EG Copper Cookware Maker is Finalist in Martha Stewart Contest

Copper cookware is prized for its excellent heat conductivity as well as the beautiful color and shine it can bring to the kitchen.

A good piece of copper cookware can be a major investment, something to be treated and handled with care, some sets handed down through generations.

For years, Jim Hamann, owner of Duparquet , Huot & Moneuse, Co. in East Greenwich, handled many of those sets as a restorer of vintage copper cookware for clients across the country. He would touch French, English or American copper with thick handles, big rivets, each piece exuding personality and character.

In comparison, new pieces found in higher-end culinary stores at the mall just don’t compare and are almost sterile.

“They’d lost all their authenticity,” he said. “I decided I needed to make copper pieces that match what I was seeing pass through my hand every day.”

What started with three saute pans is now a line of 11 items. It began in a garage and took over his house before finally moving into a shop in an old industrial mill building.

And his growing business, crafting copper pots, pans, lids and more, is beginning to catch the attention of copper aficionados, chefs and even Martha Stewart.

Hamann has been selected as a finalist in Martha Stewart’s Third Annual American Made, which recognizes craftsmen and women who have turned their passion for making things into small businesses right here in the USA.

Duparquet is part of a pool of about 800 finalists that will be selected from thousands and thousands of nominations collected and later this year, 10 final award winners will be named, each winning a cash prize, a trip to New York for a special event, the chance to be featured in Martha Stewart’s magazine and web properties as well as some marketing help to keep their businesses moving forward.

The awards program “celebrates new rising stars of the growing maker culture who have turned their passions for handcrafted, well-designed goods into small businesses and proudly make their products in America,” according to a release.

After watching a two-minute YouTube video of Hamann in which he describes part of why he does what he does, it’s clear that he’s the epitome of a passionate entrepreneur.

“I didn’t really choose it, it chose me,” he said. “There’s a purpose beyond the profits that is moving these moments for people, making these meals something really special. And having people really feel proud about how they’re serving, how these meals are coming out of these really gorgeous historical romantic pieces of cookware.”

A cook is drawn to copper for the stories. Stories that work their way into the piece as time and heat pass through it, as the texture and color of the metal changes and families age.

“There’s never a perfect piece, after you cook with it, it changes, it tells you a story. It’s own story,” Hamann said. “Putting something like this on your stove puts appreciation into your cooking, into your food, it puts it into the moments you have with your family and friends.”

Each product is hand made and crafted out of 3mm thick copper, which is said to be the thickest on the market. The hand is cast iron and inside is hand-lined with tin, a natural non-stick cooking surface.

Each piece is cut from round blanks and spun by hand on a lathe.

These objects don’t come cheap. A sauté pan starts at $400 and can push $650 as they go up in size. But few family heirlooms can offer so much sustenance along with beauty or stand up to flames.

For more information, visit http://www.duparquet.com/.