# Telebrand Red Copper Pan



## g1gi

So, I've seen the Telebrand Red Copper Pan advertisements, and while I usually don't pay much credence to those types of products (As Seen On TV products, not copper/ceramic pans), my interest is piqued.  My concern is that I can't find any customer reviews for the pan, so I don't know if its as good as (or even close to as good as) the advertisements claim.  Has anyone had a chance to use one or know of a place where I can read a customer review for it?


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## virgil

Hi

I didn't really look all that hard for any actual customer reviews. But, this review of the pan references other customer reviews that are not very flattering. Check it out. http://www.brightreviews.com/red-copper-pan-reviews

On Amazon, the Red Copper pan received just as many 1 star ratings as it did 5 star ratings. The biggest complaint among the bad reviews is the non stick surface failed after only a few uses.

Another major concern is how much copper do these pans really have? If the pan actually contains copper and the non stick surface fails, its entirely possible that the food would be exposed to copper, which is not good at all.

Like any "as seen on TV" products, there is always going to be hit or miss quality. From what I have read about these pans, it seems to me the likelihood of poor to midland quality is rather high.

I would steer clear of these. You can buy a set of decent quality steel cookware for only a few dollars more overall.

I hope this helps.

-V


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## judyjl

I've had mine for about a month and I love it. Nothing sticks and it cleans up in a breeze. I can use my metal utensils and it doesn't scratch.It browns foods beautifully. Grilled sandwiches come out. I wish it came in a smaller and a larger size, as well. I'd buy both.


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## deedeebug

If Amazon.com carries a product, there's usually a review. I always go to Amazon first thing when researching.


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## bee gee

I've just purchased one of these pans. (1 June, 2016)  My dad, who loves to cook, is notorious for ruining pans with metal utensils and using high heat so I thought this would be the right 'tool' for him. So far so good after 6 uses.

I did follow the instructions to "cure" the pan and cook it with a bit of oil it in a 350° oven for 30 minutes and I have instructed dad to not use soap in the cleanup.

I also used it twice. Once at high heat to brown scallops and some shrimp, adding a little butter and it did not scorch or discolor. The pan looks fine. The underside, however, is already beginning to get a bit of scorching signs but that may be simply a function of oils and with a bit of soap on the underside and some 'scrubby' pads I should be able to maintain that.

The handle does stay cool as advertised.


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## osucanes

I recently purchased the 10" skillet, loved how it cooked but it SCRATCHED my new stove top. The bottom of these pans are VERY ROUGH and scratch smooth top cooking surfaces. Don't understand why they would make the bottom so rough especially since the majority of cook tops are smooth surfaces. 

Sure hope they re-release the pans with a smoother bottom.


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## barbarajen

This pan ruined my glass cook top the very first time I used it leaving a gray discolored area where the pan sat. When I called the company they told me it was not suppose to be used on glass cook tops. In the meantime, my stove looks like crap and I told them the infomercials show them cooking on glass cook tops and I was told they have special pans for glass cook tops. You cannot win with these people. DO NOT BUY!!!!


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## KenOfPortland

This is an interesting thread but I’m SO glad to have come across it. I had $20 of “points” to burn at Walgreens several months ago
and saw one of these on sale for $20...soooo, yeah I figured it was a freebie so why not?

Disclaimer first, I’ve only used it maybe a dozen times. I don’t use pans often in the first place and when I do I usually pick my other pan (I think it’s a Cephalon) because it has more surface area (and also more mass so I feel like it keeps a more uniform surface temperature). 

But the times I have used this one, the degree of “non-stick” is kinda mind-blowing. As in I feel like a brief rinse with hot water shortly after use is enough to fully clean the thing, but I bother to gently brush a mildly-soapy sponge across it out of principle. I really wish my Cephalon could be this non-stick! 

Now I completely ignore the advertisements and always use olive, avacado, and other cooking oils when I use this. I just assumed those were claims too tall anyway, and even if they...panned out...I just figure food cooking unprotected directly on such a hot surface would just burn to a crisp so the idea of actually doing it seemed like nonsense from the start.

I’m especially glad to have come across the linked reviews, because honestly I love how well this thing has worked so far but reading the reviews it probably needs a LOT of babying for me to have much chance of using it long. Seems like most of the negative reviews specifically mention eggs, and given the chemical problems eggs can cause for other things (paint, glass, etc) I’m not surprised so I’ll just make sure never to cook eggs on it. Enough people are saying the thing eventually stops working as advertised so I bet this thing will have a very limited life no matter what I do, but I hope to drag its functional life as long as possible because when it fills the bill I admit I absolutely love it. If I’m lucky maybe the bad reviews were all due to bad initial quality control and I just got a good sample? Too bad they never happened to make a pot I would have really loved it for really thick soups and sauces.


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## The Nosey Chef

I am very wary of many 'copper' pans. The point of copper is that it has a low specific heat capacity, so it heats and cools very quickly. This is great for things like eggs and sugar. It is less great for casseroles and stews.

Copper has some drawbacks in that is has to be lined to avoid killing the diner, and it needs a fair bit of care to keep it looking good.

My problem is triple-ply copper. Here we have a steel lining for food safety, and aluminium core for lightness and low cost, and a copper outer for ... bling. These pans are the Antichrist. They contain the worst of everything and none of the benefits. When I see inexpensive copper pans, which are all manufactured this way, I am repelled like a vampire to garlic.

If you are going to do copper because you want the technical advantages of copper, then you have to go two-ply with a copper pan and a thin steel liner. I am not sure how these Telebrand things are constructed, but this is a key question.

My kitchen is a mix of Mauviel 150c copper sauce and sauté pans, and Le Creuset cast Dutch ovens.

My fry pans are cheap Vogue aluminium non-stick because I routinely destroy them with steel utensils. They are £20 a go, and when they get scrappy, I recycle them, and buy another pair. I never let soap get anywhere near these, so they maintain a nice seasoning. They are washed in hot water, and wiped out with a paper towel.

I hope this helps.


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## KenOfPortland

Maybe I missed something but I don’t think these are supposed to be associated with cookware that employs solid copper as a functional enhancement of the design. Other than perhaps by mismarketing which would be kinda deceptive IF that’s what they’re banking on.

The moment copper or any other metal is combined with anything else to form a ceramic “salt” (chemistry-speak here, not to be confused with dietary salt) conductivity drops substantially. Also when it comes to ceramics vs elemental metals, there’s really no reason to expect the color would be the same; I’m not particularly expecting there would be any actual copper in the thing and it’s nothing more than the color this particular ceramic coating happens to have.

I’m pretty sure the primary selling point of this product is little more than having very low stick, which for the very limited use of my singular purchase has been pretty remarkable. Cleaning has been such a brisk, easy process when I use it and I’m one that likes to clean everything immediately as I cook. It does look like the product has issues with either quality control and/or long-term use though, looking at all the negative reviews.


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## The Nosey Chef

KenOfPortland said:


> Maybe I missed something but I don't think these are supposed to be associated with cookware that employs solid copper as a functional enhancement of the design.


Ah. I have taken a look at them. Yep, that is copper in colour alone. I wonder why they chose to call it that, when actual copper is quite a big deal in pan manufacture.


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## KenOfPortland

The Nosey Chef said:


> Ah. I have taken a look at them. Yep, that is copper in colour alone. I wonder why they chose to call it that, when actual copper is quite a big deal in pan manufacture.


Just hazarding a guess but it's probably an awkward combination of the ceramic's natural color and how the original developer initially decided to patent/market it. It seems to have appeared on enough different products with the exact same color that it probably can't be altered significantly without considerable detriment to its function. It does have a brilliant copper look, but you obviously can't/don't want to call it copper flat out, so they coined "red copper" as their marketing speak. Hard not to be a little cynical about the coincidence but when it works it really does resist sticking to a degree that I haven't remotely seen with anything else.


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