Ruffoni Copper Stock Pot is probably one of the most iconic cookware that they sell. You often see picture of it in William Sonoma’s catalog and advertisement. Whether its through marketing or advertisement, they have established itself as one of the premier copper cookware manufacturer. The price that they put on their cookware is also substantial. You can find their cookware at Amazon but William Sonoma has a wider range of selection. Ruffoni Historia Decor Pot/Stock Pot comes in various sizes, from a mere 4qt version to a massive 15qt one. They all share the same chamber pot like design, which is pretty unique. This review will go through the design aspect of it and discuss how each aspect of the pot affects cooking.

Quick Summary

Categories	Ruffoni Copper Sotck Pot
Performance	Good
Colors	Hammered Polished Copper
Brand Awareness	Italy and America
Pouring Lip	Yes
Thoughts	An oddly shaped copper stock pot. The narrow rim makes it difficult to use a ladel. However, the copper construction does boil faster quicker and the design is unique. If you are in love with their design, this is the way to go.
Tested Cookware	Historia Decor Pot

Ruffoni Tin Lined Copper

This is something that most people seem to have a good understanding of. The tin lining are not permanent like stainless steel. Overtime they will wear down and darken. How fast they wear down is based on the thickness of the tin that they used and how you care for it. Ruffoni tin is very thin, I doubt it will last for a long time. It is hand wiped though, you can see the marks on it.
To prevent it from wearing down faster, do not use the nylon scrub on the pan. Try to avoid metal utensils and only use wooden one.

What is a Stock Pot used for?

For the most part, its meant to make stock. You can of course boil pasta with it, but the main purpose is to make stock. What set the stockpot apart from other cookware is its shape. They tend to be taller than its wide. The idea behind this design is to prevent water from boiling over. Certain stock can call for a certain simmering temperature, and depending on the temperature you simmer the stock at, you can affect its taste. Professional chef will often use these type of vessel to control the temperature at which the stock stews at.

In general, you typically want a stockpot with a very large capacity. Good stock takes a long time to make. Making stock in small batches are usually a waste of time but that is really dependent on what your need is. The particular stockpot that I have is only 4.75 qt, for that size I can only make a batch of stock that might last a week or two. If you double it, all of a sudden, you will have left over so that you can freeze. They both take roughly the same amount of time so you can see why its better to have a bigger stockpot.

Ruffoni Historia Décor Copper Stock Pot Design

Leaf Handle Design

The handle is no good, its simply too small. I can barely fit three fingers to grip the handle. Imagine if I have a glove on, all of a sudden you are only relying on two fingers. A larger width on these handles would be much better for transferring a heavy stockpot. Remember, a large amount of heavy water can be very dangerous. It is very important to have a good grip on it.
The inside of the handle seems to have a burr edge on it that was not properly removed. Although you should not be gripping it without a glove on(Brass handle gets really hot), this is a poor finishing work on Ruffoni’s part. The base of the handle also seems to lack any flowery design like the lid has. It looks very basic as oppose to Ruffoni’s Opus Prima line. That line of cookware has a leaf like design near the base of the handle.

There are three rivets on the base of the handle. What is odd about this is that they use a stainless steel rivet. On older French cookware, you can tell if a cookware is tin lined or stainless steel lined base on what rivet is used. For tin lined copper cookware, you will typically have copper rivets on them. Maybe Italian cookware manufacturer do not follow this tradition.

Ruffoni Copper Stock Pot Shape

When I say iconic, I mean that other manufacturer typically don’t make a stockpot that looks like a chamber pot. Usually, they will be a tall and long cylindrical shape for the stockpot. Probably because its easy to manufacturer with a machine. Kudos to ruffoni for actually taking the time to make these pots by hand.
With that being said, something that is handmade does not necessarily translate to being better. The base of the stockpot is very narrow, you cannot really sauté a big batch of vegetables. You would have to cook them in several smaller batches.

The bigger belly in the center for allowing for more volume of liquid, but then again, with a larger base you will get even more volume. This makes me question if this shape is designed to save cost. Finally, the opening is narrow. This is great for making the liquid heat up faster because it inhibits evaporation. But using a lid will make it boil even faster. The smaller opening just makes putting a ladle in harder. The bright side is that the rolled lip makes for easy pouring.

Ruffoni Copper Stock Pot Thickness

Ruffoni’s Historia Copper thickness tends to be on the thinner side. When I measure the other cookware in their historia line, they tend to fall around .83-.85 mm thick for the sidewall. If you are boiling water, a thinner walled stockpot is beneficial. However, when you make a thin walled frying pan, you lose a good majority of the benefit that copper has. The stockpots and saucepans are the only one that is designed properly for its purpose, which is to rapidly heat up water. For more information about this, you can read my article on Copper Cookware Thickness.

Ruffoni Hammered Copper Cookware

Almost all of Ruffoni’s cookware is hammered. They are all beautifully well done by their artisan. If you are picky about the hammering finish, look at the model that you are getting. Sometimes there are differing sized hammer used on the pots even with the same shape and size. They tend to vary base on the finial used. On the saucepan that I have, they use a beady eyed hammer, but the stockpot looks more like a wider circle. This is based on my anecdotal evidence so don’t quote me on this.
Another reason why almost all of their copper cookware is hammered is because it improves the strength of it. Hammering anneals the copper to make it harder. If you do not hammer copper of this thickness, it will warp and flex when you heat it. I think they added a iron ring to the lip to help the pot retain its shape. It certainly is a clever way to maintain the pot shape.

Ruffoni Copper Stock Pot Acorn Finial

The Acorn Finial is their most used shape. They have different versions but those are usually for special occasion. I also have a turkey shape one that is neat. I know that William Sonoma have an exclusive pineapple one which is pretty neat. In their opus prima line, those are plated in silver and comes with a wide variety of fruits and vegetable.

Fit and Finish

Fit and Finish like all of ruffoni cookware is excellent. They are known for their beauty and this stockpot is no different. The hammering is uniform and well done everywhere. Even the base of the pot is hammered. I do wish that they add more decoration to the base of the handle. Other than that, the only downside to this is the unburred edges on the handle.

Specs

Weight: 1585 g Lid Weight: 499 g
Rim inside Diameter: Around 7.7 inch Outside Diameter: Around 8.42 inch
Height: 6.75 inch
Advertise Capacity: 4.75 qt Measured Capacity: 4945 g of water
The measured capacity is filled to the rim. Their 4.75 qt is more of an accurate measure in how much you can use.

Ruffoni Copper Stock Pot Conclusion

If you like the design of Ruffoni Historia Decor, the price might be worth it to you, but really its more beauty than practical. I mean the name on it even says Décor. They are more ornamental than anything else. They are perfect as the center piece in any dining room and adds a beautiful shinning gleam. However, because it is copper, if you cook in it, it will patina. The beauty that comes from when it is new will be gone. Buy it if you like how it looks, it’s not really for practical cooking in my opinion.

I hope you like this Ruffoni Copper Stock Pot Review, If you would like to see more, please visit our Pots and Pans Review page.

Source

Ruffoni Historia Official Website
http://www.ruffoni.net/products.asp?idcollezione=4