MariaG

Hi Everybody, It seems BCC/Hammersmith is now just Brooklyn Copper Cookware, and I called there to see if anyone remembered my case, or if it had come up again. I spoke to Mac, who did not remember my specific pan, but he said that he had seen this problem many times over the past 5 years. He did not want to guess how many, but in every case the pan was from Ross Dress 4 Less, Tuesday Morning, TJMaxx, or a few others. Mac had a little more information, so I thought I'd follow up on this thread. I think I took pretty good notes, but if you need more information call Mac (check the BCC website because their number is new) or your favorite retinner. Mac is sure the bad pans are not from the real manufacturers. Apparently it's very easy to have a metal stamp made and to fake tags. But the real issue has to do with low-priced copper sold in Europe. Inexpensive already lined pans and handles are imported to France as separate pieces and riveted together in France. This allows them to be legally stamped "made in France". At some point some bad pans lined with lead-laced tin were imported, but they were caught containing lead so could not be sold in Europe. Rather than return them, somebody bought everything really cheap and riveted them with cheap aluminum rivets (first sign of fraud) and shipped them to the US. Aluminum looks like tin on the inside of the pan, but you can see aluminum on the handle side too, and good French manufacturers usually use copper rivets. Mac said it makes sense that they got into the US easily, since customs sees copper cookware from France all the time. The importers sold the frauds wholesale through big conventions where buyers from discount stores buy. When they saw solid French copper for $20 (second fraud sign) they could sell for $40, they scooped it up. Mac said no one knows exactly where the bad pans came from, but in many places roofing tin (which has lead in it) is often sold as just tin, so it's probably somewhere with no tradition making copper cookware. BTW, acid is used to break down old tin for retinning a copper pan, not necessarily to test for lead. When a real tinned pan is dipped in acid it turns one color, and when there is lead it turns another color. I'm not sure that was clear in my previous post?

Hi, I came over here from CH since I am kind of a fan of copper, having one Hammersmith pan. I look forward to picking up something of their new stuff and appreciate the good feedback here. I don't normally post, but I want to comment on heavy copper cookware being available at discounters and clothing stores. I bought two Baumalu tagged skillets at TJ Maxx a couple of years or three ago for practically no money and stacked them in the backseat of my car on the way home. By the time I got them in the kitchen the tin on the bottom pan was coming off in big flakes. I was disappointed, but they were final sale so I decided to send the bad one to Hammersmith/BCC for retinning. I'd gotten another pot repaired by them and thought even retinned the flakey pan would work out cheaper than normal new price. Well, I'm very glad I did. I got a call from Hammersmith telling me that the pan I'd given them tested positive for lead(!) in the tin. They had seen this before, apparently the acid they use turns a different color when lead is present. Aluminum rivets are apparently also a giveaway and the acid damages those so my pan needed new rivets (it was only about $10 more). They fixed it and all together it still was an inexpensive pan (about $100 with the new tin), but scary. I sent them my second pan, same thing. They told me that there are a lot French fakes out there, maybe thousands. And even if they have Made in France stamped in them, they're not and the tags are copies, and I learned that fakes are usually sold through discounters and remainder stores, the kinds of places you don't normally see premium cookware (the store buyers don't know any better they're just trying to get the best deal, just like I was!). So, buyer beware! But if you are going to discount shop at least pick up a $10 lead test kit to make sure you don't "Flint" yourself on a cheap deal, and be ready to get it retinned. Personally, I've learned my lesson. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.