Matfer Bourgeat is a French Cookware manufacture that markets toward kitchen professionals. Their cookware are made to withstand the wear and abuse of the restaurant industry. You can find a wide range of cookware from carbon steel to copper. One the most sought after pieces is Matfer Bourgeat Copper Frying Pan. But is this frying pan really better than other manufacturers like Mauviel or Even Falk. The Price sure is up there compared to other manufacturer. This review will go through and discuss the different aspect of this pan.

Matfer Bourgeat Copper Frying Pan Review Quick Summary

Categories	Matfer Bourgeat 11 Inch Skillet
Performance	Excellent
Colors	Polished Copper
Country of Manufacturer	France
Brand Awareness	Professional Kitchen
Weight	2772 g
Helper Handle	No
Pouring Lip	Yes
Thoughts	An excellent copper skillet whose limited by the shape of the skillet. The sidewalls are too tall and it mimics that of a saute pan. To get around this, buying a 12 inch skillet is the best option.
Tested Cookware	Matfer 11 inch Copper Skillet

Stainless Steel Lining

Before Matfer and Bourgeat merged, they use to manufacturer cookware that is lined with Tin. You can usually identify matfer older cookware by their little chef hat logo. Now the company just have a bourgeat stamp on the bottom. These day, most if not all their copper cookware comes with a bi metal stainless steel and copper lining. This type of configuration offers two major advantage.

The First Advantage is that the stainless steel lining wont bubble over time. Tin lined cookware cant be raised above 450 degree Fahrenheit. If you do so, it will either melt or the tin will bubble. Eventually, you will have to get the pan re tinned, which adds cost to an already expensive pan. By having stainless steel as a lining, you can by pass this flaw.

The second advantage is that you can use metal utensil on this lining. Although, I personally would never do so, I know a lot of people will do it. I still personally recommend that you always stick with wood utensil to prevent scratching the finish, but that is up to you.

Some will argue that stainless steel have a horrible thermal conductivity. It will inhibit the performance of the copper pan. Although this is true, the thickness of the stainless steel is so thin that it should not matter that much. Another issue that some might complain about, is the sticking factor. Some claim that tin is the original non stick. In my experience, if you know how to cook on stainless steel, it will perform just as well. Tin was never as effective as teflon, so don’t expect that type of performance.

Matfer Bourgeat Copper Frying Pan Design

Handle

Matfer Bourgeat uses a cast iron handle on their copper cookware. Although it looks similar to all other french cookware manufacturer, there is some difference. Something else that is also interesting is that not all the handles on their copper cookware are the same. Their saute pan is actually quite thin and narrow. If you compare it to this frying pan, it is thicker and heftier. They are all angled very similarly, which is up and towards the user.

In general, the handle design are pretty good, however, this frying pan is actually 28 cm wide. Which is quite large and heavy. I have difficulty moving and carrying the pan around with one hand. Carrying it in this matter actually place a lot of strain on my wrist. In order to use this pan effectively, you would need to use both hand, which will make tossing food difficult. It is a shame that most of these manufacturer seems to never put a helper handle on the copper cookware. Only some of the really large pans like those from falk have a helper handle. Maybe I am just weak.

The base of the cast iron handle is big and beefy. It is affixed to the pan with three rivets. Although the rivet number seems minor, it looks like other manufacturer are cutting down on the number of rivets used to save cost. I am glad that matfer bourgeat haven’t gone to this route, yet.

Shape

The shape of a frying pan can make or break it. Unfortunately they seem to have go for a sidewall that goes almost straight up. This design looks almost the same as the one made by falk. It resembles more like a mix between saute and frying pan. Although a high sidewall can help tossing, a frying pan should be more designed to let you flip food. A high sidewall will make it just difficult to reach under the food. In this instance, Mauviel m250c skillet is actually a better designed pan. It promotes more evaporation and lets you flip food easier.

The diameter of this pan 11.75 but the base cooking surface area is 9 inch. That is almost a 3 inch in reduction in actual cooking area. If you do plan on buying this frying pan, go big. The bigger pan will also let you flip food easier since there is more open space.

The lip is rolled for easy pouring, so there is that.

Mirror Finish

What sets Matfer Bourgeat Copper Frying Pan apart from other manufacturer is the mirror finish that they use. Most manufacturer only do this on the exterior but they have decided to do this on the inside as well. When new, this look absolutely brilliant. However, overtime as you cook, that mirror finish will dull with scratches and mark. I assume they did this initially to prevent food from sticking. A smoother surface should theoretically stick less than a brushed finish.

Matfer Bourgeat Copper Thickness

While this frying pan thickness is measured to be 2.5 mm. Their smaller saute pan comes in at around 2.3 mm. This variance in copper thickness is something that most people should be aware. A lot of these manufacturer will vary the thickness of their cookware depending on its size. Although, I personally think that doing this is actually better for performance, I know that a lot of people will feel cheated. I of course was dissapointed when I found out that its not the same throughout all their cookware. Falk on the other hand seems to have the same thickness throughout their current line of cookware.

Fit and Finish

Fit and Finish is good on their frying pan. The mirror finish, when new, looks gorgeous. However, expect it to dull over time.

Something that should be noted is how they imprint their logo onto the pan. Since its on the center, the frying pan will have a raised mark on the center of the pan. I looked online and it seems like other people have complained about such issue. On my pan its very minor, but for a pan of this price, I understand why they would be outraged by it. Other manufacturer usually just stamp it on the sidewall of the pan so it doesn’t affect the flat surface.

Specs

Note:These measurement are done by me with the tools that I have on hand. The manufacturers have their own measurement guidelines and that should be assumed to be accurate. What I find on this review can vary widely due to several factors, such as ambient temperature, location, water, tool calibration, stove btu, etc..and should only be considered as my opinion.
Weight: 2772 g
Rim Diameter:Around 11.75 Base Cooking Diameter: 9
Height: Around 2 inch
Thickness: 2.51 mm

The one thing that stands out about this pan is that the thickness of it. Its actually above what it advertise, kinda neat actually. I am not sure if it holds true for the smaller pans though.

Matfer Bourgeat Copper Frying Pan Thoughts

I like the thickness of the pan. The shape and handle needs work. For a frying pan, it should have a low sloping sidewall. This one is almost straight up and it makes it hard to flip food. While the handle is acceptable for a smaller frying pan, once you get to a 11 inch pan and higher, a helper handle is…helpful. The stamp on the bottom of the pan, although it didn’t affect me that much, affected other users. For A Pan of this Price, you would expect it to be a little more well designed.

I hope you like this Matfer Bourgeat Copper Frying Pan Review, If you would like to see more, please visit our Pots and Pans Review page.