywhere that I can see. All of the pieces have a bit of weight to them and the pan lining is in very good shape. Does anyone know what the small, two piece set is for? So cute…
The most recommended form of cleaning was using a cut fresh lemon and kosher salt. I was shocked by how quickly this worked.
Look at the two pieces side-by-side…a complete difference…
There is still a bit of dark grime where the handle meets the pan. I’m not sure if I should keep working on these areas or leave them alone. I am open to any suggestions that anyone may have.
I also tried a second form of cleaning copper…ketchup and kosher salt. Sounds crazy, right? To my surprise this method did work.
Not as fast as the lemon method, and not as deep of a cleaning. Also, the ketchup method did not clean the brass handles at all. I believe this cleaning method would be best suited for light cleaning. You can see the difference – the pan on the left was cleaned with the ketchup method…
So, now I have these beautiful copper pans and I find myself wanting more pieces.
I love the color and shine. Even though I’m still not quite sure of the quality or value of my new collection, I feel that I got a very good deal. I have a total investment of $32.00.
Always the supportive friend, I just could not let Vicki pass up these beauties!
That’s why I love you!! I wouldn’t have it any other way 🙂
Lovely post, thank you!
Just wanted to share my new experience with cleaning copper vessels:
2 tbs citric acid
2 tbs laundry detergent
1 liter of hot water (straight out the faucet)
Let the copper pan (or whatever) be soaked for 10mins to overnight. After that you can easily skrub away those marks around the handle easily with a sponge! Thanks again and good luck
I think the inside of my copper pan is shot can I clean it with lemon and salt as well??