Antique Copper Hammered Chafing Dish, 4 Qt.

I cater and this size and style is a wonderful addition to my chafer collection. Sturdy and beautiful. I have bought four in total.

I received the chafing dish and am disappointed that the lid does not fit correctly. It does not rest on the dish well and leaves gaps on the side which would allow bugs and dust to get inside, or heat to escape. Not happy with the product for the price that was paid.

This looks very pretty as it comes from the box but there's a catch. To actually use it for cooking, you must remove the finish. I don't know how difficult that is or what this looks like without the protective lacquer because I didn't take it off. Without the lacquer this copper has the potential for a humongous tarnish, and I didn't want to invite that. The poacher also came with a dent, opening the possibility this is secretly a second or a return. Solid copper poachers, even at auction, cost more than $500. There's got to be a reason this one does not.

Very sturdy and beautiful. Love the color and shape, received in great packaging.Highly recommended. I am thinking of buying the rectangular ones as well.

I've had three fish poachers (first an older Mauviel copper 18" poacher and, later, a stainless steel All-Clad from Williams-Sonoma) over the years and this Old Dutch one is the best. The copper conducts heat perfectly and uniformly poaches dry (white flaky, like halibut) or oily fish (such as salmon).This item is shipped LACQUERED, which I've learned to remove by boiling the item in a stockpot (one end at a time with 1 tablespoon of washing soda per quart of water) and then cleaning with the salt/vinegar scrub described below. (Washing soda is your Grandma's old-fashioned ultra-cheap cleaner based on sodium carbonate; to learn more, go to [...]). You would only want to keep the lacquer on if you are just hanging this piece on the wall as an ornament, which would be a shame. Besides, cleaning copper is easy once you learn how.This poacher is as heavy as my old Mauviel, but with nicer fittings. The Mauviel's are merely tinned, which is serviceable, but not as nice as Old Dutch's stainless steel interior and rack. Tinned interiors are also harder to clean and are expensive to re-tin when it wears out (which is why I don't use the old Mauviel any more). Replacing it with a new Mauviel at nearly $800 is just not in the cards.The stainless steel All-Clad is nice, but does not poach as evenly as this copper poacher -- when the ends of the fish or filet were done, the center was not and when the center was done, the ends were dry. (Poaching is important to keep the texture, keep all the flavor and to allow spices to absorb without turning the fish into either a baked dried out fish or something mushy bought at Red Lobster.)To clean this poacher, I use the same method which Mauviel and Bourgeat recommend: Blend salt, some flour and distilled vinegar in a blender until you have a thick paste. The vinegar does most of the cleaning work, converting copper oxide (from cooking) back to clean copper in an instant. The salt provides a harmless, non-scuffing scrub agent and the flour holds the mixture together. If you haven't tried this before, go buy a tub of Wright's Copper Cream (which functions the same way, but uses a stronger acid). After you've exhausted the Wright's Copper Cream (might take a year or so), you should save the empty tub and the Wright's sponge which comes with it, and then fill it with your own copper scrub (described above) and save yourself some bucks.Finally, after I've cleaned any piece of copper (we have quite a few), I give it a final daub (just a spot) of Dawn dish soap, rinse off that daub with clear water being careful to whisk it all over the outside, and then lightly buff it before storing it. I don't have any tarnishing problems at all. I don't know why this final Dawn/rinse works so well, but it prevents tarnishing which was occuring from just washing, rinsing, drying and hanging my copperware (mostly Mauviel). A friend (chemistry teacher) suggested that the Dawn makes it easier for the final rinse to completely clear off the copper, resulting in the hanging of a thoroughly dry piece after buffing.