I know copper pots are supposed to be really good for cooking with, and I have been looking around online. One thing I don't want to do, however, is send them in to be re-lined with tin. So I was wondering if stainless steel lined copper pots work as well as the traditional tin lined ones, or if those make the copper just for looks.
Stainless is a fairly poor conductor but that is not why it has hot spots. That's because they tend to be thin. Cast Iron is also a poor conductor and has about the most even heat distribution. Many Copper bottom pots are just Copper plated for looks. In fact only the most expensive will have the heavy Copper bottom needed for even heat. Tin is a metal, an element. Stainless Steel is a mixture ( alloy ) of Iron and Chromium or Nickel or both. I do not know of any cookware that is Tin plated on the inside. I like Aluminium clad Stainless Steel. Good heavy bottom for even heat and Al. is a good conductor. A little more expensive are three layer bottoms. They have the Al. between Stainless so you get the looks and easy cleaning os SS with the heat distribution of Al.
Stainless steel is durable and does not disolve and make things taste funny. Stainless steel is not a good conductor of heat, so it has hot and cold spots. Copper is very good conductor. They noe bond copper to stainless steel to get the best features of each. Some pots just have a very thin copper plating to fool you. A good pot will be heavier, It is really hard to tell from looking.if it is plating or a bonded layer of copper. the thicker the better
