Karen wrote:
>
> I have a copper bottom Revere ware pot that I love. I use "Copper
> Clean" on the bottom after evertime I use it and keep it shiny.
>
> Last night, I had dinner at a friend's who had the same pan, but has
> never shined the bottom.
>
> My question is: does it matter to the efficiency of the cookware if
> it's never polished? Does not polishing it lessen the conductivity? I
> can't think of the right way to phrase the question but I am wondering
> if polishing the copper is only important to the look of the pan, or
> does it matter in other ways?
>
> Karen

There's likely to be enough copper on the bottom of such pans to affect
conductivity, so polishing it or not is moot. The conductivity will be
controlled by the *least* conductive material making up the pan. Anyway,
IIRC (and could be wrong of course), silver is a better thermal
conductor and there probably isn't a lot of cookware around that is
plated in silver