HELP - Oneida Tri-Ply 10 Piece Hammered Copper Cookware Set

[spanglersplace]

Hi everyone, first post here...

So I got my wife a set of these beautiful cookware for the holidays and while we love the look and make of them, they are nothing but trouble and we are not sure what to do. I have read reviews from Kohls, Wayfair, Dillards and so many others with people saying how wonderful they are, how they clean up, etc...

Our problem is simple, keep in mind, my wife is a stickler for cooking and is very careful in her approach to cooking correctly and cleaning of the items.

After the first use of one of the pans, the entire copper outside discolored and the silver lining in the point was impossible to clean out and still is to this day. We have no clue how to clean these pots and keep there color let alone protect the inside to keep things from sticking.
Online everyone says no high heat, warm the pans up first before food, etc..We have tried with no luck and of course Onieda pretends like these items don't exist since they are special made for online companies, so they have clue how to tell us to use them and clean them, their suggestion was to return them and purchase another set at no cost and see if the first set was just a bad set.

My goal is to see if anyone has experienced this before with this set or something similar and what is the proper way to clean and cook with them? What are we missing....

Here are some photos to show you the brand and the issues.. PLEASE HELP!! , thank you.

 

[jennyema]

They look fine to me.

try barkeepers friend

 

[taxlady]

They look fine to me.

try barkeepers friend

Barkeeper's Friend is an excellent suggestion. I don't think those are pix of the problem. I think those are the marketing pix.

 

[spanglersplace]

They look fine to me.

try barkeepers friend

If you look at the 4th picture you can see all the discoloration and thats from one outing.

 

[spanglersplace]

Barkeeper's Friend is an excellent suggestion. I don't think those are pix of the problem. I think those are the marketing pix.

You can see it better in the first photo and in the 2nd one the one of the left in discolored, the one on the right is new.

 

[taxlady]

You can see it better in the first photo and in the 2nd one the one of the left in discolored, the one on the right is new.

I thought that was a shadow. I see it now.

 

[jennyema]

You can see it better in the first photo and in the 2nd one the one of the left in discolored, the one on the right is new.

Honestly, that looks fine to me. You can’t really prevent it from becoming discolored from use. But try Barkeepers Friend.

 

[spanglersplace]

Can it damage the copper coating on the outside with that?

 

[Silversage]

First, those are not copper pans, they are tri-ply pans, with a decorative copper outer layer. the interior is stainless steel, and needs to be treated as such. Barkeepers friend is the best way to polish the interiors. If you aren't familiar with it, it comes in a can like Comet or Ajax cleanser, but it is NOT the same thing. It is a metal polish, and is safe on your SS finish.

The copper exterior may have a lacquer coating on it. If so, you need to remove it with some chemical type of remover. If it doesn't have a coating, just use as normal. Copper will darken with use. It's called 'patina'. I have solid copper pots from France that I've had over 40 years. The interiors are nickel. I spent the first 10 years trying to keep both the copper and the nickel polished and shiny. Eventually, I decided I was wasting a lot of time and energy for no practical purpose. I just let them age gracefully.

That hammered copper finish will be especially difficult to keep polished. To do it properly, you would probably need a buffung wheel.

 

[jennyema]

Can it damage the copper coating on the outside with that?

The Best Way to Clean Copper Cookware | Bar Keepers Friend

Copper cookware is known for its quality and durability. Knowing the best way to clean copper cookware will keep your collection in showcase shape.

barkeepersfriend.com

 

[spanglersplace]

First, those are not copper pans, they are tri-ply pans, with a decorative copper outer layer. the interior is stainless steel, and needs to be treated as such. Barkeepers friend is the best way to polish the interiors. If you aren't familiar with it, it comes in a can like Comet or Ajax cleanser, but it is NOT the same thing. It is a metal polish, and is safe on your SS finish.

The copper exterior may have a lacquer coating on it. If so, you need to remove it with some chemical type of remover. If it doesn't have a coating, just use as normal. Copper will darken with use. It's called 'patina'. I have solid copper pots from France that I've had over 40 years. The interiors are nickel. I spent the first 10 years trying to keep both the copper and the nickel polished and shiny. Eventually, I decided I was wasting a lot of time and energy for no practical purpose. I just let them age gracefully.

That hammered copper finish will be especially difficult to keep polished. To do it properly, you would probably need a buffung wheel.

So how do you remove the lacquer coating, what should I try?

 

[Silversage]

So how do you remove the lacquer coating, what should I try?

I don't know for sure if there is a lacquer coating. It is just common on decorative finishes. If there is, try some lacquer thinner from the hardware store.

 

[pepperhead212]

That doesn't look like a burned on lacquer coating, but it wouldn't hurt to wipe them off with some solvent based lacquer thinner, or maybe some acetone. I have never seen any discoloration of coppers like that, but the SS linings of some pans gets that color, and it comes off with that Barkeeper's Friend. However, that is a fine abrasive - to get that color off of the copper, look for something specifically for copper, like this Brasso I use. There are several others, including a cheap Copper cleaner powder (I have that, too, just can't find it!). These have chemicals to clean the copper - I took my cleanest copper pan, and wiped it with the Brasso, and you can see how much wiped off, and there is no abrasive in it.
Polished copper, showing the Brasso, and the amount of copper that wiped off of a fairly clear pan. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That "patina" Silversage mentions is something that happens to older copper, especially, since it is much more pure. I like the way she lets it "age gracefully" - I do that with most of my pans, and here's a photo of that freshly polished gratin pan above one of those with the patina. But they never got discolored like that - just a slow oxidation. (Maybe
It has something to do with the "hybrid metal" they use now?) Cleaning one of those patina coated pans with the Brasso would result in a paper towel almost covered in black!
The bright polished pan above a pan with that patina - not polished for years, probably, just washed normally, and dried. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[dragnlaw]

splangler, sorry you had to find out the hard way that copper cookware is high maintenance... very high. I too, discovered it the hard way but way back in the mid 60's. Should have known better as my mom had copper bottomed pans but such is youth... eyes got carried away from practicality.
Only have one now, a fairly recent purchase (maybe 5 years ago) a 12" copper bottomed pan. First use discoloured it and nothing gets it back to the original shine. Not Brasso nor any other metal cleaner. It is probably a reflection on the quality of the brass mixture. But that's OK, I just live with it as I really like how it cooks.
BTW, Welcome to DC. Hope you stick around!

I also wanted to ask, are you cooking on a gas stove?

 

[dcSaute]

BarKeeper's is the best I've found. here's a before / after


cooking on gas one gets two flavors of coloration - one from a bit a sulfur in the gas, the second from just from heat. if you intend to use these daily and intend to keep them shiny, buy Barkeeper's by the case.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I wouldn't give it a second thought. My only concern with any cookware is how well it cooks.
And I second Bar Keepers Friend. Good stuff. Cheap too.

 

[spanglersplace]

splangler, sorry you had to find out the hard way that copper cookware is high maintenance... very high. I too, discovered it the hard way but way back in the mid 60's. Should have known better as my mom had copper bottomed pans but such is youth... eyes got carried away from practicality.
Only have one now, a fairly recent purchase (maybe 5 years ago) a 12" copper bottomed pan. First use discoloured it and nothing gets it back to the original shine. Not Brasso nor any other metal cleaner. It is probably a reflection on the quality of the brass mixture. But that's OK, I just live with it as I really like how it cooks.
BTW, Welcome to DC. Hope you stick around!

I also wanted to ask, are you cooking on a gas stove?

Thank you and no, electric here.

 

[Kathleen]

There is a product named Twinkle that always worked well on copper. You can get it on Amazon. The shine would come right back with it without much scrubbing or effort. Still, like others, I opted for another option after many years of requiring special cleaners after use on my copper pan.

I concur about barkeepers friend for the inside!

 

[spanglersplace]

Thank you all for your help, hopefully something will work based on these conversations!!