How to clean copper pans

Wash copper by hand with mild soap once it has cooled. To bring back the shine, polish the outside with copper cleaner or a paste of lemon juice and salt.

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Wash it, then polish it

Let the pan cool, then wash it by hand with mild dish soap, warm water and the soft side of a sponge.
To polish the outside, rinse the pan and work a little copper cleaner over it with a soft sponge or cloth, then rinse and dry.
No copper cleaner? Mix equal parts lemon juice or white vinegar and table salt into a paste, rub it into the copper with a sponge and buff until it shines.
Rinse straight away with warm water so no paste stays on the copper, and dry the pan completely.

What to avoid

The dishwasher, for lined and unlined copper alike.
Cleaners with bleach: Mauviel says bleach is corrosive and will pit copper.
Sharp or metal tools that scrape the lining; Made In suggests wood or silicone.
Acidic food such as tomatoes, lemon or wine in a pan that is copper on the inside too.

Shine or patina?

Copper starts to darken from its first use, turning brown and in time green. The patina is a look, not damage. Mauviel says to polish after every use if you want the pan shiny, and only now and then if you like the patina; Made In suggests a thorough polish about every six months, or every three if tarnish builds up faster.

Lined and unlined copper

Many copper pans, Made In's and the Mauviel M’Heritage sets we list among them, are lined with stainless steel, which takes any ingredient and never needs relining. Traditional pans are often lined with tin, which is soft: cook with wooden or silicone tools, and have the pan re-tinned when the lining wears through. Unlined copper is for jobs without acid; Mauviel cleans the green verdigris inside it with a vinegar and salt solution, or half a lemon dipped in salt, then rinses and dries the pan.

Iron handles

Some copper pans have iron handles. Mauviel's fix for rust on them is a light rub with fine steel wool on the handle only, then a thin coat of oil.