All Clad is one of America’s biggest cookware manufacturer. They are constantly recommended by cookware publication like Cook’s Illustrated. They are most well known for their fully cladded cookware design. Mauviel, is one of the largest French Copper Cookware manufacturer. Their products are considered to be the best in the industry. In the past, All Clad was a lot more affordable than Mauviel. These days, the prices are almost comparable to Mauviel. With the jump in price, is it even worth buying All Clad? This Mauviel vs All Clad article will take a closer look at the design and construction of the two pans. We will see whether there is actually a performance difference between the two.

Mauviel vs All Clad Frying Pan Quick Summary

Categories	Mauviel	All Clad
Performance	Best	Good
Colors	Polished Copper	Brushed and Polished Stainless Steel
Pouring Lip	No	Yes
Handle	Black Coated SS and Comfortable	Polished SS Painful
Brand Awareness	World Famous	America
Weight	4.08 lb (1851 g)	2.76 lb (1253 g)
Thoughts	The best performing skillet of the two. A simple french classic skillet that should sear food better than any frying pan out there.	A well designed skillet, best used for heat control as it is the most responsive of the two. Perfect for finishing sauces.
Tested Cookware	Mauviel 10 Inch Skillet	10 inch Copper Core Skillet

Why Use Copper?

Copper is rated as one of the most thermally conductive metal on the planet. They provide the shortest heat up time and have the most even heat distribution. However, the downside to copper is that they tarnish easily and react with acidic food. To get around this, manufacturer will line the inside of copper with stainless steel or tin.

All Clad seems to have taken this a step forward by lamenting both the exterior and interior with stainless steel. They are attempting to give customer the best of both world. The issue with this is that, stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat. It degrades the heat conductivity of copper. Not only that, All Clad uses a very thin layer of copper, while Mauviel copper layer is at least 2 mm thick.

How Copper Thickness Affects Cooking

In general, the thicker the copper the better. A pan with at least 2 mm of copper is desired, especially for a frying pan. Thinner copper will heat up faster but it will also develop more heat spots. To compensate for this, you can make the copper thicker and the heat will distribute around the pan more evenly.

The other benefit of having a thicker copper is the thermal capacity of the pan. With a lighter pan, food will steam more readily. If you accidentally crowd the pan, liquid will pool and steam your food. A thicker copper pan will heat up slower but it will also store more heat. The temperature will remain stable once you drop the food in. To get a better understanding of how copper cookware thickness affect cooking, you can read my article on the subject.

Mauviel vs All Clad Frying Pan

This section will go through the individual aspect of the two skillet. You can use this as a guide to help you choose between the two. The pan that we will be comparing will the the Mauviel m250c 10 inch and All Clad Copper Core 10 inch

Mauviel vs All Clad Handle

The handle is important for ergonomic and comfort. A poorly designed handle can make the difference between a good pan and a bad pan. People have thrown away their pans just because of poor handle design.

All Clad

Unfortunately All Clad are known to have one of the worse handle in the industry. It has two sharp edges that dig into your hand. Overtime, it can cause your hand to fatigue and feel sore. The upside to this is that you get a more controlled grip. When you pour, it wont rotate in your hand. It also seems to dissipate heat pretty well.

Mauviel

In the past, Mauviel use two type of metal in their handle, iron and brass. Both get hot and both should be used with care. However, with the m250c line, they used a stainless steel handle with a black finish. The end result is that it looks like cast iron but stays cool like stainless steel.

On the stove top, I never had to resort to using a glove. It also does not have any weird burrs or edges that cut into your hand. The issue that I had was that the color seems to rub off overtime. Looking online, I found that other experienced the same issue.

Mauviel vs All Clad Pan Shape

The shape of the pan affects cooking more than most people expect. Things like cooking surface area, liquid evaporation and ease of use is determined by the shape. Some pans don’t even have a pouring lip to prevent dribble. In my opinion, most manufacturer do this to save cost on manufacturing. Other time, its just due to bad design.

All Clad

I got to say that the shape of All Clad Skillet is one of best in the industry. The low flaring side aids in liquid evaporation and makes turning food a breeze. The lip is rounded so that you can pour pans juices easily. It also has a wide cooking surface area of 7 inch. This lets you sear a big batch of food in one go. Smaller diameter pans forces you to sear food in multiple batches.

Mauviel

The shape of Mauviel frying pan should also be commended. It resembles that of a traditional french skillet. Low flaring sides with no pouring lip. It has a wide cooking surface area of 7.25 inch, slightly larger than All Clad. However, there are no pouring lip. Interesting enough, their older models have a pouring lip…

Mauviel vs All Clad Cleaning

The ease of cleaning seem to be very important for a lot of consumers. Unfortunately, most high end cookware is not dishwasher safe. So it is recommended to wash all cookware by hand.

Mauviel

Mauviel pan is not dishwasher safe and the copper will tarnish over time. The beauty and luster of the mirror like finish will dull. In order to bring it back, you will need to constantly polish the cookware. in general, copper cookware is very high maintenance. Its also better to let the pan develop a patina. The Mirror Finish actually deflects heat and reduce thermal transfer.

All Clad

All Clad is Dishwasher safe and the stainless steel will keep its luster. If there are water mark or stains, you can easily use barkeeper friend to remove it. For ease of cleaning, All Clad is the clear winner.

Mauviel vs All Clad Copper Thickness and Weight

This is something that cookware nerd geek out over. Remember how All Clad uses different layers of metal to make a pan. Well, Mauviel only uses two layer, one thin layer of Stainless Steel and a big slab of copper. This section will discuss how each will affect cooking and how it affects the performance of the pan.

All Clad

All Clad is a mid weight pan, coming in at just 1253 g. It has five layers which is stainless steel, aluminum, copper, aluminum and stainless steel. The thickness of the pan is 1.66 mm. Given that information, you should start to get an idea that the thickness of the copper. It is considerably thinner than Mauviel 2.3 mm. The actual copper thickness of All Clad pan is not published but it looks no thicker than 1 mm.

This means that the pan will be lighter and heat up very quickly. The downside is that the heat capacity is low. During the intial sear, if you add too much, food will begin steaming.

There is an upside to thin copper though. Thin pans are extremely heat responsive and it is perfect when making sauces. Thicker copper cookware takes a while to cool down.

Mauviel

Mauviel comes in a at a hefty 1851 g with a sidewall thickness of around 2.40-2.45 mm. If you compare it with All Clad, it is almost 1 lb heavier. Their design is also very simple, copper and stainless steel.

In general, more copper the better, you can change some characteristic of how metal work with a fully cladded design. However, you cannot beat the performance of straight copper. The added weight of this pan also means that more heat can be stored into the pan. When you sear food, the chances of food steaming is reduced.

While this pan may not be as responsive as all clad, its still better than a vast majority of pans. If you truly want a pan for making sauces, get a very thin copper pan.

Mauviel vs All Clad Performance

To test the how well it distribute heat and how well it heats up, I perform a toast test where I place a piece of toast in the center than weight it down with a meat pounder. I heat up the pan for a total of 2 min then see the color of the toast.

Below you can see how the test was performed.

Mauviel

Below you can see that the heat distribution is almost perfect. It is slightly lighter on the bottom but over all, this is a great performing pan. The color of the toast is a golden brown indicating that it heats up fairly quickly.

All Clad

All Clad heat distribution pattern is almost the same as Mauviel. There is a slight heat spot near the bottom of the toast. The darkness of the toast can be attributed to the lighter weight.

Mauviel vs All Clad 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.

Mauvie M250c 10 Inch

Weight:1851 g
Rim Width:Around 10.3 inch
Base Cooking Surface:7.25 inch
Height: Around 1.7 inch
Thickness: 2.45-2.40 mm

All Clad Copper Core 10 inch

Weight: 1253 g
Diameter: Around 10.55
Actual Cooking Surface Diameter: Around 7 inch
Height: 2 inch
Thickness: 1.66 mm

Mauviel vs All Clad Price

The prices of these two pans differ by a margin of 50 – 70 dollar. The question is which do you prefer? All Clad is an American made pan while Mauviel is French. You get more copper out of Mauviel which in my opinion is better.

Whether its worth the extra 50-70 is up to you.

To Check Mauviel Current Price click Here.
To Check All Clad Copper Core current price, click Here.

Mauviel vs All Clad Thoughts

I personally prefer Mauviel because you get more copper. With the All Clad pan, it feels like the copper layer is just an afterthought. I would like to see All Clad make a pan that is just copper and stainless steel. But for now, searing is better on the Mauviel Pan while All Clad is more responsive.

All Clad gets point for its phenomenal pan shape. Its also less maintenance. Copper patina and looks dirty with use. But when i’m cooking, all I care about is the outcome. They both have their strength and weakness. Which pan you choose should really depend on your preference.

I hope you like this Mauviel vs All Clad Frying Pan comparison, if you would like to see more, please visit our Pots and Pans Review page.